[Article] Ten Good Things So Far from the 2021 Season

[-AJ-]

I posted a thread a few weeks ago and motivated based on that, I decided to write a short article trying to spark some positivity in these dark times. Read here on my site if you want: https://hookedonhockeyhistory.wordpress.com/2021/03/03/ten-good-things-so-far-from-the-2021-season/

 

Or you can read it where I've pasted it below:

 

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Ten Good Things So Far from the 2021 Season

MARCH 3, 2021 / ANDREW SCHROEDER

I’m not going to sugar-coat it. This season has been an unmitigated disaster so far for the Vancouver Canucks. Many things have gone wrong and it’s looking extremely unlikely that the team makes the playoffs. Still, despite this, I believe in the power of positivity, so I want to shed some light on some positive stories that have taken place with some of the Canuck players so far this year.

 

10. J.T. Miller

J.T. Miller had a career year in 2019-20 and although he was incredible, many fans reasonably expected it was the best year of his career and he’d fall back a bit to Earth this year. Although Miller has remained under a point-per-game, in contrast to last year, he has still remained close to that mark, currently sitting at 21 points in 23 games.

 

9. Jordie Benn

Jordie Benn started the 2019-20 season as the #6 defenseman, but was eventually usurped by Oscar Fantenberg midway through the season, which resulted in many healthy scratches from Benn. This year, Benn has nearly doubled his offensive output (6 points in 20 games so far) and is tied for the team lead with +3. Defensive coach Nolan Baumgartner has elected to use Benn in more offensive situations this year, which may play into his increased stats.

 

8. Tyler Myers

Tyler Myers signed a large contract in the summer of 2019 that caused a stir among fans and pundits alike and after a mediocre first season in Vancouver, many were calling his contract the successor to Loui Eriksson’s infamous deal. Even though Myers can be a bit of a defensive misadventure sometimes, he has seen a significant uptick in his offensive production so far in the 2020-21 NHL season. Despite seeing fairly heavy usage on a pretty bad team, Myers sits at just -2 and also finds himself being used in defensive situations more than in the past. His increased offense is also welcome given the fall in production from elder statesman Alex Edler.

 

7. Quinn Hughes

Quinn Hughes has admittedly been a mixed bag this year. His defense, which was quite solid as a rookie, has become uncharacteristically shaky this year, in part contributing to his poor -15. However, despite being in his second full NHL season, he is still managing to put up an incredible number of points, even more so than as a rookie. Hughes is so far producing at a 0.85 points-per-game level, which would get him about 70 points in a full 82-game season and would set a new Canuck record. If Hughes can ever get a full NHL season, he has a strong chance at breaking a lot of Canuck records.

 

6. Olli Juolevi

Like Hughes, Juolevi has been a bit of a mixed bag, though for Juolevi, expectations have been very different. His first NHL season has been a good one so far, but it wouldn’t be immediately evident from a quick look at the stat line. Although Juolevi has been struggling to find the scoresheet, his defense has been remarkably sound for a rookie. His +3 points towards that and is even more impressive given his slightly defensive usage so far this year.

 

5. Tyler Motte

Tyler Motte became a fan favourite as soon as he stole a starting job on the Canuck roster back in 2018. His hard working playstyle has made him an invaluable part of the Canucks’ bottom six, but in the 2020 playoffs, he showed a surprising offensive spark. That spark has so far continued into the 2020-21 season, with Motte putting up 6 points in 15 games so far, a big increase of years past.

 

4. Elias Pettersson

Pettersson had a difficult start to the season, scoring just one point in his first 6 games, but following that, he has been back to the normal Elias Pettersson. Since then, Pettersson has scored 20 points in 20 games with an even balance of 10 goals and 10 assists, which is a very positive sign. Pettersson also has an even plus/minus rating in that time, which is another encouraging sign.

 

3. Nils Hoglander

The biggest surprise this year has probably been the early arrival of Nils Hoglander. After a strong season in Sweden in 2019-20, Hoglander started strong in Sweden again in 2020-21 before coming to training camp for the NHL in 2021. Hoglander impressed and made the team as a regular and has been a fan favourite right out of the gate. His offense has slowed as of late, but he still appears to be an exciting prospect for Canuck fans to watch, and at just 20 years of age, he has a long future ahead of him.

