Was there a player more storied than Dan Hamhuis on the Vancouver Canucks roster last year?
Yes, the Vancouver Canucks have a lot to look for in this year’s offseason. The draft will bring an influx of high-end talent. Jim Benning‘s briefcase is full and ready for July 1st’s free agency frenzy. The IIHF World Championships and the new World Cup of Hockey are providing this offseason another dimension of intrigue.
But there is always room for improvement when the team finishes 28th overall in a 30-team league, is there not?
The Vancouver Canucks could not promise the fans a second consecutive post-season appearance under the new regime. They have, however, given the city enough storylines to analyze over the course of the offseason.
So here at The Canuck Way, we are going to sit down and grade the season that each of the Canucks has had in the 2015-16 NHL campaign. Were the Canucks really as bad as the standings showed at the end of the season? We shall find out, a player at a time.
Kicking off our 2016 Player Season Evaluation series, it is time to analyze the 2015-16 performance of Dan Hamhuis.
Bio: Dan Hamhuis
Height / Weight: 6’1″, 209lbs
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 12th Overall, 2001 NHL Entry Draft
Became a Canuck: July 2010, Unrestricted Free Agent
2015-16 Role: Top-4 Defense
2015-16 Contract: $4.5 million, Unrestricted Free Agent
In a season labeled as a year of transition, Dan Hamhuis provided a much-needed veteran presence on the Canucks blueline — when he was chewing food, that is. Though proving to be one of the team’s best defenceman when top defenceman Alex Edler went down late in the season, Hamhuis was sorely missed for about a dozen weeks after taking a rising Dan Boyle slap shot to his jaw.
We now all know how the story ended. The plan wasn’t for him to complete the season as a top defenceman in Vancouver. The plan was for him to rehab his jaw and to qualm all fears of a possible concussion so he could make himself a top rental option by the end of February. Well, that certainly didn’t happen the way the Canucks had imagined.
Nevertheless, Dan Hamhuis was one of the Canucks’ most valuable players, one who stayed so consistent throughout the entire season. He provided some much-needed leadership and resilience on the blueline that had to use youngsters Ben Hutton, Andrey Pedan, Nikita Tryamkin, and inconsistent veterans Matt Bartkowski and Yannick Weber.
Next: Dan Hamhuis: The Simple Metrics