2002–03 Vancouver Canucks season

The 2002–03 Vancouver Canucks season was the Canucks' 33rd NHL season.

2002–03 Vancouver Canucks
Division	2nd Northwest
Conference	4th Western
2002–03 record	45–23–13–1
Home record	22–13–6–0
Road record	23–10–7–1
Goals for	264
Goals against	208
Team information
General manager	Brian Burke
Coach	Marc Crawford
Captain	Markus Naslund
Alternate captains	Murray Baron Ed Jovanovski Trent Klatt Trevor Linden
Arena	General Motors Place
Average attendance	18,396[1]
Minor league affiliate(s)	Manitoba Moose (AHL) Columbia Inferno (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Markus Naslund (48)
Assists	Markus Naslund (56)
Points	Markus Naslund (104)
Penalty minutes	Todd Bertuzzi (144)
Plus/minus	Marek Malik (+23)
Wins	Dan Cloutier (33)
Goals against average	Alex Auld (1.57)
← 2001–02 2003–04 →

As of 2023, the only remaining active member of the 2002–03 Vancouver Canucks is Jan Hlaváč. He is a member of HC Stadion Vrchlabí of the 2nd Czech Republic Hockey League.

Offseason

Regular season

The Canucks had much success in the regular season as the West Coast Express Line (Brendan Morrison, Markus Naslund and Todd Bertuzzi) played their first full season intact and contributed 67% of the team's goals. The Canucks led all teams in power-play goals scored, with 87.^[2] They also set a franchise record with a 10 game win streak in November 2002. As the season wound down, many expected the Canucks to win the Northwest Division title (due to the slow start by division rivals Colorado Avalanche). Despite the chances, the Canucks failed to clinch the Northwest division on the last day of the regular season with a 2-0 loss to the Los Angeles Kings coupled with a win by the Colorado Avalanche. Markus Naslund also lost the Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy on the last day of the regular season and missed out on tying fellow Swede Hakan Loob as the only Swedish players who have scored 50 goals in a season. Worse, Peter Forsberg also narrowly beat Naslund for the Art Ross Trophy. Naslund publicly came out to apologize to Canuck fans for "choking".

Final standings

Northwest Division

No.	CR		GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	3	Colorado Avalanche	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
2	4	Vancouver Canucks	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
3	6	Minnesota Wild	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
4	8	Edmonton Oilers	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
5	12	Calgary Flames	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75

^[3]

Note: CR = Conference rank; GP = Games played; W = Wins; L = Losses; T = Ties; OTL = Overtime loss; GF = Goals for; GA = Goals against; Pts = Points
         Bolded teams qualified for the playoffs.

Western Conference

R		Div	GP	W	L	T	OTL	GF	GA	Pts
1	Z- Dallas Stars	PA	82	46	17	15	4	245	169	111
2	Y- Detroit Red Wings	CE	82	48	20	10	4	269	203	110
3	Y- Colorado Avalanche	NW	82	42	19	13	8	251	194	105
4	X- Vancouver Canucks	NW	82	45	23	13	1	264	208	104
5	X- St. Louis Blues	CE	82	41	24	11	6	253	222	99
6	X- Minnesota Wild	NW	82	42	29	10	1	198	178	95
7	X- Mighty Ducks of Anaheim	PA	82	40	27	9	6	203	193	95
8	X- Edmonton Oilers	NW	82	36	26	11	9	231	230	92
8.5
9	Chicago Blackhawks	CE	82	30	33	13	6	207	226	79
10	Los Angeles Kings	PA	82	33	37	6	6	203	221	78
11	Phoenix Coyotes	PA	82	31	35	11	5	204	230	78
12	Calgary Flames	NW	82	29	36	13	4	186	228	75
13	Nashville Predators	CE	82	27	35	13	7	183	206	74
14	San Jose Sharks	PA	82	28	37	9	8	214	239	73
15	Columbus Blue Jackets	CE	82	29	42	8	3	213	263	69

