Canucks: Who is the team MVP after first two months?
By Alex Hoegler
The Vancouver Canucks have been carried by two goaltenders, a rookie blueliner and four big-time scorers. So who’s the team MVP through two months?
Just about everything was going right for the Vancouver Canucks in the month of October, but once November came along, that hot start was practically washed away.
Vancouver enters play on Saturday night with a 12-10-4 record, now one point behind the San Jose Sharks for the second wild card spot — and seven behind the Edmonton Oilers for tops in the Pacific Division.
But we’re barely past the quarter mark of the season, and there’s a lot of time for head coach Travis Green and his team to turn this thing around. If Vancouver hasn’t regained its October form by the end of November, then there’s good reason to worry.
Now, if the season ended today, who would take home the team MVP award? Last year’s winner, Jacob Markstrom, has posted slightly better numbers thus far compared to 2018-19. He has a .913 save percentage and a 2.72 goals against average (2.77 last year).
That said, backup Thatcher Demko has performed almost as well as Markstrom. He’s 5-4-1 with a 2.92 goals against average and a .907 save percentage. Those numbers are better if you forget about the seven goals he allowed against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday.
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However, it’s hard to give the team MVP award to either Markstrom or Demko. The former has only made six more starts, and his play hasn’t been that much better than Demko’s up to this point.
Bo Horvat (eight goals, 20 points), J.T. Miller (12 goals, 26 points) and Brock Boeser (10 goals, 24 points) all have cases as well. However, it’s hard to argue that either guy has been more valuable than Elias Pettersson, who leads the team with 31 points — with 16 of them coming on the power play.
The main challenger to Pettersson is rookie sensation and blueliner Quinn Hughes, who has a whopping 21 points in 25 games thus far. Only Colorado Avalanche defenceman Cale Makar (26 points) is ahead of Hughes in the Calder Trophy race.
So let’s move this MVP race down to Pettersson and Boeser. Who would win it if a team award ceremony were held today?
Their puck possession numbers are both strong, but Pettersson has a slight edge with a 56.6 Corsi For percentage, compared to Hughes’ 54.8. Pettersson has recorded 14 takeaways and as many giveaways. Hughes actually has 20 giveaways compared to 10 takeaways.
Both players are doing plenty of damage with the man advantage.13 of Hughes’ 21 points have come from there. As detailed above, 16 of Pettersson’s 31 points this season have occurred on the power play.
Verdict
Of course, stats don’t always tell the story. Both superstars completely take over the game with their speed and puck-moving skills. We’ve simply never seen a defenceman like Hughes here on the west coast.
But through the first two months of the season, I’m going to have to give this one to Pettersson, by a very slim margin.
He’s engineering a vastly improved offence that ranks 10th in goals (compared to 25th last year). And of course, he’s turned 26-year-old Miller into a point-per-game player. That cannot be overlooked.
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Without Pettersson, the Vancouver offence would be near the bottom of the league yet again. But thanks to the efforts of No. 40, scoring hasn’t been a problem on the west coast — and he has the team right in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. That’s why if the season ended today, he would be my pick for Canucks MVP.