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Canucks: What to expect from the powerplay next season

By Zaahid Lalani

EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 12: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks (3rd from left) celebrates his power-play goal at 4:29 of the first period against the St. Louis Blues in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 12, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)
EDMONTON, ALBERTA - AUGUST 12: Bo Horvat #53 of the Vancouver Canucks (3rd from left) celebrates his power-play goal at 4:29 of the first period against the St. Louis Blues in Game One of the Western Conference First Round during the 2020 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs at Rogers Place on August 12, 2020 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) /
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Vancouver Canucks. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Vancouver Canucks. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images) /

The Vancouver Canucks’ powerplay will play a huge role in where they finish in the standings this season.

Vancouver Canucks hockey is officially back. On December 20th, 2020, the NHL and the NHLPA finalized their agreement to play a 56-game season, with the puck dropping on Wednesday, January 13th, 2021. The shortened season will have four realigned divisions, including a division for all seven Canadian teams. Only the top four teams in each division will qualify for the playoffs.

All 31 teams received their official schedule of games just over a week ago. As expected, teams will be playing each divisional opponent as many as ten times throughout the season, with the league adopting a format similar to Major League Baseball.

In other words, the Canucks are about to get real cozy with the other six teams north of the border.

After losing key players to free agency in October, it is no surprise that the Canucks have taken a step back from how they played last year, particularly in the playoffs. Fortunately, this upcoming season will be a brand new situation for all 31 teams, and there will be many factors that could drastically affect where teams will place in the standings.

In particular, the Canucks will need to focus on their powerplay.

Before the 2019-2020 season was paused due to concerns surrounding the coronavirus, the Canucks were one of the best teams in the league on the man advantage. They scored 57 powerplay goals in 69 games and were able to convert on 24.2% of their chances overall, trailing only the Edmonton Oilers, Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues.

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This success was, in large part, due to their first powerplay unit, which was led by franchise superstars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Pettersson registered 8 goals and 16 assists while on the man advantage, and Hughes broke the rookie record for most powerplay points in a season. This top unit also had strong contributions from newcomer J.T. Miller and captain Bo Horvat.

However, the Canucks had trouble with consistent scoring while on the man advantage, particularly in the bubble. After scoring 11 powerplay goals in the first two series against the Minnesota Wild and the St. Louis Blues, the Canucks only scored three in seven games against the Vegas Golden Knights, with no tallies registered in the final three games.

They were eliminated in seven games.

So what will the Canucks’ powerplay look like this season?

The first item to focus on should be the loss of Tyler Toffoli.

Although his sample size was quite small with the team, Toffoli had undoubtedly found chemistry on the top line with Pettersson and Miller, and it was starting to reflect on the powerplay as well. Toffoli replaced an injured Brock Boeser on the top unit after being acquired at the trade deadline, and he gave head coach Travis Green an opportunity to create more balance between his two units once Boeser returned to the lineup.

This was short-lived.

Toffoli only played 17 games with the Canucks before signing a new deal with the Montreal Canadiens in October, leaving fans wondering what he could’ve brought to the table had he stayed with the Canucks organization.

There are also still question marks surrounding the status of Micheal Ferland.

Ferland, who signed with the Canucks in July 2019, has been dealing with recurring concussion-related issues, and only played two games in the bubble as a result. Although there has been no official word from management, many believe he could be placed on LTIR before the season starts to help with a full recovery.

Ferland, who put up 40 points in 2018-2019 with the Carolina Hurricanes, hasn’t delivered the hard-hitting and tough style of play that was expected of him, but could still be a productive player on the powerplay when healthy.

Despite these losses, the line combinations for the two units are expected to look fairly similar to last year. Boeser, who missed the majority of the end of last season with a rib cartilage fracture, should reclaim his spot on the first unit, alongside Horvat, Miller, Pettersson and Hughes.

The forward trio of Tanner Pearson, Adam Gaudette and Jake Virtanen should land back on the second unit. Pearson is set to be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, and both Virtanen and Gaudette are entering the first year of their new contracts, so all three players will be looking to prove their worth.

The most noticeable change, however, will most likely take place on the backend.

Enter Nate Schmidt.

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