Canucks: 10 things we learned from the first 10 games

The Vancouver Canucks have already played ten games of the 2021-22 NHL season and like the Sonic the Hedgehog video games, it has been full of ups and downs.

Through ten games the Canucks sit at a 4-5-1 record and finally got their first win at home in a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over the New York Rangers. That put an end to a three-game losing streak.

There has been some good and some bad that has come out of the Canucks season so far.

It hasn’t been a spectacular start to the season and it hasn’t been a horrible start to the season either.

Let’s take a look at the highlights and lowlights of Vancouver’s first ten games and see what we learned.

1. Thatcher Demko looking like the Canucks MVP

Thatcher Demko put up stellar performances in the bubble against the Vegas Golden Knights and in March of last season before the COVID-19 outbreak derailed things.

It is Demko’s first full season as a starter after being the backup to Jacob Markstrom and sharing the crease with Braden Holtby.

So far, he has impressed. The San Diego native is an early front runner for team MVP.

Demko has made some incredible saves and has helped the Canucks stay close in games where they were being outplayed.

Against the Rangers, he made his best save as a Canuck to date.

With New York threatening on the power play, Artemi Panarin tried to beat Demko who was without his blocker and stick. Demko made the save with his leg. Potential save of the year right here.

It looks like Thatcher Demko is proving that he can handle being the number one and he will start to emerge as one of the top netminders in the NHL.

5. The offence has had dry spells

The Canucks offence looks like it could score plenty of goals. However, there were times where they looked drier than the Sahara Desert.

While the goals did come on the six-game road trip, they were almost non-existent during the homestand.

The Canucks are 20th in goals for with 24 on the season. (At all strengths.) They are 25th in expected goals for with 14.03 and 27th in scoring chances with 175. They are also second-last in the NHL in High Danger Corsi for percentage of 42.11%.

The Canucks also need players like Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Miller to get on the scoresheet.

It’s simply not good enough for the offence and it needs to come back quickly. Fortunately, the Canucks managed to net three against the Rangers so that could be a sign.

6. Quinn Hughes looks better defensively

Quinn Hughes had a tough sophomore season which saw him be very bad defensively.

So far, he hasn’t looked as bad as he was last season.

It looks like we are getting the rookie version of Hughes back. His transitions up the ice were very good, he wasn’t getting walked easily by opponents and has made some good defensive plays.

One example is here against the Rangers where he made an excellent backcheck stopping a scoring chance from Kevin Rooney.

https://twitter.com/RobTheHockeyGuy/status/1455724763687493640

Hughes did not play the game in Buffalo due to injury and the defence was a total mess without him.

He is important to the back end for the Canucks and looks like a different player defensively from last season.

7.The power play is powerless

One thing that has been very frustrating in the first ten games is the power play.

Vancouver’s man advantage is 24th in the league at 15.8%.

The Canucks power play went zero for six Tuesday night against the Rangers. Yikes.

The power play has been passing too much and not taking a lot of shots. They have also looked stagnant, predictable, and not very creative.

Vancouver has been getting a lot of opportunities but has not been cashing in on them.

Head coach Travis Green has been mixing up the two units to get something going. Unfortunately, nothing has worked so far.

Watching the Canucks power play has been like watching a Hallmark movie. Boring, predictable and just makes you want to sigh out loud.

8. The penalty kill is killing the Canucks

Is the penalty kill better than the power play? The answer is a resounding No.

Vancouver’s penalty kill is ranked 28th in the NHL at 70%. Without Demko, it would be much worse.

While the Canucks went 0/6 on the power play, they went 2/5 on the kill and the Rangers scored early on their man advantages.

The penalty killers lack speed and aren’t aggressive enough to attack the penalty killers. They also get caught napping on cross-crease passes.

Sure, missing penalty-killing specialists Tyler Motte and Brandon Sutter are factors but the penalty kill has to be better.

9.Vasily Podkolzin looks fine despite limited ice time.

There was some hype among Canucks fans for Vasily Podkolzin’s arrival two years after he has was drafted.

The young Russian has been given limited ice time from Green and hasn’t been on the special team units.

During Tuesday’s game, he had an ice time of 7:04, three shots, six hits, and scored the tying goal.

https://twitter.com/Canucks/status/1455748984811577349

Despite being a healthy scratch for a couple of games, Podkolzin has looked good despite his limited ice time. He’s been throwing the body around, skating well, and making clean passes.

“I’m happy for him,” said Green on Podkolzin per Ben Kuzma of The Province. “His ice time has been a little up and down and that’s going to happen to a young guy when there are a lot of penalties in the game. Sometimes, you worry about young guys being able to stay in the game and stay in the moment. But, man, he got better as the game went on. You could see he felt like we needed a push and you’re happy when guys get rewarded for good play.”

I still think he deserves to play more than seven minutes a night.

10. Depth players Bailey and Burroughs impress

The Canucks moved their AHL affiliate from Utica New York to Abbotsford BC and signed a bunch of players for Abbotsford to be called up when needed.

One of these is Kyle Burroughs. He was expected to start the year in Abbotsford but has played in seven out of the ten games with Vancouver this season.

The Langley native has made some smart defensive plays and leads all Canucks in blocked shots with 13.

Justin Bailey started the season in Abbotsford and impressed so that earned him a call-up.

Bailey has displayed great effort and long with speed and physical play. He also got some looks on the penalty kill. Bailey looks like a good option for the Canucks fourth line and doesn’t look out of place with the big club.

What other things have you learned from the Canucks first ten games? Let us know in the comments below!