 

2. Thatcher Demko

Like Pettersson, Thatcher Demko struggled at the start of the season, losing his first three starts with poor numbers. Since then, however, Demko has been steadily improving and showing more consistency. In his last 12 starts, Demko has a 5-6-1 record and a sparkling .920 save percentage. While many thought that Demko and Holtby would evenly split games, it’s become clear that Demko has won the starting role and will likely play significantly more games than Holtby, barring an injury or illness.

 

1. Brock Boeser

By most accounts Brock Boeser has been the MVP of the Canucks so far in the 2020-21 season. He’s scoring goals at the rate he did as a rookie and getting assists at the rate he did last year, when he was on pace for 42 assists. He leads the Canucks in goals, points, and both of those metrics per game. Boeser’s stats this year would pro-rate to 38 goals, 41 assists, and 79 points in an 82-game season. After slowly dipping in production over the last two years, it’s thrilling to see Boeser rise back up to the level of a great 1st line winger.

 

So while the 2020-21 season is likely to end in a disappointment for the Canucks, there will still be some positives to take out of the year and we can hope these ten will continue for the rest of the year.

 

[Phil_314]

Good list.  We might have different number rankings (e.g. Miller too low, Demko slightly too high) but overall I think it captures what's been silver linings for an up-and-down season.

[Coconuts]

I love it, there are absolutely positives to take from the season thus far even though our record isn't what fans were hoping for. 

[deus.ex.makina]

if we manage to sign Tryamkin and the arrival of Podkolzin (that translates to another good surprise) you may add those two points to your list. 

[AV's Coin]

Brock has been a Beauty this year

[DownUndaCanuck]

Obviously lots of nice offensive stats with Green playing a super aggressive style, but it isn't correlating to success or wins so don't think these simple stats indicate a good season. Hughes is a prime example - leading the league in defenceman points but gets walked by guys like Spezza...he's been brutal defensively as has Miller, so on the whole I'd say they've regressed.

 

The Cup winner isn't the one who scores the most points, they often are the best defensive team and we're one of the worst.

 

In that vein, Hoglander, Myers, Juolevi, Benn to an extent, Sutter, Beagle and even Pearson have played much better. Our mostly-top-10 PK tells us the story.

[Azzy]

Conversely, a '10 bad things' article would also have to feature JT Miller, Jordie Benn, Tyler Myers and Quinn Hughes...

 

Hoglander has been exceptional compared to expectations, and Boeser and Demko have both improved. But outside of those three, the rest is padding an article for the sake of it.

[Provost]

I appreciate the positivity... maybe not the best sign when several of the top 10 things include the phrase “mixed bag” though :D

 

My list:

 

1.  Hoglander is a huge surprise, I thought if he made the team this seasons it was mostly going to be because of cap reasons.  No one can say he hasn’t deserved a spot regardless of his contract.  
 

2.  Demko is as good as can be expected.  Good enough that we can really hope Seattle takes Holtby (unlikely unless he can turn around his numbers the rest of the year).

 

3.  Rathbone would be on my list of positive things.  He was our D prospect with the most likely top 4 potential.  His start in the AHL has even upped those odds.

 

4.  I would combine our other prospects into another positive.  The AHL is weaker than normal because of so many players on taxi squads... but our prospects that are there are doing really well.  Woo, Lockwood, Lind, Gadjovich, Jasek are all showing that they have some chance of becoming NHLers.  Any couple of those working out to even be NHL regulars would be a drafting/developing victory that we haven’t really had for a long time.

 

5.  Tryamkin.  With an NHL calibre coach, this guy has blossomed and become a pretty dominant force on his team, eating up huge minutes and playing a physical style.  If he can keep up with the speed in the NHL, he will be an incredible add next season.  At the price tag of 2-3 years @ around $2 million per, if he is only a 3rd pairing guy that can complement a more offensive partner, that is still a win.  He is not expansion eligible so that it valuable.

 

6.  The last positive point is that the season is only 56 games at most so the pain will be less than if it were a normal 82 games season with.  We can look forward to the draft pretty quickly.

 

 

Edited March 4, 2021 by Provost

[Nucker 67]

Hmm, I only counted 4, and it was a stretch

[higgyfan]

1 hour ago, NUCKER67 said:

Hmm, I only counted 4, and it was a stretch

That's sad, but not surprising

[BCNate]

My Takes, in no particular order:

 

Positives

Boeser- MVP this year.

Hoglander-  I think he has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations.

Demko- Is making steps to be a legit starter.  He has been good as of late.

Juolevi- I think he has proven he can play.  No idea why he is getting scratched.

Ep- Was awful to start, but has been very good for the most part.  I think he has been better than his statline indicates.

