October 2nd, 2024
JC Clemas
The Canucks had some holes to fill this offseason. They lost Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadorov, Ilya Mikheyev, Sam Lafferty, Vasily Podkolzin, Ian Cole, and Casey DeSmith. Thankfully for the Canucks, none of these players they lost are irreplaceable (besides maybe Lindholm, but Boston can have that contract). They managed to retain Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek, two of the most important players on the team. Beyond that, Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Tyler Myers all re-signed, and the Canucks retained some depth players who are significant contributors to what the team is trying to accomplish.
We’re all familiar with those players already though. The Canucks had a fairly busy free agency period, even extending into September. They filled the gaps in their lineups at forward, defense, and goaltending. So, who are the new guys, and what can we expect from them? I’ll do my best to break it down.
Jake Debrusk
Beginning with the Canucks’ big fish in free agency, DeBrusk was nabbed from Boston after 7 seasons with the Canucks’ Eastern Conference rivals. While he may not have been the point-per-game scorer that fans were hoping for (i.e. Guentzel), the Canucks are getting a solidified top-6 winger. He should slot in nicely beside Elias Pettersson, who will likely benefit greatly from being with a winger who’s better than Ilya Mikheyev.
A concern with DeBrusk is his inconsistency, as many Bruins fans will allude to. He goes on long streaks without much point production, which is particularly concerning when thinking about Pettersson’s similarly streaky nature. While one can expect these stretches to occur, both forwards harness top-tier skills in their own zone, so even during those potential streaks they will still be serving a strong defensive purpose to the team. DeBrusk is also a proven playoff performer, which might bring Pettersson out of his shell. Though DeBrusk is coming off a year where his production was muted (40 points in 80 games), one can expect him to have a career year with a boosted opportunity in Vancouver.
SEASON PREDICTION: 25 GOALS, 30 ASSISTS, HAT TRICK AGAINST BOSTON
Danton Heinen
A BC boy born and raised, Heinen makes for an exciting addition to Vancouver’s forward group. Though not flashy by any means, he gets the job done. Heinen can slot in on basically any line, giving him Pius Suter’s Swiss-army knife vibe (though without as much of the Swiss). Heinen is coming off a productive season in Boston’s middle 6, where he scored 36 points in 74 games.
Heinen will likely start the season as Miller and Boeser’s left wing, giving him ample opportunity to build upon this production. He is a sensible player and gives the team an opportunity to deploy Pius Suter as a bottom 6 centre, a role he is more suitable for than being a top-line winger (not a knock to Suter— he is essential to this lineup). Heinen will probably also get some reps on the DeBrusk/Pettersson line at points. In fact, he’ll probably see some time with everybody in the forward group this season. Heinen gives this team the flexibility it so desires in its players, while also offering effective production.
SEASON PREDICTION: 15 GOALS, 25 ASSISTS, 0 HIGHLIGHT REEL GOALS (BUT THAT’S OKAY)
Kiefer Sherwood
Kiefer Sherwood is a player who Rick Tocchet is going to love— I’m sure of it. Physicality, defensive skill, and offensive prowess. Though we can never rule out offensive bursts from him, we can expect Sherwood to be the Canucks’ least productive player of the main group in the offensive zone (besides maybe Blueger, but Blueger’s basically a 7th defenseman). That really shows the depth of this lineup, given that he managed 27 points in 68 games last season for Nashville.
Quinn Hughes is likely happy to see Sherwood on his side, considering that he was a thorn in the side of Quinn on the forecheck in April’s Canucks/Predators first-round bout. Sherwood is a grinder, and will provide the Canucks with countless hard-working shifts, no matter what side of the ice it’s on. He can kill penalties, which is a department the Canucks have so desperately needed to improve upon these past three seasons. I’m very excited to see how Sherwood meshes with this lineup, as he is a player whose style is similar to that of Dakota Joshua. I wouldn’t even mind seeing him centre Joshua and Garland at times this season. I love some good forechecking.
SEASON PREDICTION: 13 GOALS, 15 ASSISTS, SOLIDIFIED FAN-FAVOURITE
Daniel Sprong
Daniel Sprong is one of the most unique forwards that the entire NHL has to offer. The past two seasons, he has been a 40+ point-scorer, despite the fact he only averages 11-12 minutes per game. So why did Seattle and Detroit limit the amount of time Sprong sees the ice? Let’s just say his defensive ability is not the greatest the league has ever seen. One could speculate as to why a 40-point scorer is on his 3rd team in 3 years with a sub-$1 million contract, but I don’t care enough to. Our forward group is unbelievably solid defensively, so we can afford to sacrifice one slot for one of the most efficient middle-six point scorers in the league.
