Vancouver Canucks defence: How bad is it? A lot better than before
The Vancouver Canucks improved their defence and now have one of their best defence groups in years. So next up in my “How bad is it?” series, let’s take a look at the defence.
For those that are new to this series, allow me to explain the premise. If you are already familiar with it, feel free to skip to the next slide. If you are in fact reading this series for the first time, this is a series where I, someone who is generally an optimistic realist, analyzes different parts of the Vancouver Canucks trying to see if they’ve got what it takes to make the playoffs.
For years we have heard about how bad this team is, and rightfully so, no one is denying that the last few seasons have been hard to get through, as the Canucks tried to retool on the fly, failed, then decided to commit to the rebuild, then got their pieces at the draft, and now here we are.
The inspiration for the series came from a conversation with a fellow Canucks fan, who believed that the team was still two to three years away from making the playoffs, despite the Canucks’ moves this offseason. So far, I have looked at the goaltending situation and the secondary scoring. In both of those articles, I explain why it’s not as bad as everyone seems to think.
Admittedly, the Canucks goaltending was exceptional last season, and if it’s sustained heading into next season, which I and many others believe it will, then the Canucks won’t have any problems there.
The secondary scoring, on the other hand, played a key role in the Canucks falling off a bit in the second half. The stars got tired and had little to no support in the scoring department.
That was addressed, and I believe that secondary scoring will all of a sudden be one of this team’s strengths. Now let’s get into another part of the team that desperately needed a remodelling after last season, the defence.
How bad is it?
So how bad is it? Not bad in my opinion; but how bad was it just a year ago? Bad, like, really bad. For the second season in a row, the Canucks came back with the same underachieving defence group that they had in the 2017-18 season. This included names like Stanley Cup champion Michael Del Zotto and Erik Gudbranson, both of whom are no longer a part of the team.
It had the often injured Alex Edler and Chris Tanev playing big minutes as the team’s top pairing, and it had Ben Hutton and Troy Stecher playing 30 minutes a night at one point during the season. If that doesn’t get my point across, I don’t know what will. While both Hutton and Stecher performed relatively well in that role, they just aren’t top-line players.
It showed the lack of depth on the Canucks last season when it comes to defencemen and they addressed that this offseason by adding Tyler Myers, Jordie Benn, and Oscar Fantenberg in free agency. Someone else who will greatly improve the defence right from opening night is rookie Quinn Hughes. The Canucks haven’t had a defenceman of Hughes’ calibre in years, and as we saw for a limited time last season, he will have a very positive effect on the Canucks’ power play.
Not to mention the fact that Myers is coming off a nine-goal season with the Winnipeg Jets, in which he played a more limited role than the one he’ll likely be in with the Canucks. The Canucks added proven talent to their blueline this offseason, and as a result, fans should be happy. That being said, it is completely fair for fans to worry about the length of Myers’ deal. Nonetheless, the Canucks are now a better team than they were last season.
How to Improve
Really, this last part should be called “Where to go from here” because believe it or not, the Canucks still have some seriously talented young blueliners in their prospect pool. This includes names such as Jett Woo, Jack Rathbone, and most notably Olli Juolevi, who we’ll likely see make his NHL debut at some point this season.
Fans of the team could go on and on if you asked them how the Canucks could improve their defence just a year ago. The team needed to move on from defencemen such as Michael Del Zotto, Erik Gudbranson, and Derrick Pouliot. Those three, in particular, did not fit in with the Canucks’ system and looked lost in their own end a lot of the time. The Canucks clearly felt the same, as they said goodbye to all three of those players, along with Ben Hutton.
With those four players leaving the Canucks, the team will now have Jordie Benn, Tyler Myers, and Quinn Hughes fill in the spots left behind. The following is a graph I created that showcases the Corsi For % at Even Strength of three players who were in the lineup opening night of last year, to the three players who will fill the spots left behind by them.
A graph I made showcasing the Corsi of #Canucks defencemen who were in the lineup opening night last year, compared to who will be replacing them this year. #HowBadIsIt? pic.twitter.com/AD4mEkcMnn
— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) July 29, 2019
Obviously, Hughes’ Corsi is a bit inflated for two reasons; the small sample size, and the favourable situations Canucks’ head coach Travis Green was trying to put the young defenceman in. Nonetheless, the point is clear; Hughes, along with Myers and Benn are upgrades over Hutton, Gudbranson, and Pouliot.
I know a lot of you are wary of putting too much into analytics, but in a game where the goal is to put the puck into the back of your opponent’s net as much as possible, it’s good to have control of said puck more often than not. The three newest Canuck defencemen are a solid upgrade in that department, and I for one, am extremely excited to see the new-look defence.
So yet again, let’s ask the question, how bad is it? It’s hardly bad at all — it’s surely an improvement, a rather substantial improvement, too. Sure, the Canucks may not have the best defence corps in the league, but we must remember that as more and more prospects continue to develop, the young defencemen who can help this team one day win the Stanley Cup will begin to reveal themselves.