Five reasons to believe the Vancouver Canucks have arrived - The Hockey News

[PhillipBlunt]

https://thehockeynews.com/news/article/five-reasons-to-believe-the-vancouver-canucks-have-arrived

 

Five reasons to believe the Vancouver Canucks have arrived

Great players. Great goaltending. Great special teams. Great possession numbers. The Canucks look legit from almost every angle.

 

By Matt Larkin

November 8, 2019

The ideal rebuilding process follows a fairly set pattern in the cap-era NHL. Teams plummet in the standings. Teams pile up first-round picks. Teams begin harvesting exciting young talent crops. And, at least in the case of the successful rebuilds, teams eventually reach critical masses of top-end talent, and then the winning starts. It doesn’t always work, but that’s the goal. The best examples of the teams that built that way over the past decade and a half are the Pittsburgh Penguins, Chicago Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings. The Colorado Avalanche probably qualify as the most recent “critical mass” group, building around first-rounders Gabriel Landeskog, Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar.

 

Which is the next team to break through as a new, critical-mass contender? If you remember my off-season column, in which I forecast which non-playoff teams from last year could rise up toward contender status this season, one team on that list was the Vancouver Canucks. The blueprint was there: years of losing, many first-round picks, the Calder Trophy runner-up and winner in consecutive years and a sudden influx of veteran support pieces.

 

Look at the standings now, and it’s easy to see why Canucks fans are getting so excited. Vancouver sits 9-4-3, good for third in the Pacific Division. At 21 points through 16 games, they’re off to their best start since 2014-15, which happens to be the last time they made the playoffs. It’s tempting to declare Vancouver “arriving.” But we’ve seen flashes before from some long-time basement-dwelling teams who appear to be ready only to regress, such as the 2018-19 Buffalo Sabres, who sat first overall in the NHL on Dec. 1. I even wrote a column on why they were for real! Facepalm.

 

So are the Canucks legit or are they outperforming their peripherals and due for a regression? There’s no way to guarantee what happens from now to April, but most of the signs suggest it’s time to get excited about the Canucks. Very excited. Consider these five reasons why we should trust the good start.

 

THE CRITICAL MASS OF HIGH-CEILING TALENT

 

May as well start with the critical-mass argument. The majority of Vancouver’s key cogs were mined early in various drafts since 2013. Bo Horvat (ninth overall, 2013) has become precisely what the Canucks hoped he would dating back to his time as a London Knight: a leader worthy of the captaincy, a high-motor, two-way forward who battles other teams’ best forwards but can chip in offense, and a dominant faceoff man. Elite shooter Brock Boeser (23rd, 2015) is tracking for his first 30-goal season. Reigning rookie of the year Elias Pettersson (fifth, 2017) continues to look like someone who will challenge for scoring titles, perhaps as early as this season. Quinn Hughes (seventh, 2018) has invigorated the D-corps with scintillating offense, just as the scouting reports said he would.

 

The Canucks haven’t hit on every first rounder, as Jake Virtanen has obviously failed to live up to his draft slot and we’re still waiting on Olli Juolevi, but they’ve hit on enough of the high picks to have a talented foundation. They’re winning games because they have some really good young players, and really good young players tend to yield sustainable success.

 

GOALTENDING

 

Jacob Markstrom continues to perform as an admirable 1A who may or may not be a glorified stopgap. Per naturalstattrick.com, among 56 goalies who played 1,000-plus minutes at 5-on-5 last year, he was a respectable 26th in goals saved above average per 60 minutes – exactly where he should be, a.k.a. slightly above average. This year, among 62 goalies with 100 or more minutes at 5-on-5, he’s 23rd. Markstrom, 29, is doing his job. But he’s also not signed beyond this season and has been long perceived as a crease warmer for the future No. 1: Thatcher Demko.

 

Extremely exciting news for the Canucks: the big, confident Demko has been lights out backing up Markstrom thus far. The dream scenario was for him to gradually outplay and overtake Markstrom, as that would set up Demko as the starter next season and beyond. And Demko has been truly phenomenal so far, winning four of five starts and posting a .938 save percentage. He ranks 12th in the aforementioned sample in 5-on-5 GSAA per 60. The Canucks as a team rank seventh in save percentage. Regardless of which guy tends goal, they’ve been in good hands.

 

DOMINANCE IN POSSESSION

 

It’s not like the Canucks are getting bailed out by their goaltending, however. Demko, for instance, has outstanding numbers but faces the second fewest shots per 60 of all 62 goalies in the 100-minute sample. The Canucks allow the 10th-fewest shots and ninth-fewest shot attempts per 60 minutes at 5-on-5. They generate the fourth-most shots and fifth-most shot attempts. The ratio is the about same when factoring in high-danger attempts, too. The Canucks also sit second in the NHL in faceoff percentage.

