Vancouver Canucks: A look at the Right-Handed Defence depth chart
A week ago, I took a look at the goaltending depth chart. This week, I thought it be fitting to look at the Vancouver Canucks depth on the right side of the blueline.
We all know that the Vancouver Canucks probably made an ill-advised decision when they brought back the exact same group of defenceman back from the 2017-18 season, into this past season. They probably should have made some changes, but what choice did the management group really have?
Heading into next season, however, the defence should look different. With not-so fan favourite, Erik Gudbranson flipped at the trade deadline in exchange for Tanner Pearson — a trade that so far appears to favour the Canucks — and Luke Schenn receiving a call up after being acquired in January, the defence all of a sudden has a new look to it.
So ahead of next season, let’s take a look at how the Canucks are looking on defence on the right side. Something to look for is that a good amount of players on the depth chart were acquired fairly recently, from trades and college free agency.
Chris Tanev
What can you say about Chris Tanev? The guy has been one of the Canucks more effective defencemen for years now — the only problem is his injury history. Tanev has suffered an outrageous number of injuries since 2015 with the Canucks (feel free to see the whole list here) that have caused him to miss significant time, and further caused the Canucks to realize how important he is to the team, and how little depth they have for when Tanev gets injured.
Apart from Tanev, there’s not really a true number one right-handed defenceman on the team. I know the case can easily be made that even Tanev isn’t even a true number one defenceman, but he’s our number one right-handed defenceman — for now. Let’s take a look at who’s below Tanev on the depth chart.
Troy Stecher
Troy Stecher is proving to be a great story for the Canucks. Signed out of the University of North Dakota as a college free agent in 2016, Stecher was one of the few bright spots on a 2016-17 Canucks team that had the second-worst record in the entire NHL.
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In that season, Stecher picked up 24 points in 71 games with the Canucks. Not a bad rookie season for an undrafted defenceman. Although undersized, standing at just 5’9 and weighing186 pounds, Stecher has shown from the moment he stepped onto the ice for the Canucks that he plays bigger than his player bio would suggest.
He is one of head coach Travis Green’s more trusted defencemen, and as I said earlier, as this team continues to improve, Stecher can be a reliable second or third pairing guy for the team. He is someone that you know will give you his all every shift.
Alex Biega
Alex Biega is another player who, like Stecher, takes no shift he is given for granted. Once a fifth-round pick by the Buffalo Sabres back in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft, Biega has spent the majority of his career in the American Hockey League.
Signed in 2013 by the Canucks, Biega didn’t make his NHL debut until the 2014-15 season, where he suited up for just seven games for the Canucks. He was re-signed on February 28th, 2018 to a two-year contract extension with an annual average salary of $825,000.
He is an ideal seventh defenceman for the team, as he is a good locker room presence and mentor for the Canucks young up and coming players. Nicknamed “Bulldog” by his teammates, Biega doesn’t shy away from throwing his weight around and making his presence felt.
Luke Schenn
Speaking of older journeymen defencemen who have proved to be good mentors for the Canucks’ young players, how about Luke Schenn? A former fifth overall pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Schenn has bounced around from six different teams in his NHL career.
When he was acquired from the Anaheim Ducks mid-season along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for Michael Del Zotto, Canucks fans were more focused on the pick that was coming the Canucks way in the deal, more than they were the player involved in the deal.
Schenn was playing with the Ducks AHL affiliate the San Diego Gulls, at the time of the trade, and reported to the Utica Comets immediately after the trade. In Utica, Schenn worked hard and earned a call-up to the Canucks after Tanev went down with another injury. When he was given another NHL opportunity, Schenn absolutely ran with it.
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With his solid play, Schenn drew the attention of not only fans who were, #DrunkOnSchenn, but also management. GM Jim Benning said that the Canucks would try to get Schenn re-signed this summer and bring him back for next season. When the trade happened, I’m sure Benning didn’t expect Schenn to step into the NHL lineup and have the impact that he did. Really, Schenn’s play was probably the best case scenario.
Schenn was sticking up for the Canucks young stars so much to the point where if an opponent even breathed on one of Hughes or Elias Pettersson while Schenn was on the ice, they’d be hearing about it from Schenn. He quickly became a fan-favourite at the end of last season, and is proving to be a good pickup by Benning — who knew?
Brogan Rafferty
Brogan Rafferty was signed out of the NCAA along with goaltender Jake Kielly. Rafferty’s signing came after the signing of another NCAA free agent defenceman, Josh Teves. Teves only got to see one game of action this year, but because Rafferty was signed so late in the year, the team wanted to get a look at him, so they threw him into the lineup before he got much time to get situated with his new team.
In the two games that Rafferty played, he looked good. He was responsible defensively, and moved the puck well. Rafferty even ended up on the ice at the same time as Quinn Hughes for a short period of time, and the two bounced the puck to one another as though it was on a string. Expect Rafferty to come into camp next year and challenge Schenn for a roster spot.
Jalen Chatfield
Jalen Chatfield is 22 years old and has just wrapped up his second season with the Utica Comets. An undrafted defenceman, the Canucks signed him to a three-year entry level deal with a cap hit of $765,000 in 2017.
He has been a sound defenceman in Utica but likely won’t make the jump to Canucks unless there are a number of injuries to some of the Canucks defencemen. He played junior with the Windsor Spitfires and won the CHL Memorial Cup in the 2016-17 season.
Mitch Eliot
Like Chatfield, Mitch Eliot is a right-handed defenceman in the CHL who went undrafted before signing with the Canucks. Eliot was signed in December of 2018 and finished his season with the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. With the Sting this season, Eliot put up 55 points in 66 games.
Eliot is a defenceman with a fairly hard slapshot and is positionally sound and poised in his own end of the ice. Eliot will most likely play for the Utica Comets for all of or the majority of next season, and may actually be higher than Chatfield on the Canucks depth chart. The team will soon get a better understanding of what they really have in Eliot by the end of next season.
Jett Woo
The man who arguably has the best name in hockey, Jett Woo, was drafted 37th overall by the Canucks in the 2018 NHL entry draft. That’s the same year that Quinn Hughes was taken. Two defencemen taken in the first two rounds? To say the Canucks had an eye on repairing their blue line and setting it up for years to come at last year’s draft would be an understatement.
Woo picked up 25 points in 44 games with the Moose Jaw Warriors in his draft year, but really is known for his hard-nosed style of play more than his offensive abilities. At 203 pounds, Woo is not afraid to step up and throw his weight around. I saw this first hand at the young stars tournament last Summer at Rogers Arena, where Woo laid the boom multiple times.
Every time he threw a check, the crowd all joined together to shout Ric Flair’s signature “Woo” chant to show their appreciation for Woo’s effort. Woo showed Canucks fans first hand that he possesses above average checking abilities, and at just 18 years old, he may grow even bigger.
Because of his defensive abilities being highlighted, it was great to see Woo absolutely explode this year in the points column with the Moose Jaw Warriors. In 62 games, Woo had 66 points, a dramatic increase from his offensive production in his draft year.
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Woo was awarded for this increased level of play by the Canucks, as they signed him to three-year entry level deal on March 16th. Although it may be a while before we see Woo in a Canucks’ uniform, it sure is nice to have a promising young defence prospect on the right side of the blueline — because as you can probably tell by the names in this article, the Canucks definitely need some help on the right side.