The Vancouver Canucks have put together a strong campaign for new head coach Rick Tocchet. The Canucks got off to a blazing hot start to the season and have yet to look back, winning the Pacific Division as well as their first round playoff series against the Nashville Predators. This is a much appreciated return to form for a talented core that has struggled since the 2019–20 bubble playoffs, or rather, since the exodus of talent afterwards.
While the Canucks cycled through coaches since, the roster had become quite flawed, marring the dynamic core group. Their resurgence might appear to have materialised out of nowhere, but with such elite talent throughout their lineup it was only a matter of adequately supporting them with reasonable depth. Through the Jim Rutherford and Patrik Allvin era, the Canucks have taken risks in reshaping their roster, trusting their pro scouts to identify free agents and trade targets.
While the team has improved on paper, the Canucks have brought a cohesive effort and winning habits from the start of the season. The Canucks can defend, and have punctuated their efforts with timely scoring, strong goaltending, and some dramatic flare. There is an aura of destiny that surrounds the Canucks, and the team has shown resilience throughout the season so far.
Forwards
Suter — Miller — Boeser
Hoglander — Pettersson — Mikheyev
Joshua — Lindholm — Garland
Lafferty — Blueger — Di Giuseppe
Extras: Aman, Podkolzin, Bains
The Canucks have an excellent forward group, one bearing a wealth of quality and dimension. While without a perennial Hart Trophy candidate, the Canucks have enough star power to threaten, as well as the depth to match up against virtually any opponent lines one to four. In particular, Coach Tocchet has found a way to spread some high level talent throughout the top nine, making it difficult to distinguish a true order of importance.
Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller led the charge as elite scorers, potentially even able to produce at a 100-point pace through the regular season. Joining them is a pair of established top-six forwards, Brock Boeser and Elias Lindholm. Boeser has enjoyed a return to form, aided by his team’s turnaround, but also on the other side of some personal off-ice hardships. Lindholm, meanwhile, has had a bit of a down year, as well as some tumult in finding his place after an in season trade from the Calgary Flames.
The group around them possesses their share of valuable tools. Nils Hoglander is a dynamic scorer with pedigree who took a step forward this season. Ilya Mikheyev and Sam Lafferty add speed to the group. Pius Suter and Teddy Blueger use their smarts to help control play. Connor Garland is a possession darling as well, undersized but tenacious.
Dakota Joshua has been a fantastic UFA signing. A gritty, physical player, Joshua has continued to earn a greater share of icetime throughout his career. Though a lack of high end skill and production might suggest otherwise, Joshua has become a top-six forward for the Canucks by average icetime. Joshua has continued to improve his game, becoming more reliable and responsible. While fans of other teams might not be aware of Joshua from afar, he plays an integral role in the Canucks success.
In some ways Joshua is symbolic of the Canucks resurgence as a whole, fierce, physical, and effective, the perfect complement to the team’s elite talent. As a whole, the Canucks forwards are a strength, able to contribute on both sides of the puck.
Defence
Hughes — Hronek
Soucy — Myers
Zadorov — Cole
Extras: Juulsen, Friedman
While the Canucks have had their ups and downs over the post-Sedin era, the most obvious reason for their recent stability is the upgrades made to the blueline. While Travis Green and Bruce Boudreau were at the coaching helm, the Canucks struggled to control play or defend well enough to capitalise on their star players. With four of these top-six defencemen added since the start of the 2023 calendar year, the Canucks have upgraded their blueline significantly.
The biggest gamble was adding Filip Hronek in a trade with the Detroit Red Wings. The Canucks gave up a first-round pick, a cost some thought was counterproductive to the team’s goal of retooling. Hronek had shown some promise in his career, but seemed to have stalled on less competitive Red Wings lineups, often lacking a high quality defence partner. Playing on a better team, particularly alongside Quinn Hughes, Hronek has bloomed into the top pair defenceman that he had shown promise of.
The Canucks filled out the depth of their blueline with players who bring defensive attributes. There is a great deal of length, physicality, and experience. While Tyler Myers and Nikita Zadorov are big, both bring some offensive qualities. Ian Cole is a much needed penalty kill specialist with a lot of savvy. Carson Soucy has the greatest impact on possession of this quartet, bringing a strong blend of defensive skills, size, and strength.
Of course, the crown jewel is Hughes, the Canucks captain, a Norris Trophy nominee, and one of the NHL’s best players. Through some of the team’s leaner years the shine had come off of Hughes. Former Coach Bruce Boudreau even alluded to some within the Canucks organisation suggesting a move to forward for the skilled defenceman. Any doubts that Hughes incurred over the Canucks down years have been proven wrong, as he has asserted himself as a perennial Norris candidate for years to come.
Special teams
A huge part of the Canucks legitimacy as a playoff team is their success on special teams. The less surprising result here is the strength of the power play. The Canucks elite talent fits together well on the man advantage, generating a lot of shots from the middle of the ice. Hughes, Pettersson, Miller, and Boeser are longstanding options on the top unit, recently with Lindholm filling in.
On the other side, the Canucks turnaround this season has a lot to do with a vastly improved penalty kill. The group went just over 79% in penalty kill efficiency, good for middle of the pack league wide, but their efforts in previous seasons were far worse. On defence the Canucks rely on Soucy-Myers and Zadorov-Hronek, while Blueger-Lindholm, and Joshua-Di Giuseppe are the usual forwards. The Canucks will spread these minutes out to more players, notably using Pettersson, Miller, and Mikheyev as penalty killing forwards who can threaten offensively.
Goalies
At full health, the Canucks possess an enviable situation in net. Thatcher Demko is an elite option in net, and has earned some Vezina Trophy consideration with one of his better seasons as a professional. Demko was injured down the stretch of the regular season, and was re-injured in the playoffs. In the thicker than usual fog of war that rolls in during the playoffs, it is unclear when or if Demko will have the chance to return.
Thankfully for the Canucks there are other options. Casey DeSmith has played well as the backup this season, a veteran who has been able to hold down the fort behind a cohesive defensive group. In the end, it might be third stringer Arturs Silovs who offers the Canucks the higher upside. Silovs does have some experience, and should not be underestimated. DeSmith is currently injured, though seems closer to a return than Demko. Regardless, the Canucks have enough in net to make good on their capable defending.
Season versus the Oilers
The Canucks and Edmonton Oilers are both very good teams. The Canucks have an edge in net when Demko is healthy, in what might be a huge x-factor in the series. Both teams have good bluelines, and there are cases to be made that either side has the edge. The same might be said about the forward groups, both of which are quite deep. Ultimately, these ties are likely broken by the top players on either side, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl giving the Oilers the nod under front, and Quinn Hughes providing a slight edge to the Canucks blueline.
Top of mind will be the lopsided results of the regular season play between these divisional rivals. The Canucks clobbered the Oilers in back-to-back games to start the season, adding two more wins down the stretch. Many will see this as a sign that the Canucks have the Oilers number, though regular season results don’t necessarily carry over to the playoffs. For example, the Winnipeg Jets dominated the Colorado Avalanche during the regular season, only to have the script flipped during their first round series.
In all the Oilers will be considered favourites. The Oilers have continued their season to season upward trajectory, and have only been defeated by eventual Stanley Cup champions in the past two years. The Oilers will be a tough out. The Canucks have had a slightly magical season, giving off the aura of destiny. Time will tell whether the Canucks have what it takes to pull off the upset, but the Oilers will not be taking their opponents lightly.
Photo by Curtis Comeau/Icon Sportswire
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