Canucks: 3 reasons the team didn’t qualify for the playoffs
Once again, the Vancouver Canucks are on the outside looking in.
The team failed to qualify for the playoffs this season, marking the fifth time in the past seven years. They finished the 2020-21 campaign with a record of 23-29-4, good for last in the Scotia North Division, and 24th in the league standings. They finished nine points behind the Montreal Canadiens for the fourth and final playoff spot in the division.
It was one of the more disastrous seasons in franchise history, with the team essentially crawling their way to the finish line at the end of the season.
Of course, most of the physical and mental exhaustion that plagued the players was a direct result of their team-wide COVID-19 outbreak, which put the entire organization out of commission for just under a month. Upon return, the team was subjected to 19 games in 32 days, including 5 back-to-back sets. 11 of those contests took place on the road, and their final four games happened while the playoffs were going on.
Talk about a nightmare.
However, COVID-19 aside, the team was still dealing with a plethora of other problems that severely hampered their chances of qualifying for the playoffs. Even if the Canucks were completely healthy and were able to play on a normal schedule, there was still a very likely possibility that the team was going to find themselves on the sidelines going into the offseason.
Let’s take a look at three reasons why the Canucks didn’t qualify for the playoffs this year:
A February to forget
Most unsuccessful teams can pinpoint exactly where their season went wrong. For the Canucks, they can just look at the entire month of February.
Prior to that, the Canucks were putting together some decent hockey in January, especially considering their truncated training camp schedule. The team posted seven victories over 11 contests, including a four-game winning streak to end out the month, and, as expected, were right in the thick of the battle for the fourth and final playoff spot in their division.
It all went downhill from there.
The Canucks’ were picked apart in February, and their defensive struggles were put on full display against their superior opponents. The team recorded a dismal record of 2-9-2, and were outscored by a margin of 48-41 over that span. They recorded two separate losing streaks of four or more games, and were limited to one or fewer goals on six separate occasions.
They collected six out of a possible 26 points, and plummeted to the basement of their division as a result.
The team posted a decent record afterwards, going 15-15-2 in their remaining 32 games of the year. As we all know, however, they still finished nine points out of a playoff spot.
At the end of the day, we’ll never know if the Canucks would’ve been able to make a strong push for the playoffs in normal circumstances.
But, even if they were able to complete their remaining contests on a normal schedule, without their mortifying team-wide COVID-19 outbreak and multiple back-to-back sets having an effect, it would’ve been hard for the Canucks to climb out of the hole that they had dug for themselves in February.
Elias Pettersson injury
Man, did we miss Elias Pettersson this year.
The 22-year-old suffered a wrist injury on March 1st during a contest against the Winnipeg Jets. Pettersson was initially labelled as day-to-day, but he was eventually moved to long-term injury reserve as his treatment progressed. He stayed there for the remainder of the season, only playing in 26 games as a result.
Pettersson did struggle out of the gate prior to the injury, only recording two points in his first 8 games. He was able to bounce back nicely, putting up 19 points in his remaining 18 games, including five multi-point performances, and appeared poised to ride this momentum for the rest of the year.
Of course, teams often don’t find success when relying on only one player (just ask the Edmonton Oilers), but there’s no denying the value that Pettersson has on this team when he’s in the line-up.
Outside of Pettersson, only six other players cracked the 20-point plateau on the roster, with two of them coming from the blueline in Quinn Hughes and Tyler Myers. With Pettersson unavailable, head coach Travis Green was also forced to experiment with different players in his top six forward group, resorting to lower-tier players like Jimmy Vesey and Jake Virtanen.
The powerplay also hit a wall without the elite sniper.
The Canucks finished with the seventh-worst powerplay in the league, posting a success rate of 17.33%. Most of the man advantage struggles can be chalked up to poor zone entry and puck cycling, but there were also a handful of moments where the team really could’ve used Pettersson’s elite finishing abilities.
And, of course, we can’t forget the seven-game stretch where the team went 0-for-21 on the powerplay.
To put it in perspective, the Canucks’ powerplay clicked at 24.12% last year, good for fourth-best in the league. Pettersson chipped in with eight goals and 14 assists over that span. In his 26 games played this season, he had already contributed four tallies, and would’ve likely led the team in powerplay goals had he stayed healthy.
Fortunately, all signs are pointing towards a smooth start to next season for Pettersson, and the former Calder Trophy winner even indicated himself that his wrist is almost at 100%. That’s good news for the fanbase, who are just hoping that their team can find more ways to put the puck in the back of the net next year.
And there’s no doubt that EP40 will definitely help with that.
Bottom six nowhere to be seen
It’s no surprise that the bottom half of the Canucks’ roster struggled mightily this past season.
For starters, the team seemed to be changing their third and fourth lines on a nightly basis, with players moving in and out of the line-up like clockwork. Throughout 56 games, head coach Travis Green dressed 14 different players in his bottom six. Those players combined for a measly 51 points over that span.
Aside from Tyler Motte, who was limited to only 24 games this year, every other spot in the bottom six was up for grabs every game, but no one was really able to hold onto it and make a significant, long-term contribution.
The Canucks’ third-line centre woes continued to be a glaring issue. Before being traded at the deadline, forward Adam Gaudette was only able to put up four goals and three assists in 33 games, to go along with a minus 13 rating.
On paper, Brandon Sutter appeared to be an upgrade, recording 12 points in 43 games, as well as a face-off win percentage of 55.53, but he also spent time on the wings, and had yet another season cut short by injury. Same goes for Antoine Roussel and Jay Beagle, who missed a combined 47 games throughout the year.
Both Vesey and Travis Boyd were a bust after being claimed off of waivers, combining for five points in 39 games. What’s even worse is that three of those points happened in the last four games of the season, when the team was essentially mathematically eliminated from the playoffs.
Of course, there were some bright spots.
Jayce Hawyrluk was able to do a decent Motte impression, providing energy and grit at both even strength and on the penalty kill while Motte was injured. Tyler Graovac played the fourth line centre role well, and was able to record four points in 14 games as an added bonus.
Fans were also able to get their first looks at some of the team’s highly-anticipated forward prospects, including Jonah Gadjovich, Kole Lind and Will Lockwood. None of them made their way onto the scoresheet, but that wasn’t necessarily expected of them. The trio were finally able to get their feet wet at an NHL level, and we’re all hoping that they’ll be able to continue their development with the Canucks next season.
At the end of the day, the bottom six did have its moments, but that wasn’t good enough. The most successful teams are able to run four lines on a nightly basis and, at this point, the Canucks are just hoping that their third and fourth lines can just find some consistency.
Next. 3 takeaways from the year-end media availability. dark
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