Vancouver Canucks: How Nikolay Goldobin makes Elias Pettersson better

It’s been a tough few weeks for Nikolay Goldobin, filled with healthy scratches and lacking production. But the stats show that he’s actually an excellent fit with rookie Elias Pettersson, so the Canucks should really be freeing Goldobin.

Since Dec. 18, Vancouver Canucks forward Nikolay Goldobin has endured his biggest slump of the 2018-19 season, having only drawn into the lineup nine of a possible 15 games.

In those nine contests, ‘Goldy’ has a minus-seven rating, with only two assists and a minuscule eight shots on net. He has averaged 12:04 of ice time during those nine games, which is more than the 15:42 he was averaging in his first 35 games of the season.

So yes, Goldobin has been in a slump. But slumps happen.

At the beginning of the season, there was a noticeable connection between superstar Elias Pettersson and Goldobin. They have been paired up with multiple different right wingers to join them, be it Loui Eriksson, Brock Boeser or Jake Virtanen.

There has been some success with those lines, and there have been some downfalls with others. The idea with Goldy, Eriksson and Pettersson was to have defensively sound winger to play with two offensive dynamos, allowing them to play their exciting brand of hockey while the vet would take care of the defensive play.

Then there was the combination of Goldy, Pettersson and Virtanen. These three found some chemistry together early on, forming one of the youngest top-six lines in recent memory here on the west coast. They were fast and skilled, and this was around the time that we saw how dynamic Pettersson’s game was — plus his ability to play reliable defensively as well.

Some would believe that this line would be a mess in their own end. But in the 41:36 seconds in five-on-five action that they’ve played together, these guys haven’t been scored on even once!

Brock Boeser was then joined up with Pettersson and Goldy to form a full-out offensive attack, and it was working nicely. In the 106:52 that they have played together, the Canucks have been better in goal differential.

There is room for Goldy on this team. Could he use a reset?

Maybe, but perhaps there are a half-dozen players on this team that need to reset their game, yet play almost every night. The Canucks need scoring, and having Goldobin out of the lineup makes it even more for them to manufacture offence. Some say that Goldobin is riding off of Pettersson’s coat tails, it’s just not true. If anything else, Goldy compliments Pettersson.

Goldobin should be in this lineup, boosting offence instead of sitting on the bench. He and Pettersson think the game in a different way, that only very offensively gifted players do.

Nikolay Goldobin can play three good games that get derailed by one bad shift. Head coach Travis Green needs to do what all great coaches do, and that is to simply get the best out of their players. Tough love works with some players, but sometime you need to give a carrot to the rabbit. The stats show that Petey-Goldy works so get these two back together and finally free Goldobin!