Good to see PP improved a lot, how about any suggestions to PK?

[Rabbit]

It is time to see what we could do in PK.

 

If Sutter and Motte return, our PK will be quite solid.

We will have:

Sutter, Motte, JT, OEL, Poolman, Hamonic, Lammikko, Dickerson, Bo, Highmore(expected to be health in short term)

Any suggestions for the two PK lines.

 

I would like the PKers to be more aggressive, fast moving and heavy hits.  I do not like what Elders did last season: always lay down when the shooters try to shoot.  I know there might be necessary in some situation.

[King Heffy]

Fire Baumgartner and let Shaw run it.

[elvis15]

Our PP improved with more shots, so our PK should improve with less.

[Guest]

Highmore and Motte will help a lot.  I haven't minded Bailey on there but the results to speak for themselves.  

 

I wouldn't mind replacing Poolman with Burroughs on the PK.  Not too impressed with Poolman on the PK, but I do really like him at 5 on 5 on the balance of the season.  

 

Our best bet is to look for a trade for a PK center.  Sutter is probably not even playing this year and we really need him on this roster right now.  

[Vinny in Vancouver]

My suggestion on how to improve it: do not take penalties. 

[fanfor42]

Biggest issue on the pk right now are faceoffs.  Most faceoffs on the pk take place in the defensive zone.  Dickinson and Lammikko's numbers on  faceoffs are LOUSY. Year to date Dickinson is a terrible 37% and Lammikko is 46%.

 

This is directly leading to goals against.

 

Next issue is the passive approach that the coaches insist on.  I don't like it and would much prefer an aggressive pk.

 

So improving faceoff percentage by coaching or changing personnel plus changing the passive approach by changing coaching would be my suggestions to turn the pk around.

 

 

 

[Phil_314]

After attending the game last night, I wonder if the solution could be to modify the diamond PK that teams are so accustomed to use in order to shutdown the 1-3-1.

Bryce Salvador sums it up well: energy, active sticks, blocking shots, keeping things to the outside, and ultimately winning draws and clearing pucks.
The Pavelski goal last night was kind of a broken play but he shouldn't have that time and space to deke from so close, and they'll have to find ways to get in front of plays like the Suter point shot.
 

 

[Coconuts]

Our powerplay improved for one game thus far, one game is a start not a turnaround 

[Firstname Lastname]

The Canucks were pretty good in pk a couple of seasons ago, so I think Green knows how to run a good pk.

It's probably the problem of personnel and execution.

[Viper007]

Lose the dang I formation.  Stick with the box.  Cut off those dang cross ice passes.  Have some strength when clearing out the puck (Myers).  Block more shots/passes.  

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

2 hours ago, fanfor42 said:

Biggest issue on the pk right now are faceoffs.  Most faceoffs on the pk take place in the defensive zone.  Dickinson and Lammikko's numbers on  faceoffs are LOUSY. Year to date Dickinson is a terrible 37% and Lammikko is 46%.

 

This is directly leading to goals against.

 

Next issue is the passive approach that the coaches insist on.  I don't like it and would much prefer an aggressive pk.

 

So improving faceoff percentage by coaching or changing personnel plus changing the passive approach by changing coaching would be my suggestions to turn the pk around.

 

 

 

We’re really missing right handed options for taking PK/Dzone faceoffs.

 

Having only lefties available puts us at a serious disadvantage, and teams have been exploiting this.

 

The attacking team on the power play gets to choose which faceoff dot is used on the starting draw, and they also get to put their stick down last every offensive zone faceoff.

 

Choosing the dot allows the attacking team to start the power play on a “strong side” faceoff.
 

And when it’s lefty vs lefty, and the attacking player is on his “strong side,” the defending player is on his “weak side,” which is a serious disadvantage.

 

Additionally, having to go stick down first basically forces the defending player to always “show their cards” on a faceoff.
 

And the attacking player gets to adjust to what he’s shown.
 

It’s also just harder to tie up the other guy when you’re stick down first.

 

All together, this probably adds up to around a -15% disadvantage. As in an average 50% faceoff winning player might only be expected to win 35% of his draws, if he’s taking all his faceoffs on his weak side, and having to put his stick down first.

