Canucks News: Power-Play Struggles an Ongoing Issue

The Vancouver Canucks have lost three straight games in overtime or the shootout, and one major reason has been the power play.

Remember the summer, when I collected some Vancouver Canucks writing from around the blogosphere and talked it through on The Canuck Way? It’s happening again because there is a lot of stuff out there that’s worth talking about.

Even in the darkest of times.

Okay, okay. “Darkest of times” may be a little exaggerated, since the Canucks snagged a point in each of their last three losses. But, while there are many things that need to change in Vancouver, there is one that particularly sticks out: The power play.

Yet, there are people who are calling this season a success. Okay then.

Canucks PP needs change — but of what kind?

Ben Kuzma (The Province) — Canucks power play a pain that just won’t go away

"The Canucks had two shots on their first power play Sunday, one on their second and none on a crucial third-period advantage. In fact, they nearly snapped a 1-1 deadlock earlier in the third period on a shorthanded effort when Brandon Sutter’s backhand move off a partial breakaway was turned away by Cory Schneider."

Going into the season, Canucks fans were excited, and with good reason. The Canucks had just added Loui Eriksson in free agency — someone we knew had excellent chemistry with fellow Swedes Henrik Sedin and Daniel Sedin. We then got a first taste of it at the 2016 World Cup of Hockey. It was truly exciting.

But, for some reason, it doesn’t want to work in Vancouver.

The Canucks currently have a 13.4 percent success rate on the power play. They have tried many different combinations and none of them seem to be working. On Sunday night against the New Jersey Devils, that might have cost them another win.

There are two obvious reasons that only head coach Willie Desjardins does not seem to see:

1. Personnel: Against New Jersey, Jayson Megna had 2:51 minutes of five-on-four ice time. He’s this year’s Linden Vey, and we didn’t know what Desjardins saw in Vey either.
2. Strategy: No matter who is out there for the power play, the players do what the coaches say. When what you are trying isn’t working, think of something new.

You really can’t tell me that a power-play unit of Henrik, Daniel, Eriksson, Troy Stecher and Alex Edler with solid coaching can’t be successful. The power play is the one situation where age really doesn’t matter.

Sedin-Sedin-Eriksson should be one of the league’s best PP-units, not one of the worst.

The Canucks are so not being successful

Jason Botchford (Vancouver Sun) — 10 things you can credit for Canucks’ ‘success’

"It really hit home during a recent Hockey Night in Canada broadcast when the Vancouver Canucks’ management was given “credit” for staying the course this season.It wasn’t just there, however. People who think the Canucks should get credit are everywhere. The general manager should get credit for some of his moves, like trading Hunter Shinkaruk for Markus Granlund. Head coach Willie Desjardins should get credit for keeping this roster in the playoff race.It must have something to do with the millennials because never before has a National Hockey League team on an 84-point pace been given this much credit."

When your team sucks, it can be hard to find positives. But when your team goes on unexpected winning streaks and has some bright spots while still being relatively bad, can you go as far as to call that team successful?

Well, this year’s Canucks are weird that way. They kind of do suck, but at the same time, there are so many positives.

More from The Canuck Way

• Which team won the Bo Horvat trade?
• What to expect from newcomers Anthony Beauvillier, Aatu Räty
• Back to the future: How the skate uniforms became a regular Canucks’ feature night
• Canucks kick off 2023 with disappointing 6-2 loss to Islanders
• 2nd period penalty trouble sinks Canucks in 4-2 loss against Winnipeg

Bo Horvat and Sven Baertschi are scoring a lot, Alex Burrows has new line mates that he could find chemistry with, Nikita Tryamkin is a beast and Troy Stecher can quarterback a power play (sort of).

That’s a lot of positives for a bad season.

But, here’s what would really make the season a success: a few more losses.

While we all enjoy seeing our team win, another winning streak could be the biggest deal-breaker for the Canucks this season. If they continue to lose games, leaving them far enough from playoff contention by the time the trade deadline approaches, the season can become a success. But if they stay somewhat close, we all know they won’t be selling at the deadline but miss the postseason anyway.

To really make this season a success, the Canucks should be sellers at the deadline and accumulate as many draft picks as they can get.

Next: Canucks Week 15 Previews, Predictions

Try to get rid of aging veterans like Ryan Miller and Alex Burrows and get yourselves some draft picks.

That way, we might see a real successful team again as early as three years from now.