 

So Vancouver’s under-the-hood stats scream “LEGIT!” They have controlled the play at the level of a top-end team in their first 16 games. Better yet, they’ve done it consistently, out-attempting their opponent in 11 of 16 games. They haven’t been out-attempted in their past 12 games, going 11-0-1 in 5-on-5 Corsi. This is a hard team to get the puck from.

 

EXCELLENT SPECIAL TEAMS PLAY

 

What’s that old adage about adding the special teams ranks together? Any elite team wants to sit in the top 10 in power play and penalty killing. The Canucks boast the league’s No. 8 power play at 22.1 percent and No. 6 penalty kill at 86. 4 percent. The latter is where Jay Beagle does his most important work. No forward in the NHL averages more shorthanded minutes per game. The P.K. will be tested more in weeks to come with blueliner Chris Tanev sidelined for a to-be-determined amount of time with an upper-body injury. He’s fourth among NHL D-men in shorthanded minutes per contest.

 

ROAD WARRIORS

 

So the Canucks don’t exactly have a nightmare schedule. Of their 16 opponents, 11 missed the playoffs last season, and only two of their nine wins have come against 2018-19 playoff teams. On the other hand, Vancouver has played 10 of 16 games on the road. Only two teams in the NHL have played more road games so far, and the Canucks have escaped with a respectable 5-4-1 record. At their home barn, Rogers Arena? They’ve yet to lose in regulation at 4-0-2. So it’s an exciting proposition that Vancouver gets 35 more games there versus 31 on the road.

 

The more lenses through which we try to perceive the 2019-20 Canucks, the more reasons we have to trust them. The franchise has put in the time and been bad enough long enough to earn its way back to something real. Does that mean we get playoff hockey in Vancouver this season? Quite possibly. Whatever happens, we can confidently say this is a vastly improved team – and one of the league’s most interesting.

[apollo]

 

Great stuff - don't usually like their articles.

 

The only thing they should have added to this article is that the team is poised for multiple cups in the next 5 years.

[PhillipBlunt]

1 minute ago, apollo said:

 

Great stuff - don't usually like their articles.

 

The only thing they should have added to this article is that the team is poised for multiple cups in the next 5 years.

I actually find the Hockey News to be fairly consistent and readable. The only guy I can't stand is Ken Campbell. He's like Tony Gallagher's whiny brother.

[Nuxfanabroad]

Now there's a comprehensive overview. Easy on the eye, this team is.

[BrockBoester]

Reason 6: The NHL is rigged and this is the year we're going all the way

[Shift-4]

Positive reporting?

 

Now we are really &^@#ed

[Guest]

I'm cautiously optimistic but I'm really looking forward to how we do in the upcoming games against the following teams. 

 

Colorado  Nov 16 

Washington Nov 23 (Probably the best measuring stick game as they are first in the league right now and the top offense in the league)

Pittsburgh Nov 27 and Dec 21 

Boston two games in February

 

How we do in these games will tell us if we are 100% for real or just feeding off weak competition. Then again their are few easy games in this hyper competitive league where there is so much parity. 

 

In October, the St. Louis game gave me some hope but then again Montreal beat St.louis twice in regulation so the Blues weren't exactly at their best in October. The last game was a pretty good representation as the Blues had won 5 straight coming into it including 3 or 4 won in OT. The fact we tied the game was a good sign and we maybe could have even won the game had Myers not messed up. 

 

When this team plays at their potential, they are a very good team. Last night they were no where near that level. Will be interested to see how they respond after last night. 

Edited November 8, 2019 by Guest

[coastal.view]

how can an article be legitimate

if it did not dump on some of our coaches

who in the view of some are clearly holding us back

Edited November 8, 2019 by coastal.view

[Silky mitts]

The main thing is with this team is probably the consistency, but even last night for those moments the team "turned it on" you could see we were in a totally different class from the hawks. 

[6string]

Only a few of us spoke to being a legite playoff team this season, this article supports it. 

 

The Benning Bashers are now claiming refugee status in other parts of the world.

[PuckYa]

Five reasons:

 

#1 - Horvat

#2 - Boeser

#3 - Pettersson

#4 - Hughes

#5 - Demko

 

[higgyfan]

2 hours ago, apollo said:

 

Great stuff - don't usually like their articles.

 

The only thing they should have added to this article is that the team is poised for multiple cups in the next 5 years.

Not to mention all those numerous individual awards...Calder, Norris, Hart, Selke.  On and on it goes.

[TheNewGM]

The Canucks arrived.. and then left.. absolutely garbage play last few games. Its weird how an entire team to a man can just start to suck and not play as well all of a sudden. They look really bad out there..Anyway.. excitement is gone now dunno if they're all battling the flu or something..

