Vancouver Canucks: 4 Possible D Combinations
The Vancouver Canucks’ defense core has changed quite a bit since the beginning of last season, and it continues to do so. What will the combinations look like in 2016-17?
When a team sucks, it is usually easy to pinpoint a certain area of weakness, or a reason for the missing success — but for the 2015-16 Vancouver Canucks, there were too many to even decide the major one. Injuries, scoring depth, defense. The first one is entirely influenced by (bad) luck, but general manager Jim Benning is working on the latter two. Especially regarding the defense, we are experiencing some big changes.
Late this season, Benning brought Russian prospect Nikita Tryamkin over to Vancouver. He also signed new regular Alex Biega to the first one-way contract of his career, and traded a conditional fifth-round pick to the Edmonton Oilers for the rights to defenseman Philip Larsen.
Following the 2015-16 campaign, which ended way too early for the Canucks this year, Benning added NCAA standout Troy Stecher from the University of North Dakota and traded blue chip prospect Jared McCann, a second and a fourth-round pick in the 2016 NHL Draft to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenseman Erik Gudbranson.
Clearly, Benning is determined to ice a better D than last year. Which should be rather easy with Tryamkin and Gudbranson in the lineup for Matt Bartkowski and Yannick Weber.
But what will the new pairings look like?
First, let’s look at the current depth chart. Listed are only signed players and restricted free agent Andrey Pedan, who is likely to re-sign in Vancouver, sorted by handedness. Therefore, unrestricted free agent Dan Hamhuis, who might still return, and
RD
1. Alex Edler 1. Chris Tanev 2. Ben Hutton 2. Erik Gudbranson 3. Luca Sbisa 3. Alex Biega 4. Nikita Tryamkin 4. Troy Stecher 5. Andrey Pedan 5. Jordan Subban
As you can see, the Canucks are well set on the first two pairings. With a healthy roster, the top four should be stronger than last year’s. Starting with the third pairing, however, things get difficult.
Is Luca Sbisa good enough for a top-six role? Is his contract reason enough to put him in that role even if he is not good enough? Is Alex Biega ready for a full 82-game season in the NHL? Is the depth sufficient?
I will try my best to answer these questions for you, by presenting some possible line combinations with the current roster.
Next: Option 1
Option 1: The Likely
Proposed combinations:
RD
Alex Edler Chris Tanev Ben Hutton Erik Gudbranson Luca Sbisa Nikita Tryamkin Andrey Pedan Alex Biega Troy Stecher
Whenever they were healthy this season, which did not occur too often, Edler and Tanev built the top pairing. Edler, a 30-year-old defenseman in his 11th NHL season, brings a lot of experience to the lineup, and will have to step up even more if Dan Hamhuis goes to free agency. Tanev was an unsung hero in Team Canada’s gold medal efforts at the 2016 IIHF World Championship, which rounds out a great pairing.
The second pair is new — it has to be. Gudbranson was acquired to be a top-four player and, even if fancy stats say he can’t be, that is likely where he will start the season. Gudbranson would be the one to gain possession while Hutton is responsible for driving the puck up ice after that happens. In theory, anyway.
Related: Canucks Paid Market Price for Gudbranson
As to the third pairing, we have Tryamkin, who proved to be NHL material on the right side of the ice, just like he is on the left. Sbisa might not be the greatest partner, but they could make for a physical third pairing that can eat up minutes against the opposition’s bottom lines.
That leaves us with Pedan on the left side and Biega and Stecher on the right. Stecher will most likely start the season in the AHL, no matter what happens ahead of him, while Pedan and Biega fight for NHL spots.
Next: Option 2
Option 2: Sorting by Nationality
Proposed combinations:
RD
Ben Hutton Chris Tanev Alex Edler Erik Gudbranson Andrey Pedan Nikita Tryamkin Luca Sbisa Alex Biega Troy Stecher
(Before you freak out, I know that Gudbranson is Canadian. But, judging by his name, there is obviously some Swedish heritage. For the sake of a good title for this lineup, let me just call this the Swedish pairing. Even if it technically isn’t.)
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As mentioned before, Tanev won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2016 IIHF Worlds. Also on the roster: Hutton. Hutton did not have a big role as he got to don the maple leaf on his jersey, but he had a crazy rookie season. A crazy good one, that is. Hutton and Tanev played together when Edler went down, which might have been the best pairing we got to see all season.
Speaking of Edler, the Swede moves down to the second pairing with ex-Panther Gudbranson. Edler made some Canucks fans unhappy with his play this season — perhaps due to overly high expectations — so a move down might not be a bad thing. After scoring 42 points in 2009-10 and 46 in 2011-12, Edler failed to put up big numbers in recent years. He might be able to turn the focus to offense, with Gudbranson doing the heavy lifting in Vancouver’s zone.
