Vancouver Canucks: New Top Line Impressing Early at WCH

Team Sweden happens to have the Vancouver Canucks’ new top line, and it’s working well for them.

Personally, I don’t really care about the World Cup of Hockey. It’s kind of a stupid tournament, with Team North America and Team Europe competing. Getting a first taste of the Vancouver Canucks’ new top line of Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin and Loui Eriksson, however, had me excited right from the start.

The best part: it’s working well.

Team Sweden is relying heavily on the Canucks trio, and it’s paying off for them. After two games, Henrik Sedin leads Sweden with two points, Daniel and Eriksson have one each. The simple stats could be better, but that’s not all that matters.

Thanks to Garret Hohl and HockeyData, we have access to some interesting extra stats.

Neutral-Zone Data

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In Game 1 against Russia, a 2-1 win, Sweden basically rolled all four lines. Their fourth line got slightly less ice time than the top three, but no forward recorded more ice time than Nicklas Backstrom‘s 17:14. With that, one could assume the top three lines — all made up of elite players — would have similar zone-entry and passing stats. But that is not the case.

Against Russia, Loui Eriksson led the Swedes with five controlled zone entries, and Henrik Sedin tied for second with Gabriel Landeskog. Comparing that to the rest of the roster, it becomes clear that the majority of Sweden’s lines played a dump-and-chase game, having about the same amount of controlled entries and dump-ins. Only five Swedes, including defensemen, had more controlled entries than dumps.

Since we know controlled entries lead to more productive than dump-ins, it is great to see that the all-Canucks line can lead the attack with controlled entries, recording almost twice as many successful controlled entries (11) as dumps (6).

Here is the data for the other three lines (controlled-dump):

1. Forsberg-Backstrom-Hornqvist: 4-11
2. Hagelin-Kruger-Silfverberg: 5-5
3. Landeskog-Backlund-Soderberg: 7-6

Passing Data

Far more impressive is something we have known for a long time: the Sedin twins play an extremely good cycling game. The twins are absolutely elite in keeping the puck in the offensive zone, not giving it up until they get a shot on net.

Scenes like this are what has led to great success for the Canucks:

How good the Sedins are at keeping the puck in the O-zone really shows in the passing data.

Against Russia, Henrik Sedin led all Swedes with 17 even-strength passes, followed by his brother Daniel with 16. The next one in line? Carl Hagelin — with nine even-strength passes.

In addition, Henrik and Daniel led Sweden in power-play passes at eight and seven, respectively. Third-best in this category was Nicklas Backstrom with four.

The numbers get even more impressive when expressed in rates. Henrik led the team with 100.33 passes per 60 minutes, followed by Daniel with 91.29. The third-best forward was Backstrom once more — with 45.26 passes per 60.

Conclusion

The data is from a single game, and we have yet to see the Canucks’ new top line in NHL action. However, what they have been doing is promising nonetheless.

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First, all three have the ability to carry the puck into the offensive zone with possession. Especially Eriksson stood out in this regard against Russia.

Second, the Sedins still have the ability to keep the puck there. The twins are famous for knowing exactly what the other is about to do, which leads to great results in the offensive zone. Their cycle game is unrivalled and traditionally leads to great success.

The fact that Eriksson only had seven even-strength passes and one on the power play against Russia shows what roles each player has. The Sedins play their cycle game and do their thing while Eriksson gets ready to finish. It has worked before and it will work again.

In pre-tournament action against Finland, Eriksson had three goals assisted by the twins, and all three looked similar.

Henrik on one side, Daniel on the other, Eriksson waiting in the slot to get a pass.

Or, one of the twins behind the net — usually Henrik, but Daniel in this instance — and Eriksson in the slot.

In 2015-16, the Vancouver Canucks were one of the worst possession teams in the league. That, of course, led to them being one of the lowest-scoring teams as well. All together, it resulted in a 28th-place finish.

The Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson line could be the best the Canucks have had since Alex Burrows played with the twins in the 2011 Stanley Cup Final run.

The three should without a doubt lead the Canucks in possession and points next season, which might just be enough for a bit of success. I don’t want to call them a playoff team, because that still seems slightly unrealistic, but they might have an outside shot.

Next: Nucks Forwards Impress in Sweden Win, Europe Surprises

If there is one thing that could hurt the line, it is the lack of puck-moving defensemen in Vancouver. Team Sweden has Erik Karlsson, Oliver Edman-Larsson and Hampus Lindholm among others. It’s a different caliber.

Still, what Henrik, Daniel and Eriksson have shown so far with Team Sweden was impressive — and it gives Canucks fans hope.