North Division: How the Canucks stack up against the Flames
The Vancouver Canucks have been placed in an all-Canadian division for the upcoming season, but how do they compare against the Calgary Flames?
With the Canadian division officially set, The Canuck Way will be taking a look at how Vancouver stacks up against every other team in the division over the next several days.
Consisting of all Canadian teams, the Vancouver Canucks will enter the North Division for the entire duration of the 2021 NHL regular season. With a 56-game schedule slated against six other teams, you just know that the Canucks will get real up-close and personal with their Alberta rivals, the Calgary Flames.
Both teams defeated their opponents during the 2020 Play-in round, but it was only the Canucks that managed to make it out of Round 1. Vancouver downed the defending Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues, but the Flames lost out to the Dallas Stars (who made the finals).
Notable changes were made to both rosters over the course of the offseason, but for the Canucks, they lost a lot of talented players because the Flames swooped in and were able to offer them more money. In fact, Calgary signed MVP goalie Jacob Markstrom, veteran defender Chris Tanev, a depth forward Josh Leivo and backup goalie Louis Domingue. So you know this rivalry is going to be jam-packed!
How the offence stacks up
The Canucks were the eighth-best offensive team in the NHL last season after averaging 3.25 goals per game. The Flames, on the other hand, struggled to produce and were a “middle of the pack” kind of team finishing 20th overall with 2.91 goals per game average.
However, not only did the Canucks lose offensive talent in Tyler Toffoli and Leivo, but they lost good players at each position who added salt to the wound of their departure by inking multi-year deals with the team’s closest geographical rival, the Flames.
It’ll be very interesting to see these teams battle it out offensively through the course of eight, nine or 10 games. Vancouver should be expecting a drop in goals per game, as the Flames should expect a slight increase, making for some entertaining hockey between these two clubs.
Both teams have an electric top-six that can pop-off at any given time, but the winner of this season series likely comes down to which team’s star players provide more offence?
How the defence stacks up
Although the Canucks lost Tanev in free agency and are likely to be rolling out a rookie defender on their bottom pairing, management believes the team got better on the blueline with the addition of Nate Schmidt. He instantly becomes the team’s second-best defender and gives Vancouver a deadly 1-2 punch on the back end that they’ve truly never had before.
As for the Flames, they’ll be happy to not be up against the puck-blocker himself, but they’ve lost five defenders this offseason and their blueline may take time to adjust. T.J. Brodie, Erik Gustafsson, along with Travis Hamonic, Derek Forbort and Michael Stone. However, they’ve still got Mark Giordano and Noah Hanafin.
It’s clear both teams have a pretty solid top four blueline and the advantage might come down to which bottom pairing can outplay the other. Either that or whichever blueline can stay healthy. I give a slight advantage to the Canucks, but with Markstrom in goal for the Flames, that can change very quickly.
How the goalies stack up
There is no hiding the fact that the Flames were more than happy to take the Canucks’ back-to-back MVP off the market. It was a win-win situation that not only solved all their goaltending issues for the foreseeable future but also landed them the best available option.
It means a bitter-sweet good-bye for the Canucks, but management is keen on Braden Holtby and Thatcher Demko being a very solid rotation. How could they not be? Demko stole the spotlight in a 4-game playoff performance where he registered a mind-blowing 125 saves on 128 shots.
Holtby, on the other hand, had himself an off-year. However, he’s only two years removed from a Stanley Cup and he’s excited to get going again under Vancouver’s highly praised goalie coach, Ian Clark. Here’s what he said.
“It was definitely big. I know how far a good relationship and talent of a goalie coach can go, so it was definitely a big part of really wanting to come to Vancouver and have a good chance of success.”
Clark is a big asset to Vancouver and he’s helped raise a lot of talented young goaltenders. Every goalie he’s coached in the Canucks system has gone on to be a really great NHL goaltender. For that, I give the edge to the Flames and Markstrom, but by years end it could be a completely different story.
Should be equally as interesting to see what a year away from Clark will do for Markstrom, as it will be to see what Clark can do to better the overall game of Holtby and Demko. Together they could be the North division’s best duo after 56 games.
How special teams compare
The Canucks were better than average when looking at their special teams as a whole, but it was their fourth-best ranked power play (24.2%) that helped average out their 16th-placed penalty kill (80.5%).
With a carousel of offensive power, Vancouver was an unstoppable force on the man-advantage and by adding Hughes they completely took off. Not only did they have an Ovechkin-like shot in Pettersson, but the team had it all in net-front presence Bo Horvat, board-man Brock Boeser and the pivotal J.T. Miller. But it was all perfectly run by their rookie defender.
As for the Flames, they ranked 12th on the power play (21.2%) and 8th on the penalty kill (82.1%). Tkachuk, Monahan and Johhny Gaudreau make up the bulk of the man advantage, but it’s possible Leivo could help boost their second units both on the PP and the PK.
The Canucks have the better power play. The Flames have a better penalty kill. The special teams crown at this point is a toss-up which only time will tell.
Players to watch
Demko: Coming off an incredible showing at the 2020 NHL Playoffs, the 24-year-old netminder is going to be giving it all he’s got in terms of defeating his former mentor and proving he’s the right man for the starting role in Vancouver.
Markstrom: He wanted to stay in Vancouver and the Canucks wanted him to stay as well. Unfortunately, that was unable to become a reality and now Markstrom will be striving to stick it to his former teammates.
Next. Canucks Minor News: details about divisions, Christmas singing and more. dark
Stay tuned… The Canuck Way has a lot more in store for the North division preview!