Canucks: 10 things we learned from the first 10 games

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!