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Vancouver Canucks: 2016-17 Special Teams

By Connor Cullen

Apr 7, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin (88) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 7, 2016; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks defenseman Nikita Tryamkin (88) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /
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Oct 7, 2015; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Vancouver Canucks center Brandon Sutter (21) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Calgary Flames during the first period at Scotiabank Saddledome. Mandatory Credit: Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports /

Predictions

Okay, predictions time.

POWERPLAY:

  • Loui Eriksson’s presence on the top unit, playing with the Sedins, will put the Canucks PPG total closer to league average, if not slightly over. Eriksson will score more goals than he did last year on Boston’s top PP unit, ending up with 15-17.
  • With Eriksson strengthening the offensive threat of the top unit and the youngsters taking big strides on the secondary unit, the Canucks should see that overall powerplay percentage go from 15.79 percent to at least 18.5 percent (and hopefully even higher). The corresponding rise in league ranks will see them nestled somewhere between the 12th and 15th slots.
  • Doug Jarvis will take control of the powerplay and Perry Pearn will try the penalty kill. Jarvis’ face-off knowledge will help the Canucks improve their skills in the dots. Consequently, the Canucks will be able to have control of the puck more often after face-offs, leading to less reliance on uncreative zone entries on the PP (one can hope).
  • An additional note on face-off improvement: the Canucks’ centers will all finish the season with a face-off win percentage of 53 percent or higher.
  • The most consistently used PP units will look like this:

D. Sedin – H. Sedin – Hansen
Edler – Eriksson

Sutter – Horvat – Virtanen
Hutton – Larsen

  • But we will certainly see Brandon Sutter play on one of these units quite a bit, if not permanently, and Nikita Tryamkin could make some surprise appearances, as well as Anton Rodin if he proves to be a player capable scoring at the NHL level.
  • Ben Hutton will score seven goals, 4 of which come from the PP.

PENALTY KILL:

  • The Canucks will feel the loss of Glen Gulutzan but the addition of Gudbranson in a shut-down role and the continued presence of solid penalty-killers, Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows, will keep the Canucks near the league average. They’ll finish with the 16th-ranked PK, shutting down opponents’ powerplays with a decent 82.15%.
  • A healthy Brandon Sutter will also add to the success of the PK in 2016-17, and he’ll score three times while the team is short-handed.  Speedy Emerson Etem will also contribute two short-handed tallies.
  • Nikita Tryamkin makes strides, sees some time on the second or third PK pairing, and promptly crushes 10,000 opponents.

The good news is that the Canucks will not be nearly bad enough to finish as far down in the standings as they did this past season. Having Eriksson in tow, their future stars making big strides in their development and maturing at the NHL level, the aging Sedins wanting one last long playoff push, and a coaching staff and management group that despises losing, the Canucks seem poised to potentially squeeze into the playoffs once again. Fans hoped for more to be achieved this offseason but GM Jim Benning hasn’t weakened the team, which is always a positive takeaway.

Next: Vancouver Canucks: 5 Things to be Excited for in 2016-17

How far they go after that is another story but, no matter what, improved special teams will play an important role in the outcome.

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