Edler- Just keeps on truckin.  Certainly is proving worthy of another deal.

Myers- Probably not the most popular on the list, but he eats big minutes, puts up points, and is reasonably close to an even player.  He is better than he is given credit for.

Schmidt-  I think he has been very good, and is getting better.  This will be his D core next year, he will be the leader.  I  don't think he is deployed properly.

Motte- Very good 4 liner.  Solid  asset for this team.

Beagle- I get that he is overpaid, but he does well in his 4C role.

Lind/Rathbone/Podkolzin- having good years (small samples for 2 of them), should push for spots next year.  3 more rookies would be huge for our cap crunch.

Our 2021 draft picks- a high first in a defense heavy draft is massive.  a 2nd in the 35 range will be huge too.  I think there will be huge value in the 2nd and third rounds this year.

 

 

Negatives

Holtby- Has been awful.  Thought he would be a reasonable ED pick, but not a chance.  

Miller- He has not been as good as his statline indicates.  Why does he not shoot anymore?

Horvat- Has been very good at times, but mediocre for the most part.  In his defense, this is a tough spot for a young captain.

Hughes- He needs to get better defensively.

Pearson- Does not produce enough to be in a top 6 unit.  I really hope we move on from him

Gaudette- Literally zero finish.  Dude was on a 50 point pace last year, what happened?

Virtanen- I've supported him from day 1, but I think it;s time to move on.  1 point in 21 games is just not good enough.

Power play- Maybe try a new plan?  Me and my family could defend against our PP1, it is far to predicatable.

Coaches- I like Green, but he is not getting it done.  I do think a new voice and new deployment of some of our players will be huge.

 

[rychicken]

surprised CDC didn't make the list...

[Nucker 67]

20 minutes ago, higgyfan said:

That's sad, but not surprising

Motte

Boeser

Juolevi

Hoglander

- all deserve a nod

 

Unfortunately, Motte has been injured and Juolevi has been benched (for some reason).

 

The other "highlites" are filler. The media has tried real hard to come up with 10 things, maybe to try and help the Canucks fan base relax lol  

 

Demko? Please, other than the one shutout game, he hasn't been very good. Not counting his shutout game:  4-9-1 (and 3 of those wins were against OTT)

 

Jordie Benn? Oh boy.

[Gurn]

15 minutes ago, NUCKER67 said:

Demko? Please, other than the one shutout game, he hasn't been very good

You call: .972 against Ottawa on  Jan25 .977                             on  Jan27 .958 against Winnipeg on Jan30 .947 against Calgary on Feb13 .967 against Winnipeg on Feb19 .939 against Edmonton on Feb 25   not very good? https://www.espn.com/nhl/player/gamelog/_/id/3096217/thatcher-demko

Edited March 4, 2021 by gurn

[Pickly]

IMO I’m looking forwards to seeing this group next season under a different coach and system. I think a lot of the teams failure this season is attributed to poor scheming and the inability for the coaching staff to maximize certain players strengths. 

[JeremyCuddles]

Miller has been absolutely brutal passing the puck, on top of moping, on top of quitting on defense at random points throughout the season. But he has been getting easy assists off Hughes and Petey so that's cool I guess. Hit me with the paper bags.

[Tinky-Winky]

12 hours ago, deus.ex.makina said:

if we manage to sign Tryamkin

100 bucks says he never plays in the NHL again, people need to move on from him, as nothing lately shows he wants to play with the canucks

[Tinky-Winky]

1 hour ago, BCNate said:

 

 

 

 

Hughes- He needs to get better defensively.

 

 

i disagree, most offensive d man always ahd defensive weakness, id rather he have defensive weakness and keeps putting up the points than him working on his defensive style and producing alot less, sometimes u cant expect both, of coarse if he does work on it and still produce, than cool....but looking at alot of the past defmen, who were amazing with the points had defensive flaws

 

easy way to fix his defensive flaws at times, is put better defensive d-man with him, simple, id rather not hamper his offensiveness over def,

Edited March 4, 2021 by x00x

[Silky mitts]

Miller has been acting like a total bitch this year.  The best part of the year is a lot of the fan base finally woke up to how terrible Benning really is. 

[Silky mitts]

5 minutes ago, x00x said:

100 bucks says he never plays in the NHL again, people need to move on from him, as nothing lately shows he wants to play with the canucks

Yep, also the fact he sucks. CDC has some weird pronger/chara visions for him. He is more Hal gill than any of those two.