Divisions: PA – Pacific, CE – Central, NW – Northwest

Z – Clinched conference; Y – Clinched division; X – Clinched playoff spot

Playoffs

Schedule and results

Regular season

2002–03 regular season[4]
October: 3–4–4–0 (home: 1–4–2–0; road: 2–0–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 1 October 10, 2002 3–0 @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) 1–0–0–0 W 2 October 12, 2002 5–3 San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 2–0–0–0 W 3 October 14, 2002 2–3 Calgary Flames (2002–03) 2–1–0–0 L 4 October 16, 2002 3–6 Boston Bruins (2002–03) 2–2–0–0 L 5 October 18, 2002 2–2 OT @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 2–2–1–0 T 6 October 19, 2002 2–2 OT @ Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 2–2–2–0 T 7 October 21, 2002 5–2 @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 3–2–2–0 W 8 October 24, 2002 2–2 OT Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 3–2–3–0 T 9 October 26, 2002 1–4 Dallas Stars (2002–03) 3–3–3–0 L 10 October 29, 2002 1–1 OT Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) 3–3–4–0 T 11 October 31, 2002 1–5 Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 3–4–4–0 L
November: 12–1–0–0 (home: 5–0–0–0; road: 7–1–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 12 November 2, 2002 4–2 @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 4–4–4–0 W 13 November 4, 2002 4–2 @ Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 5–4–4–0 W 14 November 6, 2002 0–4 @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) 5–5–4–0 L 15 November 9, 2002 5–2 @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 6–5–4–0 W 16 November 12, 2002 6–3 St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 7–5–4–0 W 17 November 14, 2002 3–2 Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 8–5–4–0 W 18 November 16, 2002 3–1 New York Rangers (2002–03) 9–5–4–0 W 19 November 20, 2002 5–3 Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 10–5–4–0 W 20 November 22, 2002 4–1 Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 11–5–4–0 W 21 November 25, 2002 2–1 @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 12–5–4–0 W 22 November 27, 2002 3–2 @ Carolina Hurricanes (2002–03) 13–5–4–0 W 23 November 29, 2002 5–3 @ Tampa Bay Lightning (2002–03) 14–5–4–0 W 24 November 30, 2002 5–2 @ Florida Panthers (2002–03) 15–5–4–0 W
December: 7–6–1–0 (home: 3–3–1–0; road: 4–3–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 25 December 3, 2002 1–2 @ New York Islanders (2002–03) 15–6–4–0 L 26 December 4, 2002 3–2 OT @ New Jersey Devils (2002–03) 16–6–4–0 W 27 December 7, 2002 2–4 Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 16–7–4–0 L 28 December 9, 2002 1–2 Calgary Flames (2002–03) 16–8–4–0 L 29 December 11, 2002 3–1 Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 17–8–4–0 W 30 December 14, 2002 6–3 @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 18–8–4–0 W 31 December 15, 2002 3–3 OT Calgary Flames (2002–03) 18–8–5–0 T 32 December 17, 2002 2–3 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 18–9–5–0 L 33 December 19, 2002 3–1 @ Nashville Predators (2002–03) 19–9–5–0 W 34 December 21, 2002 4–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 20–9–5–0 W 35 December 23, 2002 3–5 @ Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 20–10–5–0 L 36 December 26, 2002 4–2 @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 21–10–5–0 W 37 December 28, 2002 7–3 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 22–10–5–0 W 38 December 31, 2002 3–5 Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 22–11–5–0 L
January: 7–5–2–0 (home: 5–2–2–0; road: 2–3–0–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 39 January 2, 2003 3–2 Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 23–11–5–0 W 40 January 4, 2003 3–2 Florida Panthers (2002–03) 24–11–5–0 W 41 January 8, 2003 6–4 Ottawa Senators (2002–03) 25–11–5–0 W 42 January 10, 2003 2–3 Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 25–12–5–0 L 43 January 11, 2003 0–3 @ San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 25–13–5–0 L 44 January 14, 2003 4–3 Nashville Predators (2002–03) 26–13–5–0 W 45 January 16, 2003 2–5 @ Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 26–14–5–0 L 46 January 17, 2003 4–2 @ Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 27–14–5–0 W 47 January 19, 2003 4–1 @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 28–14–5–0 W 48 January 21, 2003 2–3 @ Nashville Predators (2002–03) 28–15–5–0 L 49 January 24, 2003 2–5 Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 28–16–5–0 L 50 January 26, 2003 1–0 Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 29–16–5–0 W 51 January 28, 2003 2–2 OT Minnesota Wild (2002–03) 29–16–6–0 T 52 January 30, 2003 3–3 OT Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 29–16–7–0 T
February: 9–1–2–0 (home: 4–1–0–0; road: 5–0–2–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 53 February 4, 2003 3–2 @ Pittsburgh Penguins (2002–03) 30–16–7–0 W 54 February 5, 2003 4–4 OT @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 30–16–8–0 T 55 February 7, 2003 4–2 @ Buffalo Sabres (2002–03) 31–16–8–0 W 56 February 10, 2003 2–1 Chicago Blackhawks (2002–03) 32–16–8–0 W 57 February 13, 2003 2–1 OT Colorado Avalanche (2002–03) 33–16–8–0 W 58 February 15, 2003 2–2 OT @ Calgary Flames (2002–03) 33–16–9–0 T 59 February 18, 2003 4–3 OT @ Detroit Red Wings (2002–03) 34–16–9–0 W 60 February 20, 2003 4–2 @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 35–16–9–0 W 61 February 22, 2003 3–2 OT @ Edmonton Oilers (2002–03) 36–16–9–0 W 62 February 23, 2003 7–2 Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 37–16–9–0 W 63 February 25, 2003 8–0 Atlanta Thrashers (2002–03) 38–16–9–0 W 64 February 27, 2003 2–3 San Jose Sharks (2002–03) 38–17–9–0 L
March: 7–5–3–1 (home: 4–2–1–0; road: 3–3–2–1) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 65 March 1, 2003 1–1 OT @ Montreal Canadiens (2002–03) 38–17–10–0 T 66 March 3, 2003 6–4 @ Boston Bruins (2002–03) 39–17–10–0 W 67 March 4, 2003 0–3 @ Philadelphia Flyers (2002–03) 39–18–10–0 L 68 March 6, 2003 4–5 OT @ Columbus Blue Jackets (2002–03) 39–18–10–1 OTL 69 March 8, 2003 3–3 OT @ Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 39–18–11–1 T 70 March 11, 2003 4–3 New York Islanders (2002–03) 40–18–11–1 W 71 March 13, 2003 4–4 OT St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 40–18–12–1 T 72 March 15, 2003 0–1 Toronto Maple Leafs (2002–03) 40–19–12–1 L 73 March 17, 2003 4–2 @ Dallas Stars (2002–03) 41–19–12–1 W 74 March 18, 2003 4–6 @ St. Louis Blues (2002–03) 41–20–12–1 L 75 March 20, 2003 7–3 Nashville Predators (2002–03) 42–20–12–1 W 76 March 23, 2003 6–0 Washington Capitals (2002–03) 43–20–12–1 W 77 March 25, 2003 3–4 Dallas Stars (2002–03) 43–21–12–1 L 78 March 27, 2003 5–1 Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 44–21–12–1 W 79 March 29, 2003 5–1 @ Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 45–21–12–1 W 80 March 30, 2003 1–3 @ Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (2002–03) 45–22–12–1 L
April: 0–1–1–0 (home: 0–1–0–0; road: 0–0–1–0) Game Date Score Opponent Record Recap 81 April 2, 2003 3–3 OT @ Phoenix Coyotes (2002–03) 45–22–13–1 T 82 April 6, 2003 0–2 Los Angeles Kings (2002–03) 45–23–13–1 L
Legend: W Win (2 points) L Loss (0 points) T Tie (1 point) OTL Overtime loss (1 point)