 

And with only lefties available on our current PK, there’s really not a lot we can do to counteract this overall disadvantage, when it comes to winning faceoffs.

 

Definitely would be nice to have Sutter back. 

[48MPHSlapShot]

Cram all four penalty killers into the net with Demko. Problem solved.

[DownUndaCanuck]

Bad combination of not enough good left PK defencemen and poor coaching. We're letting in 4 in every 10 penalties which is atrocious. 

 

Firstly, OEL is really the only good left-handed penalty killer on this team. Hughes doesn't kill penalties at all...I do wonder if this may change soon though...he averages 5 seconds a night of PK time, maybe we can trust him a bit more against other team's 2nd unit PPs? To his credit he's been stronger defensively this season compared to the last few years. Of course he's one blocked shot away from losing our point-per-game defenceman though, but if he wants to earn his 7+M contract I think he needs to do more than just rack up assists.

 

Obviously we've got OEL and Myers as a pretty decent top pairing, personnel-wise you can't really fault them, and with Hamonic back we've basically got Poolman and Hamonic playing as the 2nd pairing with two righties. If one of those 4 are in the box then we're obviously in trouble with Rathbone (although I doubt he sees anymore PK time, but I don't mind Schenn as a backup PKer, Burroughs and Hunt hopefuly won't kill many more penalties although I think we're seeing Burroughs in the rotation a bit more now.

 

Our real weakness on the PK has been up front - far too much time for the defencemen to pass around and get point shots through. Obviously Highmore, Motte and Sutter are all out - arguably 3 of our best penalty killers, and Lammikko has really been tasked with a lot of PK time whereas he really should be one of our 2nd unit guys. Dickinson hasn't been as strong on the PK as everyone expected though.

 

In all fairness, personnel-wise we're not TOO bad, obviously missing a couple of key forwards, but on defence I don't see it changing much. Special teams, at the end of the day, comes down to coaching - it's where the good coaches and star players really shine. Look at the Edmonton PP, they don't coach too much there, just let McDavid and Drasaitl do whatever they want and they score goals. When you look at some of the other top teams on the PP, yes they have some star shooters but I think a lot of it comes down to smart structures. Then you look at the PK - how are crappy defensive teams like the Sharks, Blackhawks, Sabres, Leafs and Ducks all top-10? Good assistant coaching. Their personnel on the PK aren't fantastic, arguably no better than ours, but they must have some decent systems in place that we're missing.

[Hairy Kneel]

We've got a couple of forwards with abysmal face offs, try a Dman instead. 

Somebody that will be more physical and or tie up the guy and muck it out better. Try something. Opposition is exploiting us. 

[StanleyCupOneDay]

Step 1: Get Sutter back

Step 2: Get Motte back

 

Step 3: Profit.

[BPA]

I hope Canucks are grooming some prospects to be Defensive Centres with strong faceoff %.  As well as defensive wingers and defenceman. 

 

In a few years time, we will need to rotate in some cheap ELC contracts to offset our big $$$ players.

[Maddogy]

The primary thing that the PK squad can improve is to block more shots. There is not much they can do about losing faceoffs. PK may be the weakest link for the team for the rest of the season. 

[Tyndall2]

I agree with many of your comments.  The PK is not aggressive enough when the puck is near the boards.  Challenge them and let them cough up the puck.  Stop backing in on top of your goalie all the time.  Can Garland kill penalties?  He would be a buzz saw out there.

[Bure_Pavel]

Get Bo out there killing penalties, until we acquire another cheap 4th line PKer.

[SID.IS.SID.ME.IS.ME]

Had we known Sutter would be out, this would have been a good year to give Jasek a contract and a real shot at the NHL lineup.

 

He’d give us a right handed faceoff option, and he’s proven to be a top PKer and faceoff ace at the AHL level. Might not be the biggest or strongest guy, but he’s wiry and has a lot of determination. Works hard, skates really well, and has good instincts and positioning. 
 

Too late now, as he’s in Liiga for the year, but it’s a shame because this season would have probably given him a good chance to crack the lineup, as a PKer and bottom-six option.