Vancouver Canucks Player Season Evaluation: Dan Hamhuis

Dan Hamhuis: The Simple Metrics

So how did Hamhuis do on the boxscores this season?

Dan Hamhuis 2015-16 Production
53 GP // 3 Goals // 10 Assists // 13 Points // Minus-2 // 28 PIM // 64 Hits // 72 Blocks

Dan Hamhuis saw his offensive production nearly half from last year’s totals. Despite being snakebitten badly the 2014-15 with a season-long goal drought, Hamhuis managed to score three goals this year, but with just ten assists.

He, however, stayed a lot more disciplined this season, reducing his penalty minutes by 16 minutes. However, he also did record 16 fewer hits than he did last year. This apparent lack of physicality is most likely due to his jaw injury forcing him to stay away from a few puck battles in the latter half of the season.

Hamhuis saw decent time on the powerplay as the point man when Alex Edler was out and Radim Vrbata refused to score goals as a point guard on the man advantage. He recorded a goal and two assists in 80 minutes of PP time. His penalty kill was a big part of the contribution to his team. He spent just over 150 minutes killing penalties this season, which is second only to the one and only Chris Tanev.

More from Canucks News

• Canucks are in “wash, rinse, repeat” mode after Monday’s 5-1 loss
• Canucks send Jack Rathbone and Vasily Podkolzin down to Abbotsford
• Canucks acquire Ethan Bear, Lane Pederson from Carolina
• Brock Boeser, Curtis Lazar placed on injury reserve
• Canucks officially unveil Reverse Retro jersey in latest aesthetic change

And despite his injury and missing so much time, Hamhuis proved to be a dynamic penalty killer, leading the team in hits while shorthanded with 11. This stat shows that he is not afraid to engage in tight quarters and to use physicality to halt the offense. His 23 shots blocked while shorthanded is also just second to Tanev.

At age 33, Dan Hamhuis is not going to get better. In fact, his decline will likely be steeper thanks to the injury he sustained this past season. But comparing his play to that of 2014-15,  Hamhuis, I think, was a more defensively sound.

For example, his 23 shots blocked shorthanded in 150 minutes of PK is a vast increase compared to his 14-15 totals, where he blocked ten shots in 132 minutes of PK work.

When he came back from his injury, he was at times the best Canuck on the ice and most of us thought he was increasing his trade value. When both Edler and Tanev went down, he became the defensive backbone that allowed Ben Hutton to work with Nikita Tryamkin.

What do the simple metrics say? Dan Hamhuis did his job pretty well. Nothing outstanding but doing what he gets paid to do — to defend.

Next: Dan Hamhuis: The Advanced Analytics