Playoffs

2003 Stanley Cup playoffs[4]
Western Conference Quarterfinals vs. (5) St. Louis Blues: Canucks won 4–3 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 10 St. Louis 6–0 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Blues lead 1–0 L 2 April 12 St. Louis 1–2 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Series tied 1–1 W 3 April 14 Vancouver 1–3 St. Louis Cloutier 19,699 Blues lead 2–1 L 4 April 16 Vancouver 1–4 St. Louis Cloutier 19,936 Blues lead 3–1 L 5 April 18 St. Louis 3–5 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Blues lead 3–2 W 6 April 20 Vancouver 4–3 St. Louis Cloutier 19,522 Series tied 3–3 W 7 April 22 St. Louis 1–4 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Canucks win 4–3 W
Western Conference Semifinals vs. (6) Minnesota Wild: Wild won 4–3 Game Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Attendance Series Recap 1 April 25 Minnesota 3–4 Vancouver OT Cloutier 18,514 Canucks lead 1–0 W 2 April 27 Minnesota 3–2 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Series tied 1–1 L 3 April 29 Vancouver 3–2 Minnesota Cloutier 19,394 Canucks lead 2–1 W 4 May 2 Vancouver 3–2 Minnesota OT Cloutier 19,386 Canucks lead 3–1 W 5 May 5 Minnesota 7–2 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Canucks lead 3–2 L 6 May 7 Vancouver 1–5 Minnesota Cloutier 19,350 Series tied 3–3 L 7 May 8 Minnesota 4–2 Vancouver Cloutier 18,514 Wild win 4–3 L
Legend: W Win L Loss

Player statistics

Scoring

• Position abbreviations: C = Centre; D = Defence; G = Goaltender; LW = Left wing; RW = Right wing
• † = Joined team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, signing) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.
• ‡ = Left team via a transaction (e.g., trade, waivers, release) during the season. Stats reflect time with the Canucks only.

