Canucks: What does Conor Garland bring to the team?

The Vancouver Canucks made quite a splash on draft day.

On Friday afternoon, the team sent forwards Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle and Antoine Roussel, as well as a 2022 second-round pick, a 2023 seventh-round pick and the ninth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft to the Arizona Coyotes. In return, Vancouver received defenceman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and winger Conor Garland.

Of course, Ekman-Larsson is the biggest name in the trade, especially having been linked to Vancouver for the past year. However, it’s just as important to focus on Garland, who should be a welcomed addition to the Canucks’ top-six.

Garland was selected 123rd overall in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft by the Coyotes. The Scituate, Massachusetts native made his NHL debut in the 2018-19 season, notching 18 points in 45 games. He has been able to improve upon his point totals over the past two years, registering 12 goals and 27 assists in 49 games during the 2020-21 campaign. During an 82-game season, Garland would’ve been on pace for 20 goals and 45 assists.

He also scored a career-high 22 goals in 2019-20, and even managed to put up six goals and seven assists in 10 games for Team USA at the highly-competitive World Championship tournament last May.

Although not the biggest player at only 5’10” and 165 pounds, Garland is still able to create a strong net-front presence, and has been known to score gritty, hard-working goals.

He also spoke to the media shortly after the trade went down on Friday.

“They already have a great group of guys there, and I feel like I’m at a pretty good place where I can just come in and try to help them be a little bit better,” said Garland. “For me, I feel like I’m just starting. I’ve only played 160 games and last year was the first year I really felt comfortable.”

Garland also spoke about his new teammates in Vancouver.

“They’ve got two great centremen here, and they just traded for Jason Dickinson who’s another great centre,” Garland mentioned. “I was a huge fan of (Elias) Pettersson in his first year in the league. He reverse hit me on my first shift in Vancouver. To be able to play with a guy like Pettersson or (Bo) Horvat is going to help a ton. There’s a lot of excitement now. I mean, it’s really kind of the first time I’m going into the year where you know you’ve got a real shot at competing for a Stanley Cup. It feels like we’re coming in with some high expectations, and me and Oliver are really excited to be able to go in and play with this young core and help them get better.”

Let’s take a closer look at Garland’s game and what he brings to the Canucks.

Does Garland pass the eye test?

Most fans have been focusing on what Benning had to give up in order to execute the massive contract dump (and rightfully so), but being able to snag Garland in return should be considered a big win for management. The 25-year-old should be able to slot right away into the Canucks top-six forward group, and could be a great long-term winger for Horvat on the second line.

Garland can also bring some scoring to the second powerplay unit. He was tied for third in powerplay scoring amongst the Coyotes last year with ten points, despite missing seven games due to injury.

Here is a highlight pack of Garland from this past season.

As you can see, Garland brings speed and agility to his game, as well as slick play-making and stick-handling skills.  His smooth skating makes him so elusive, especially when he is carrying the puck out of the neutral zone. Opponents often have to be extra mindful when Garland is on the ice, as he has a knack for quickly taking the puck away, and loves taking advantage of turnovers.

You can often see Garland in front of or around the net so he can capitalize on rebounds or set up a teammate with an easy, high-danger pass. His shot isn’t too bad, either.

Forechecking is also a strong suit of Garland. He uses his speed to close down the space on dump-and-chase plays, and can create pressure-filled situations for his opponents with his sound defensive fundamentals and good reach with the stick.

Garland can also showcase fancy moves from time to time. Here is a clip of him scoring a highlight-reel goal after flipping the puck to himself and batting it out of mid-air.

Garland brings a nice combination of speed, skill and grit to the Canucks’ lineup, and instantly makes their forward group much more lethal.

How does he stack up in the analytics community?

Much like the eye-test, analytics favour Garland as well, as indicated by the models below from JFresh and from Harman Dayal of The Athletic.

These analytical breakdowns indicate that Garland is a consistent offensive contributor with strong play-driving abilities that should only get better over the next few years.

His Corsi For (CF) percentage from his first three NHL seasons have also been fairly impressive, especially considering the team he was playing for.

As per Natural Stat Trick, Garland also posted an Expected Goals percentage of 52.70%, in addition to a High Danger Corsi For (HDCF) percentage of 53.88%. His numbers could potentially be much better when playing for Vancouver instead.

At the end of the day, despite giving up their second consecutive first-round pick, the Canucks were able to acquire a gritty, highly-skilled top-six forward in Garland. The 25-year-old is just coming off of a two-year deal worth $775,000 per season, and will likely command a big raise in the ballpark of $4.5 to 5 million AAV.

It will be another item to add to Benning’s to-do list, but one that will definitely pay off in the future for Vancouver’s young and exciting forward group.

What are your thoughts on Conor Garland? Let us know in the comments!