Canucks: Analyzing their 5-on-5 play so far this season

The Vancouver Canucks are leading the Pacific Division at the All-Star Break. But just how good are they? Let’s take a deep dive .

The Vancouver Canucks lead the Pacific Division heading into the All Star break, and it feels like it’s been forever since that last happened.

This team has had its ups and downs throughout the yea, but they’ve been competitive in every single game. Last year, they were just 25th in goals for and 20th in goals against.

Vancouver has scored 43 power play goals this year, second most in the NHL. But more importantly, have they improved at 5-on-5? And is the penalty kill more effective this year?

I will try to answer these questions in my next three articles. One about the power play, one about the penalty kill and this one on how they look at even strength.

With just over half the season played Vancouver has scored 111 even strength goals which surprisingly in only good for 20th in the league. I broke those 111 goals down into the months the Canucks have played this year, and found there was only one month (November) where they were were outscored 5-on-5.

Breaking it into months did not satisfy my craving of how well the team is doing, so I went through all the line combinations that the team has thrown out so far this year.

I laid out how effective each line and defensive pairing has been. This is what I found.

Shotgunning the Lotto Line

J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser has been one of the most effective lines for head coach Travis Green. They control the play for 58.81 percent of the shots when they are on the ice together, per Natural Stat Trick, and they’ve outscored their opponents 26 to 13 so far this season. The addition of Miller has been the x-factor our top line was missing.

Not only does he have the grit and forecheck this line needed, but his ability to start and finish plays have been amazing to watch. Miller is on track for career-highs in goals and assists. He also has been an absolute beast in the faceoff circle winning, winning 59.3 percent of them.

Recently, we have seen Jake Virtanen take over Boeser spot on the top line, and so far, so good. The small sample size we have of them playing together (62 minutes), and they’ve posted a remarkable 65.44 Corsi For percentage while outscoring teams 2-1. It is a lower scoring rate then with Boeser, but it should eventually balance out.

What makes Virtanen work so well with this line? The first thing that comes to mind is his speed. Virtanen forces the defence to back up when he enters the offensive zone, giving Pettersson more space to set up. He also uses it  to be the first one in on the forecheck.

Virtanen’s hockey sense is another reason why he fits in. His ability to read the plays and intercept pucks has been a real joy to watch, and Virtanen is starting to look like the power forward we were hoping for when he was drafted.

Brandon Sutter down

The Canucks fourth line has one job, and that’s to shut down the opposition’s best line.

For a large part of the season, the shut down line has been Tyler Motte, Jay Beagle and Tim Schaller. This line has only has a 38.31 Corsi For percentage%, and they’ve been outscored 8-3. To be fair, this line only starts in the offensive zone 19.7 percent of the time.

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Having a fourth line centre like Beagle is great, since he brings some physicality, and like Miller, he wins a ton of faceoffs. Motte led the Canucks last year with 200 hits, but other than his physicality, he has a heavy wrist shot that we get to see from time to time.

Brandon Sutter replaced Schaller on the line after coming back from injury, but they’ve only played 30:16 together. It’s difficult at this point to say if there’s been an improvement or not. There are a few things I like more about Sutter then Schaller.

For one, Sutter adds more speed to this line, and he has the ability to score double-digit goals. He’s more defensively sound than Schaller, too. It would be great to see this line click more, and hopefully they’ll get more puck luck.

Bonus lines

While the line of Peason-Horvat-Eriksson has been effective,  there was two wingers that had some great chemistry with Horvat for the little time they got to play together.

Those wingers were Leivo and Virtanen.

Though Leivo is sidelined for most of the remainder of the season, it would be interesting to see if this line can reconnect before going into the playoffs. This line has only played 19:43 together, but during that time, they racked up a 71.43 Corsi For percentage, they’ve outscored opponents 2-0.

I understand that it would be crazy to think they could keep that pace up long-term, but even if it Their CF% fell down to around 53 percent, it would still be good enough.

Now, let’s take a look at the defence.

Hughes in control

Without a doubt, Quinn Hughes has been the team’s best defenseman this year. Every aspect of his game has been so much fun to watch, but which defence partner has worked out the best for the 20-year-old?

Hughes has spent most of the season partnered with Christopher Tanev. While playing together, they have posted a Corsi For percentage of 50.24, but they’ve been outscored 16 to 23. Tanev was my first pick as to who would be the most beneficial to Hughes, due to how responsible he is in his own end.

The other defensive partner Hughes has spent time with is Tyler Myers. When they are paired together, Hughes and Myers boast a 56.81 Corsi For percentage, and they’ve outscored the opponent 17-10.

Both Myers and Hughes bring offense, and they both like to pinch in the offensive zone, which may explain why they control the play more than when Hughes plays with Tanev. Myers is also reliable enough that, for the most part, is capable of getting back in position if caught pinching.

Flying like an Eagle

Alexander Edler, for a large part of the seaso, n has had Myers as his defence partner. To clarify, Myers has spent of 360:18 together with Edler, and 254:28 with Hughes.

Now, when Myers and Edler have played together recorded a 53.31 Corsi For percentage, though they have been outscored 17-15.

The other player that has seen a lot of time with Edler is Troy Stecher. While they are paired together, Canucks have scored nine goals while allowing eight. While they haven’t controlled the play as much, I’d like this pairing since they’re both two-way defencemen who know when to hold the line or when to back off.

Benn there, done that

In the offseason, the Canucks really wanted to improve the blue line, so they went out and signed three UFAs inMyers, Jordie Benn and Oscar Fantenberg.

For most of this season, Fantenberg was a serviceable No. 7 defencemen. But when injuries on the back end started to happen, and he had a chance to play, Fantenberg made it count and has taken Benn’s spot.

Thee person who has played the most with Fantenberg is Myers. The bad news is that this pairing wasn’t working out well, which is fine because Myers has good chemistry with the other two left defencemen.

Now, both Tanev and Stecher have played with Fantenberg for roughly the same amount of time but because of how well Stecher plays with Edler. I would say Tanev makes the most sense to play with Fantenberg.

While paired up together, the puck possession numbers haven’t been pretty, but the Canucks have outscored opponents 2-1. It’s worth mentioning that they have only started in the offensive zone 16.67% of the time, too.

I do think that this could be a good pairing for the Canucks, because like Tanev, Fantenberg isn’t afraid to block shots. Through 21 games, he’s already blocked 33 and the 21 games. Another part of his game I really like is his physicality and toughness. It will be fun to see how this pairing develops once they get more time together.

These line combinations and defensive pairings have been a big improvement compared to last year, and it’s great to see that the Canucks are carrying the play for the most part. Hopefully, the rest of the season will be just as fun, and hopefully we’ll see this team reach the postseason.