No.	Player	Pos	Regular season						Playoffs
			GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM	GP	G	A	Pts	+/-	PIM
19	Markus Naslund	LW	82	48	56	104	6	52	14	5	9	14	−6	18
44	Todd Bertuzzi	RW	82	46	51	97	2	144	14	2	4	6	−3	60
7	Brendan Morrison	C	82	25	46	71	18	36	14	4	7	11	−4	18
55	Ed Jovanovski	D	67	6	40	46	19	113	14	7	1	8	−5	22
24	Matt Cooke	LW	82	15	27	42	21	82	14	2	1	3	3	12
16	Trevor Linden	C	71	19	22	41	−1	30	14	1	2	3	−4	10
33	Henrik Sedin	C	78	8	31	39	9	38	14	3	2	5	−2	8
3	Brent Sopel	D	81	7	30	37	−15	23	14	2	6	8	−2	4
22	Daniel Sedin	LW	79	14	17	31	8	34	14	1	5	6	−2	8
6	Sami Salo	D	79	9	21	30	9	10	12	1	3	4	−2	0
26	Trent Klatt	RW	82	16	13	29	10	8	14	2	4	6	1	2
2	Mattias Ohlund	D	59	2	27	29	1	42	13	3	4	7	1	12
10	Trevor Letowski	RW	78	11	14	25	8	36	6	0	1	1	−1	0
13	Artem Chubarov	C	62	7	13	20	4	6	14	0	2	2	−2	4
8	Marek Malik†	D	69	7	11	18	23	52	14	1	1	2	−7	10
25	Mats Lindgren†	C	54	5	9	14	−2	18	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Todd Warriner‡	LW	30	4	6	10	0	22	—	—	—	—	—	—
5	Bryan Allen	D	48	5	3	8	8	73	1	0	0	0	−2	2
23	Murray Baron	D	78	2	4	6	13	62	14	0	4	4	0	10
14	Brandon Reid	C	7	2	3	5	4	0	9	0	1	1	0	0
37	Jarkko Ruutu	RW	36	2	2	4	−7	66	13	0	2	2	1	14
4	Nolan Baumgartner	D	8	1	2	3	4	4	2	0	0	0	0	0
39	Dan Cloutier	G	57	0	3	3		24	14	0	0	0		8
9	Harold Druken‡	C	3	1	1	2	−1	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
17	Jan Hlavac‡	LW	9	1	1	2	−1	6	—	—	—	—	—	—
18	Jason King	C	8	0	2	2	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
15	Pat Kavanagh	RW	3	1	0	1	2	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
81	Fedor Fedorov	LW	7	0	1	1	0	4	—	—	—	—	—	—
1	Peter Skudra	G	23	0	1	1		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
20	Darren Langdon†	LW	45	0	1	1	−2	143	—	—	—	—	—	—
27	Mikko Jokela†	D	1	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
21	Zenith Komarniski	LW	1	0	0	0	0	2	—	—	—	—	—	—
30	Tyler Moss	G	1	0	0	0		0	—	—	—	—	—	—
28	Bryan Helmer	D	2	0	0	0	0	0	—	—	—	—	—	—
32	Brad May†	LW	3	0	0	0	1	10	14	0	0	0	−5	15
35	Alex Auld	G	7	0	0	0		0	1	0	0	0		0

Goaltending

No.	Player	Regular season											Playoffs
		GP	GS	W	L	T	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI	GP	GS	W	L	SA	GA	GAA	SV%	SO	TOI
39	Dan Cloutier	57	57	33	16	7	1477	136	2.42	.908	2	3376	14	14	7	7	341	45	3.24	.868	0	833
1	Peter Skudra	23	20	9	5	6	522	54	2.72	.897	1	1192	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
35	Alex Auld	7	5	3	3	0	165	10	1.57	.939	1	382	1	0	0	0	5	1	3.00	.800	0	20
30	Tyler Moss	1	0	0	0	0	14	1	2.67	.929	0	22	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—

