Vancouver Canucks defenceman Dan Hamhuis is an extremely important part of the club. However, he is one whose importance is constantly ignored by many fans.
Dan Hamhuis is getting old, he is getting slow, he is becoming expandable for the Vancouver Canucks. Right? Wrong.
The Canucks arguably have the worst defensive core in the entire NHL. Christopher Tanev is the No. 1 on the depth chart, but with all due respect, he is not a No. 1 defenceman. Then there is Tanev’s partner on the top-pairing, Alexander Edler, who has also started to fall out of favour with Canucks fans. Behind that, it gets fuzzy with a mixture of rookies à la Ben Hutton and veterans like Hamhuis.
But how bad is that really?
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Looking at possession stats, Tanev and Edler are unsurprisingly atop the Canucks D-rankings with Fenwick For percentages of 54.2 percent and 52.0 percent, respectively. Their Fenwick For percentages relative to their teammates are at 7.6 percent and 3.0 percent, respectively. Next up: Hamhuis.
In his 27 games prior to taking a slapshot to the face, which has kept him sidelined since December 10th, Hamhuis boasted a solid 49.5 Fenwick For percentage. Sure, that would be terrible on a team like the Nashville Predators, whose worst Fenwick player is Roman Josi with a 52.1 Fenwick For percentage — but the Canucks are not the Predators.
All possession metrics aside, there is a stat that — in my opinion — matters just as much, if not more.
What matters in hockey is the ‘W’. You play to win, and winning those two points is more important than anything else. How do you win games? By scoring more goals than the other team.
How that is done doesn’t really matter as long as it’s being done. Surprisingly, Hamhuis is one of the Canucks’ best blueliners in that regard.
Alex Biega leads the club’s D-men in fewest goals against per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time at 1.52, followed by Hamhuis with 1.69 goals against per 60, and Tanev at 1.81. Edler, by the way, ranks seventh at 2.15 goals against per 60.
But how many goals does Vancouver score with these guys on the ice? Here, Edler leads the team at 2.42 goals for per 60 minutes, followed by Biega at 2.28 and Tanev at 2.21. So, Hamhuis is not in the top-three, but he sits at a respectable 2.11 goals per 60.
Furthermore, Hamhuis ranks second behind Biega in goals for percentage at 55.6 percent, meaning that 55.6 percent of goals scored with Hamhuis on the ice were scored by the Canucks. That, by the way, would even be team-best on the Predators.
And not only on the ice is Hamhuis an important player. Almost more important than his on-ice performance is his off-ice leadership.
At 33 years old, Hamhuis has the experience of 11 full NHL seasons, five with the Vancouver Canucks. In addition, he participated in six World Championships with Team Canada and won gold for his country at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.
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Hamhuis is a well-respected player in the Canucks locker room. An assistant captain, Hamhuis is one of the most important leaders on the team, along with the Sedin twins.
Combining Hamhuis’ on-ice ability with his leadership, the veteran is a highly underrated player. He may be declining, but he is just as important for the club as he was five years ago. Let’s hope for a quick return.
*Stats via stats.hockeyanalysis.com