Similar to Heinen, Sprong will likely see some time on Pettersson’s other wing, but I expect him to spend a significant amount of time on the 4th line with Suter and Sherwood. Tocchet has clearly had his problems with forwards who lack defensive ability (cough cough, Kuzmenko), and I can’t imagine he’s going to be the coach who offers Sprong a significant boost in playing time. Still, I am thrilled that we were able to snag him, and his dirty move to tie the preseason game against Calgary inspires confidence that he is going to be an exciting player to watch this year.
SEASON PREDICTION: 20 GOALS, 20 ASSISTS, 0 PENALTY KILLING MINUTES
Vincent Desharnais
Vinny Desharnais is another new Canuck that the team got used to seeing in the playoffs last season. Coming off a season where he played 76 games for Edmonton, the 28-year-old is an interesting addition to the Canucks’ defense. He had some struggles in his own zone last season, but is overall a pretty reliable bottom-pairing guy. Standing at 6’7, Desharnais is just an absolute tree. He averages almost 2 blocked shots per game, and a similar amount of hits. We cannot expect him to produce much offensively, but given the existence of Hughes and Hronek, that is not exactly the priority for our remaining defensemen. Desharnais has top-percentile penalty-killing analytics, which would be very appreciated on this team.
I am curious to see where he slots into the lineup. There had been talk before that the Hughes/Hronek pairing may be split onto separate lines, giving Hronek the opportunity to command his own pairing this season. If that were the case, Desharnais could find himself playing on the top pairing with the reigning Norris Trophy winner. Hughes managed to thrive with defensive defensemen such as Chris Tanev and Luke Schenn, so it could work. Tocchet will probably experiment with the defensive pairings quite a bit, and Desharnais will find himself playing games with any of Hughes, Soucy, and the next guy on the itinerary, Derek Forbort.
SEASON PREDICTION: 140 BLOCKED SHOTS, 140 HITS, 1 BLOOMING FRIENDSHIP WITH JT MILLER
Derek Forbort
It is impossible for me to hear the name “Derek Forbort” without defaulting back to the 2021 season. In a Canucks/Jets game, Forbort thought Nils Höglander hit him up high, and sparked an on-ice brawl by retaliating. That was almost 4 years ago now, so I’m willing to look past it if we get some lockdown bottom-pairing defense from Forbort. Yet another tree standing at 6’4, Forbort somehow finds himself on the shorter half of the Canucks’ defensive staff.
He was not entirely reliable last season for Boston, which gives me some concern for the team’s defensive depth. Much like Desharnais, he had his defensive struggles but was another elite penalty-killer. Penalty killing is a theme with most of the players the Canucks added, and looking at the statistics, it is clear why. Tightening up the penalty kill is sure to add some ticks to the win column, so hopefully Forbort and the rest can carry over their abilities to the blue and green.
SEASON PREDICTION: 100 BLOCKS, 100 HITS, 1 APOLOGY TO NILS HÖGLANDER
Kevin Lankinen
Pretty much a buzzer-beater signing, Lankinen was an unbelievably necessary addition to the Canucks with the status of Thatcher Demko up in the air. Though I have faith in Artūrs Šilovs, he is not quite yet ready to take on the role of full-time starter. The addition of Lankinen opens up the door to run a 1A/1B system whenever Demko is unable to play, and when Demko is available, Šilovs can get some starts for Abbotsford rather than riding Vancouver’s bench. Lankinen provides the Canucks with flexibility in their crease and means that the team likely will not have to rely on Nikita Tolopilo at the NHL level at any point this season. They also hopefully will not have to overwork Demko in the regular season, which is probably a contributing factor to his injury issues. In the 2021-22 season, he played 64 games. That simply cannot happen anymore.
Lankinen is coming off of a great season as Juuse Saros’ backup in Nashville, posting a .908 save percentage and a goals saved above expected of 4.1 (according to moneypuck.com), which is actually 7 points higher than the guy he split the crease with. Backup goalies have struggled mightily in Vancouver through the 2020s decade so far. Looking at the Canucks tenures of Braden Holtby, Jaroslav Halak, Spencer Martin, and Casey DeSmith, only one was able to eclipse the .900 save % mark (Halak at just .903). It is essential to the team that Lankinen is able to sustain the numbers he posted in his two seasons with Nashville. I believe he will.
SEASON PREDICTION: .905 SAVE PERCENTAGE, 2.90 GOALS AGAINST AVERAGE, 1 THANK YOU CARD FROM THATCHER DEMKO