Canucks: Is head coach Travis Green on the hot seat?
The Vancouver Canucks are in the midst of a brutal slump. If this continues, will head coach Travis Green start feeling the heat?
Remember when the Vancouver Canucks soundly defeated the San Jose Sharks 5-2 back on Nov. 2, thus moving to 9-3-2 on the season? That feels like a lifetime ago.
Once again, Vancouver has rapidly unraveled in the month of November. Tuesday’s ugly 6-1 road loss to the Dallas Stars marked the Canucks’ third straight loss, and a seventh defeat in the last eight games.
With that, the Canucks sit at a mere 10-8-4 on the season. The Vegas Golden Knights have moved ahead to place third in the Pacific Division, and Vancouver is only one point up on the Calgary Flames for the final wild card spot in the Western Conference.
The Chicago Blackhawks and Anaheim Ducks are both just two points behind Vancouver (22 points). The San Jose Sharks and Nashville Predators aren’t far behind with 21 points apiece. Needless to say, the pressure is mounting in Vancouver.
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If things continue to spiral out of control, should general manager Jim Benning look at a change behind the bench, or should head coach Travis Green at least finish out the year?
Vancouver simply has too much talent to be struggling this much. They have some of the game’s premier young stars, quality depth at forward and a top-tier goaltending duo in Jacob Markstrom and Thatcher Demko.
The Canucks have the NHL’s fourth-best 5-on-5 Corsi For percentage at 53 percent, via NaturalStatTrick. Their Expected Goals For percentage is at 53.10 percent, which places them fifth.
Clearly, the team just hasn’t gotten enough bounces and puck luck as of late. But that doesn’t mean that the recent results are acceptable. Something is going to have to change on the ice.
No, it’s not always on the coach when the team is struggling. But the St. Louis Blues went from worst in the league to Stanley Cup champions after replacing Mike Yeo with Craig Berube last season.
Sidney Crosby‘s Pittsburgh Penguins stood at just 15-10-3 through 28 games in 2015-16. They fired Mike Johnston and hired Mike Sullivan to take over. All the Pens did from there was win consecutive Stanley Cups.
The point here is that sometimes, a team just needs a fresh voice behind the bench. New leadership, a different system and a new breath of fresh air.
If the Canucks keep struggling, a coaching change may be Benning’s only option. He doesn’t have the cap space nor resources to make a big trade, especially after surrendering a future first rounder to land J.T. Miller from the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Next. Canucks must take advantage of their division. dark
That said, I don’t think the Canucks should consider firing Green yet. But if the team hasn’t picked it up by the new year, I don’t think Benning will have much of a choice. Vancouver will have to do something drastic, because following a summer of roster reinforcements, they’re now out of excuses..