Awards and records

Awards

Type	Award/honour	Recipient	Ref
League (annual)	Lester B. Pearson Award	Markus Naslund	[5]
	NHL First All-Star Team	Todd Bertuzzi (Right wing)	[6]
		Markus Naslund (Left wing)
League (in-season)	NHL All-Star Game selection	Todd Bertuzzi	[7]
		Marc Crawford (coach)
		Ed Jovanovski
		Markus Naslund
	NHL Player of the Month	Dan Cloutier (November)	[8]
	NHL Player of the Week	Dan Cloutier (February 17)	[9]
		Brendan Morrison (February 24)	[10]
		Todd Bertuzzi (March 24)	[11]
Team	Babe Pratt Trophy	Ed Jovanovski	[12]
	Cyclone Taylor Trophy	Markus Naslund	[12]
	Cyrus H. McLean Trophy	Markus Naslund	[12]
	Fred J. Hume Award	Matt Cooke	[12]
	Molson Cup	Markus Naslund	[12]
	Most Exciting Player Award	Todd Bertuzzi	[12]

Milestones

Milestone	Player	Date	Ref
First game	Fedor Fedorov	October 10, 2002	[13]
	Mikko Jokela	February 18, 2003
	Brandon Reid	March 1, 2003
	Jason King	March 17, 2003

Transactions

The Canucks were involved in the following transactions from June 14, 2002, the day after the deciding game of the 2002 Stanley Cup Finals, through June 9, 2003, the day of the deciding game of the 2003 Stanley Cup Finals.^[14]

Trades

Date	Details		Ref
June 23, 2002 (2002-06-23)	To Vancouver Canucks: Jeff Farkas	To Toronto Maple Leafs: Josh Holden	[15]
June 25, 2002 (2002-06-25)	To Vancouver Canucks: Future considerations[a]	To Toronto Maple Leafs: Ryan Bonni	[16]
September 4, 2002 (2002-09-04)	To Vancouver Canucks: Tomas Mojzis	To Toronto Maple Leafs: Brad Leeb	[17]
September 21, 2002 (2002-09-21)	To Vancouver Canucks: Sami Salo	To Ottawa Senators: Peter Schaefer	[18]
November 1, 2002 (2002-11-01)	To Vancouver Canucks: Darren Langdon Marek Malik	To Carolina Hurricanes: Harold Druken Jan Hlavac	[19]
January 20, 2003 (2003-01-20)	To Vancouver Canucks: Chris Herperger Chris Nielsen	To Atlanta Thrashers: Jeff Farkas	[20]
January 24, 2003 (2003-01-24)	To Vancouver Canucks: Mikko Jokela	To New Jersey Devils: Steve Kariya	[21]
February 5, 2003 (2003-02-05)	To Vancouver Canucks: Future considerations	To Philadelphia Flyers: Todd Warriner	[22]
March 11, 2003 (2003-03-11)	To Vancouver Canucks: Brad May	To Phoenix Coyotes: 2nd or 3rd-round pick in 2003[b]	[23]

Players acquired

Date	Player	Former team	Term	Via	Ref
July 5, 2002 (2002-07-05)	Tyler Moss	Carolina Hurricanes		Free agency	[24]
July 10, 2002 (2002-07-10)	Jaroslav Obsut	Colorado Avalanche		Free agency	[25]
July 11, 2002 (2002-07-11)	Nolan Baumgartner	Chicago Blackhawks		Free agency	[26]
October 24, 2002 (2002-10-24)	John Craighead	Revier Lions (DEL)		Free agency	[27]
November 3, 2002 (2002-11-03)	Mats Lindgren	Manitoba Moose (AHL)		Free agency	[28]

Players lost

Date	Player	New team	Via[c]	Ref
June 30, 2002 (2002-06-30)	Alexei Tezikov		Retirement (UFA)	[30]
July 4, 2002 (2002-07-04)	Scott Lachance	Columbus Blue Jackets	Free agency (V)	[31]
	Andre Savage	Philadelphia Flyers	Free agency (VI)	[32]
July 15, 2002 (2002-07-15)	Jason Strudwick	Chicago Blackhawks	Free agency (UFA)	[33]
August 15, 2002 (2002-08-15)	Andrew Cassels	Columbus Blue Jackets	Free agency (III)	[34]
October 11, 2002 (2002-10-11)	Mike Brown	Anaheim Mighty Ducks	Waivers	[35]
	Alfie Michaud	Peoria Rivermen (ECHL)	Free agency (VI)	[36]
October 21, 2002 (2002-10-21)	Martin Brochu	Verdun Dragons (QSPHL)	Free agency (VI)	[37]
May 31, 2003 (2003-05-31)	Peter Skudra	Ak Bars Kazan (RSL)	Free agency	[38]