That leaves us with a Russian pairing of Tryamkin and Pedan. Pedan has helped Tryamkin communicate since the latter arrived in Canada, and the two have got some ice time together as well. At 6-foot-5 and 6-foot-8, the Russian duo would be quite intimidating, which is at least fun to watch, even if the analytics community bashes it at every chance.
With that, we have $3.6 million man Luca Sbisa in the press box, Biega battling for a roster spot, and Stecher starting in the AHL.
Next: Option 3
Option 3: No Off-Sides Allowed
Proposed combinations:
RD
Ben Hutton/Alex Edler Chris Tanev Alex Edler/Ben Hutton Erik Gudbranson Nikita Tryamkin Alex Biega Luca Sbisa Troy Stecher Andrey Pedan Jordan Subban
If we do not allow players to play on their off-side, even though Tryamkin does that quite well, the lineup could look like the above. You will notice, it is basically the depth chart.
On the first pairing, we have either Hutton or Edler. As talked about on the two previous slides, both match well with Canucks No. 1 Chris Tanev. In the end, a lot will depend on Gudbranson and who he can play with the best. Let’s hope he does well with at least one of Edler and Hutton.
On the third pairing, we get Tryamkin and Biega. If Biega has a good showing in training camp and earns a spot, pairing him with Tryamkin might be the best option. The only concern here would be experience, as they both have yet to play a full season in the NHL. Style-wise, they are definitely a could fit, though.
Again, that leaves Sbisa watching from the press box — or, much more likely, on the trade block. Having a player like Sbisa as a depth option is great, but not if it costs $3.6 million per year. That contract is only worth carrying if he plays a regular role in the NHL.
However, even if a right-hand shot got injured, both Sbisa and Pedan would be more likely to get NHL minutes than Stecher or Subban. At least in the first quarter of the season. Later on, both Stecher and Subban can be expected to get a shot with the big club, though.
Next: Option 4
Option 3: Balanced Lines
Proposed combinations:
RD
Ben Hutton Erik Gudbranson Luca Sbisa Chris Tanev Alex Edler Nikita Tryamkin Andrey Pedan Alex Biega Troy Stecher
If Vancouver Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins wants balanced lines, there are several options. The idea behind the proposal above was to have Tanev, Hutton and Edler — the club’s top-three defensemen — all on different pairings. This way, there is no first, second or third pairing, but they should be on a somewhat equal level.
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First, we have Hutton and Gudbranson. As Benning said in his statement regarding the Gudbranson trade, his new acquisition would match well with sophomore Ben Hutton. I tend to agree.
Next, we have No. 1 Chris Tanev paired with Team Europe defenseman Luca Sbisa. Sbisa was said to project as a two-way defenseman in his draft year, but he fails to come close to his NHL-record 24 points from the 2011-12 season again. Paired with the Canucks’ best D-man and one of Canada’s best defensive players, Sbisa could get a chance what he can do offensively — if there is anything he can do.
Third, we have Edler and Tryamkin, who I imagine to play well together, too. A pairing like that would probably be similar to that of Edler and Gudbranson, though Tryamkin might be the better puck-mover.
Pedan and Biega would also do well together, but probably in the American Hockey League — where Stecher and Subban will be as well.
Next: Conclusion
Conclusion
The Vancouver Canucks will have an improved defense for the 2015-16 campaign, even if Hamhuis does not get re-signed. My proposed D-combinations show that head coach Desjardins will have more than one good option to make the defense work better than before. However, they also show that signing Hamhuis would be a wise decision.
More from TCW: Luca Sbisa Trade Proposal
Nikita Tryamkin showed a lot of potential in his first 12 NHL games — enough to consider him a sure-fire top-six player for the upcoming season. But, it was also just 12 games, so we will get a better idea of what he can do over the course of full season. If he does not seem ready to be a top-six player yet, having Hamhuis in the lineup would definitely help.
Then again, having Hamhuis push out Tryamkin if Tryamkin is indeed ready for a big role would also suck for the Canucks. There is no doubt, however, that Benning would be wise to add a depth player or two, in case the injury bug bites as often as it did this season.
Next: Top 5 UFA Defensemen to Target
If Benning finds a way to trade Sbisa, a bigger UFA signing would also make sense. Jason Demers, Alex Goligoski and Keith Yandle are the most prominent options that come to mind. But, Hamhuis would probably be the most likely option here, since we know that he likes Vancouver and would be willing to return.
Benning has done good work so far and, even though the new defensive core seems set, you can be sure that there is more to come.