Archibald played for Barrie of the Ontario Hockey League for two seasons and had 108 points (51 goals, 57 assists) in 125 games but went undrafted as an 18-year-old. In his third season with Barrie, he was traded to Niagara on Dec. 8, 2010. Five days later, Archibald signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks.

He finished the 2010-11 season with Niagara and had 36 points (23 goals, 13 assists) in 37 games.

In his first pro season, Archibald split time between Chicago of the American Hockey League, where he had one goal in 20 games, and Kalamazoo of the ECHL, where he had 45 points (14 goals, 31 assists) in 49 games.

After spending another season in Chicago, Archibald began the 2013-14 season with Utica of the AHL, but was recalled by the Canucks on Oct. 25, 2013, and made his NHL debut that night against the St. Louis Blues.

Archibald split the rest of the season between Vancouver and Utica; he had three points (one goal, two assists) in 16 games with the Canucks, including his first NHL goal in a 2-1 win against the Calgary flames on March 8, 2014.

Archibald spent the next three seasons back down with Utica. In 2016-17, he led the team in goals (23) and points (47) and was named the Tom McVie Award winner as the coach's most valuable player and the Mohawk Valley Media Player of the Year.

On Feb. 7, 2018, the Canucks signed and recalled him from Utica. He played in his first NHL game in four years against the Carolina Hurricanes two days later and finished the season with nine points (four goals, five assists) in 27 games.

Archibald finished second on the Canucks among forwards with 80 hits, behind only Jake Virtanen (156).