Signings

Date	Player	Term	Contract type	Ref
June 14, 2002 (2002-06-14)	Tim Smith		Entry-level	[39]
June 27, 2002 (2002-06-27)	Zenith Komarniski	1-year	Option exercised	[40]
	Trevor Letowski	1-year	Option exercised	[40]
	Peter Skudra	1-year	Option exercised	[40]
July 31, 2002 (2002-07-31)	Artem Chubarov	1-year	Re-signing	[41]
	Harold Druken	1-year	Re-signing	[42]
August 3, 2002 (2002-08-03)	Brendan Morrison	2-year	Arbitration award	[43]
September 4, 2002 (2002-09-04)	Steve Kariya		Re-signing	[44]
September 9, 2002 (2002-09-09)	Herberts Vasiļjevs		Re-signing	[45]
September 12, 2002 (2002-09-12)	Bryan Helmer	1-year	Re-signing	[46]
	Pat Kavanagh		Re-signing	[47]
September 16, 2002 (2002-09-16)	Jeff Farkas		Re-signing	[48]
	Ryan Ready		Re-signing	[49]
October 3, 2002 (2002-10-03)	Todd Warriner		Re-signing	[50]
October 11, 2002 (2002-10-11)	Jason King		Entry-level	[51]
January 27, 2003 (2003-01-27)	Ed Jovanovski	3-year	Extension	[52]
	Trevor Linden	3-year	Extension	[53]

Draft picks

See also: List of Vancouver Canucks draft picks

Below are the Vancouver Canucks' selections at the 2002 NHL entry draft which was held on June 22–23, 2002 at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto.^[54]

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club team (League)
2	49	Kirill Koltsov	D	Russia	Avangard Omsk (RSL)
2	55[a]	Denis Grot	D	Russia	Elemach Elektrostal (Russia-2)
3	68[b]	Brett Skinner	D	Canada	Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL)
3	83[c]	Lukas Mensator	G	Czech Republic	HC Karlovy Vary U20 (Czech U20)
4	114	John Laliberte	LW	United States	New Hampshire Junior Monarchs (EJHL)
5	151	Rob McVicar	G	Canada	Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL)
7	214	Marc-Andre Roy	LW	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
7	223[d]	Ilya Krikunov	LW	Russia	Elemach Elektrostal (Russia-2)
8	247	Matt Violin	G	Canada	Lake Superior State Lakers (CCHA)
9	277	Thomas Nussli	C	Switzerland	EV Zug (NLA)
9	278[e]	Matt Gens	RW	United States	St. Cloud State Huskies (WCHA)

Draft notes^[55]

• The Canucks' first-round pick was involved in the trade detailed in Note A.^[a]
• ^a The New York Islanders' second-round pick (previously acquired by the Washington Capitals) went to the Canucks as the result of a trade on November 10, 2001 that sent the Canucks' 2002 first-round pick and 2003 third-round pick to Washington in exchange for Trevor Linden and this pick.
• ^b The Tampa Bay Lightning's third-round pick (previously acquired by the Philadelphia Flyers) went to the Canucks as the result of a trade on December 17, 2001 that sent Donald Brashear and the Canucks' 2002 sixth-round pick to Philadelphia in exchange for Jan Hlavac and this pick.
• The Canucks' third-round pick went to the Florida Panthers as the result of a trade on May 31, 2001 that sent Alex Auld to Vancouver in exchange for the Canucks' 2001 second-round pick and this pick.
• ^c The Los Angeles Kings' third-round pick went to the Canucks as the result of a trade on February 15, 2001 that sent Felix Potvin to Los Angeles in exchange for this pick.
• The Canucks' sixth-round pick was involved in the trade detailed in Note B.^[b]
• ^d The Canucks received a seventh-round pick from the National Hockey League as compensation for Group III free agent Bob Essensa.
• ^e The Canucks received a ninth-round pick from the National Hockey League as compensation for Group III free agent Greg Hawgood.

See also

• 2002–03 NHL season

Notes

1. 8th-round pick in 2003
2. Phoenix received the 3rd-rounder.
3. In parentheses is the player's free agency group on July 1 if applicable.^[29]