With Quinn Hughes out, the Canucks defence needs to step up

The Vancouver Canucks defence hasn’t been good for a long time. In fact, since the start of the 2014-15 season, Vancouver has let in 1,731 goals which is seventh in the NHL in that period. Not counting the Seattle Kraken, they are also seventh in the NHL since the start of the 2014-15 season in goals against per game at 2.98 at five-on-five.

This season, the Canucks have given up only 67 goals at five-on-five which is the least in the NHL. Great goaltending from All-Star Thatcher Demko has helped. Their 1.81 goals against per game are the least in the NHL at five-on-five per NaturalStatTrick. The Canucks have also let in plenty of goals on the penalty kill as their shorthanded units are last in the league.

Quinn Hughes has had enjoyed a bounce-back season after being very poor defensively last season. (He probably should have been an All-Star as well.) There have been fewer giveaways and he isn’t getting beat by opposing forwards as easily as last season.

Hughes’ offence has continued to blossom. He currently has two goals and 32 assists for 34 points which is second on the Canucks behind J.T. Miller. Hughes is also tenth in points for defencemen in the NHL.

Unfortunately, the Canucks are going to be without Hughes for a few games because he has tested positive for COVID-19.

This was announced a day after his younger brother Jack Hughes tested positive. Jack returned from the All-Star game in Las Vegas. According to Ben Kuzma of The Province and The Vancouver Sun, Hughes was not in Vegas for the All-Star game.

As a result, the Canucks have recalled Ashton Sautner and Noah Juulsen from Abbotsford.

With Tucker Poolman out with a non-Covid related illness and Travis Hamonic still out with an apparent lower body, this is how the Canucks defensive core line up for Monday’s practice.

Obviously, the defence looks even worse with Hughes and the above pairings are not ideal at all. The Canucks have played one game without Hughes and that was a 5-2 loss against the Buffalo Sabres on October 19. The defence was an absolute mess in that game and we could be seeing a repeat of that over the next few games with Hughes out of the lineup.

One of the reasons why the Canucks are 31st in goals per 60 minutes is also because of the lack of offence from the blue line. Here are the offensive numbers from defencemen not named Hughes. It isn’t pretty.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson has been a defenceman who has scored plenty of goals and got tons of assists in the past. He has been solid defensively this season but it looks like the offence has fallen off. It’s also staggering that Luke Schenn has the same amount of points as OEL even though he played fewer games.

Ekman-Larsson knows he has to step up in Hughes’ absence.

“Whatever the team needs me to do, I’m willing to do it,” said Ekman-Larsson after Monday’s practice.

Bruce Boudreau spoke about how the power play needs to find ways to step up without Hughes.

“I don’t think we’ll ever replace Quinn Hughes but hopefully we can find some way to create more stuff on the power play without him,” said Boudreau.

Ekman-Larsson and the other defencemen need to step up offensively and on the power play. Hughes has carried the offensive workload all season. Defensively, they also have to improve but that is a tall order.

You might be wondering why the Canucks haven’t called up Jack Rathbone. It’s because the Canucks want him to play some games in Abbotsford after missing a bunch with a shoulder injury.

Rathbone went on to have a five-point night on Monday in an 8-5 win over the Tuscon Roadrunners. He’ll likely be called up sooner or later and could provide a bit more offence for Vancouver’s blue line.

For now, the Canucks will be without Hughes and it is a daunting task. However, they need to step up in his absence big time.