[24K PureCool]

This article did not age well.

[Bertuzzi44ever]

5 hours ago, apollo said:

 

Great stuff - don't usually like their articles.

 

The only thing they should have added to this article is that the team is poised for multiple cups in the next 5 years.

Which is what you said in 2014

[Guest]

On 11/8/2019 at 7:23 PM, 24K PureCool said:

This article did not age well.

If the team does not play with full effort like they have the last two games, this is what's going to happen. Michael Jordan said it best "You can't let yourself be beat because a lack of effort". 

 

This league has so much parity, its astounding. Montreal just ended Boston's point streak (considering their roster and where they are in the standings that's surprising). We let our guard down for one period and lost to the Edmonton OIlers and the Capitals. Games we should have won. 

 

With the exception of maybe Ottawa and Detroit, there are no easy games and even those teams surprise some times. 

 

So many teams are trying to make the playoffs, the margin for error is so small as we've seen from the game against Anaheim where marky made a mistake and against St.Louis where Myers made a mistake and that was the game in both cases. 

 

I have learned from watching this team not to read too much into how we do early in the season. This season is no different. 

 

Edited November 10, 2019 by Guest

[iceman64]

On 11/8/2019 at 11:10 PM, Unknown1995 said:

If the team does not play with full effort like they have the last two games, this is what's going to happen. Michael Jordan said it best "You can't let yourself be beat because a lack of effort". 

 

This league has so much parity, its astounding. Montreal just ended Boston's point streak (considering their roster and where they are in the standings that's surprising). We let our guard down for one period and lost to the Edmonton OIlers and the Capitals. Games we should have won. 

 

With the exception of maybe Ottawa and Detroit, there are no easy games and even those teams surprise some times. 

 

So many teams are trying to make the playoffs, the margin for error is so small as we've seen from the game against Anaheim where marky made a mistake and against St.Louis where Myers made a mistake and that was the game in both cases. 

 

I have learned from watching this team not to read too much into how we do early in the season. This season is no different. 

 

Markstrom did not make a mistake, 3-0 and your supposed to stop them? Myers lost an edge, a mistake? Gretz Lemieux  Crosby have never done that either right? Even Bure did a cpl of times, it's an ice surface ffs and every player does it and it's nothing but a fluke thing to happen and of no fault of a player. 

I saw that about the Markstrom "mistake" before and all I could think was, what? Are people just that stupid? Try and stop a 3 on 0 in the best league in the world and let me know how that works out for you...

[IBatch]

Larkin and Button are two media guys that supported JB moves right from the start writing or doing interviews about why this is enough to put us over the top.   November will be the real test (as usual), something tells me we won’t plummet like the last few seasons and our depth will keep us relevant.

[Timråfan]

On 11/9/2019 at 12:47 AM, coastal.view said:

how can an article be legitimate

if it did not dump on some of our coaches

who in the view of some are clearly holding us back

Well, Green can be more flexible. Do you think that is a dump on our coaches? 

[IBatch]

4 hours ago, iceman64 said:

Markstrom did not make a mistake, 3-0 and your supposed to stop them? Myers lost an edge, a mistake? Gretz Lemieux  Crosby have never done that either right? Even Bure did a cpl of times, it's an ice surface ffs and every player does it and it's nothing but a fluke thing to happen and of no fault of a player. 

I saw that about the Markstrom "mistake" before and all I could think was, what? Are people just that stupid? Try and stop a 3 on 0 in the best league in the world and let me know how that works out for you...

And the first two losses the ice leaned heavily the other way - McDavid isn’t considered the best player (in his prime now too) for nothing, all it takes is one moment and he will break the game.   Rittich stood on his head in CAL too.   The best part about this start is we’ve never been out of a game - at least decisively.   NSH goaltending kept us in it but definitely wouldn’t have mattered if special teams didn’t click (3-3 PP).  

 

The team still has holes and can use another bona fide top six guy.  AG might have been our best forward last game too - on BOTH sides of the puck - spend some time with Maholtra or whomever in the dot and we’ve got ourselves a middle six guy who adds teeth to our third line -  unless he keeps it up in which case we might already have our next top six guy.  JV has been better (again) then last year - baby steps with this kid but it’s progress.   Pearson is quietly on his way to a 45 ish point year too.  

 

Hope Sutter and Beagle aren’t out for long - those two are a big reason our P.K. and possession stats are so good (face offs make a world of difference when it comes to that).  

 

No matter what the on ice product took a big jump this year and I’m excited about our future again.   Won’t make any parade claims (yet ha ha) but if Podz and Hogs and OJ are also legit and Demko is  a top ten goalie....might dust off my 94 Western Conference Champs shirt and hang it on the wall when it comes to playoff time (it was a gift but it’s way too small to wear ha ha).