The evolution of Jannik Hansen has been a wonderful and steady progression. Picked in the 9th round of the 2004 NHL entry draft, many did not see a real future for Vancouver Canucks right winger. Early in his career, Hansen spent much time going back and forth between the Canucks then farm team, The Manitoba Moose. It wasn’t until the Canucks’ Stanley Cup run back in 2010/2011 did Hansen become a regular for the team, playing a 3rd or 4th line role with limited minutes.

A shot of bloody Hansen shows just how tenacious he plays.

Since then, Hansen has become the best utility guy for the Canucks playing anywhere he could contribute. He is on the penalty kill, he is sometimes on the power-play and he can float between a scoring line role to a shutdown line when needed. These days, that’s on the first line with Henrik and Daniel Sedin. This move has regulated Alex Burrows to the 3rd line, where Hansen used to be. Hansen been a great shot of Adrenalin for the twins who seem to having a renaissance year at 35 years of age. Hansen’s speed and crash and bang style of play has opened up the Sedins game and has his linemates in the top 15 in scoring in the NHL. Here is exactly what Hansen has been so good at this season…

How high is Jannik Hansen’s ceiling? Who knows, but it’s been great to see it unfold this season.  I’m sure Hansen is feeling pretty good about his game as well. Hansen is a hard worker and has proved his belongs on the line with the Sedins.  He’s won that Fred J. Hume Award twice as the Vancouver Canucks “Unsung Hero”  in 2011 and 2013. But it’s getting more and more obvious as this season progresses, you can drop the “unsung” part. Hansen has stepped up as one of the leaders on this team but scoring goals and helping the Sedins score them too. 

It sure beats Torts chastising him on the bench like this…

Or former teammate, Cory Schneider doing impersonations of his voice…

Hansen has embraced his new role this season as a 1st line RW. He’s learned to just play his game with the Sedins. In the past, Hansen would try to play too much of a finesse game when he was put on the 1st line and looked out of place doing so. These days, Hansen keeps his game simple and it has worked. Hansen has hit a career high of 16 goals twice in his NHL career. This year at the 37 game mark, the feisty right-winger has recorded 12 tallies. Barring injury and his trigger stick going cold for extended periods of time, Hansen is on pace for a career year. From the 9th round to the top line, it’s been quite the evolution of Jannik Hansen. I don’t know anyone, with the exception of  my friend, @RichardLoat, who thought Hansen was going to stay in the NHL years after his Canucks debut.

@Aviewfromabroad