Written By: Jason Hu
Edited By: Cameron Schoffro
The beginning of the season is crucial to set the tone of the upcoming year; oftentimes, teams get off to a hot start and never look back. Conversely, teams may begin with a slow start and never recover. The Vancouver Canucks are hoping that this isn’t the case for them, as they have got off to a rocky start. After surprising many people last year by eliminating the defending Stanley Cup champions in the St. Louis Blues, there were high hopes for the Canucks heading into the 2020-2021 Season. Unfortunately for the Canucks, things are not looking good for them so far, as they have a record of 6-11-0 and are 6th in the North Division. The slow has had Canucks fans super frustrated, and here is why:
Defensive Struggles
So far, poor team defence has been significantly hurting the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks have given up at least 3 goals in 13 of their 17 games, to this point. Of those 4 games they did not allow at least 3 goals, 3 of them have been against the Ottawa Senators, who ranks 29th in the NHL in goals for per game. The Canucks are one of the worst teams in the league in nearly every defensive statistical category, when at even strength.
With these defensive stats, the Canucks will continue to struggle winning games. A large contributor to these defensive struggles has been the poor defensive play of defenceman Quinn Hughes and centre Elias Pettersson. According to HockeyViz, the Canucks’ expected goals against per 60 minutes (which measures the number of shots that are expected to score based on the quality of the shot attempts) with Pettersson and Hughes both on the ice has worsened dramatically.
Last Season: xG/60: 2.33
This Season: xG/60: 4.36 (73% higher than league average)
To make matters worse for the Canucks, 4 of the top 10 teams in goals for per game call the North Division home. The Canucks have a stellar offence, so Vancouver must be frustrated that they could be a top team with an improved defence.
Inability to overcome offseason losses
The Canucks are coming off an offseason in which they lost several key players in goaltender Jacob Markstrom, forward Tyler Toffoli, and defenseman Christopher Tanev. Looking at Vancouver's start, it is clear that those losses have been detrimental to the team. Last year Markstrom played well for the Canucks, posting a .918SV%, 2.75GAA, and a record of 23-16-4. He covered up some of the Canucks' defensive deficiencies and kept the Canucks above .500, eventually helping lead them to the playoffs. Thatcher Demko, who had a strong showing in the bubble last year, and veteran Braden Holtby have not been able to do what Markstrom did, and both have posted less than stellar numbers.
Braden Holtby: 3-5-0, .885SV%, 3.75GAA
Thatcher Demko: 3-6-0, .896SV%. 3.74GAA
Meanwhile, Tyler Toffoli has had a scorching hot start to the season, recording 13 points in 14 games, with 11 of those points coming against the Canucks. The Canucks are certainly missing the secondary scoring Toffoli provided behind Elias Petterson, Brock Boeser and Bo Horvat, which the Canucks are severely lacking right now. In the past, Chris Tanev complemented Quinn Hughes' game perfectly. He was a great defensive defenceman and allowed Hughes to focus on creating offence, while he covered up on defence. According to Natural Stat Trick, Hughes’ goals against per 60 minutes (GA/60) (measures the number of goals scored with him on the ice per 60 minutes defence has worsened this season, compared to when he played alongside Tanev.
Last Season alongside Tanev: 2.86 GA/60
This Season without Tanev: 5.41 GA/60
Coach Travis Green has experimented with Jordie Benn alongside Hughes, however that hasn’t worked out well; plus, Travis Hamonic, who the Canucks signed to help out defensively, has been injured.
Key players struggling
Vancouver's top players have started the year poorly, resulting in their well-documented struggles. At the top of that list sits forward Elias Pettersson, one of the NHL's brightest young stars. He, of course, had a super slow start to the season, by scoring an inadequate 2 points in 8 games. Although, he is heating up as of late. Former 6th overall pick Jake Virtanen has also been struggling. He has just 1 goal in 13 games after scoring a career-high 36 points in 69 games last season. He has been the subject of trade rumours recently and has failed to turn into the player the Canucks thought they were getting when they drafted him in 2014. Another struggling Canuck is defenceman Tyler Myers, who is committing way too many penalties. He leads the league with 33 PIMS after only having 49 last season, which contributes to the Canucks have the second most minor penalties in the NHL with 54. As a player making $6 million per year, he should be playing much better. Additionally, defenceman Nate Shmidt has not played up to his potential so far; moreover, right-wing J.T Miller has struggled with turnovers. When your top players are not performing, it regresses the play of the entire team and has resulted in losses.
The Canucks are a very talented team that should be competing for a playoff spot, yet they’ve found themselves sitting near the bottom of the North division. For the Canucks to get out of the position they are currently in, these issues must be solved immediately.
References
- Huan, Bill (2021, February 12) Canucks: Quinn Hughes needs to improve his struggling defensive game Retrieved February 14th from https://thecanuckway.com/2021/02/12/canucks-quinn-hughes-needs-improve-defensive-game/
- Wagner, Daniel (2021 February 4) The Combo of Pettersson and Hughes used to be a cheat code- what happened? Retrieved February 14th from https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/whats-wrong-with-elias-pettersson-and-quinn-hughes-canucks-3320435
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