The Vancouver Canucks suffered back-to-back losses over the weekend.

Obviously, that’s not ideal for a team still toiling in the middle of the Western Conference playoff race. When it’s the first time a club has lost consecutive games since mid-January, it’s also a sign that they are hot. Positively on fire.

The odds are still against the Canucks. Going into Tuesday’s game against the New Jersey Devils, the Canucks held about a one-in-five chance of making the playoffs according to Dom Luszczyszyn’s projection model.

If the club wants to bring the Stanley Cup playoffs to the west coast of Canada, they will have to be excellent all the way. If not perfect, then next.

Nonetheless, the club’s recent form and slim but material playoff hopes will impact their behavior at the deadline. New management aside, it’s not an organization anyone expects to be a seller when it’s only three points away from a playoff spot.

Despite long playoff odds, various COVID-19-related disruptions, a packed schedule and a defense force that struggles mightily to move the puck when Quinn Hughes is off the ice, the Canucks are still, one way or another, in on it.

So while management remains focused on building a sustainable long-term competitor, with clearing ceiling space their top priority, there is a growing sentiment – ​​both within the industry and from the organization itself – that the Canucks could be much quieter in the days leading up to March 21