7 reasons why the Vancouver Canucks were so successful this season

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Had you told an optimistic Vancouver Canucks fan prior to this season that they’d get as far as they did, you might have gotten a somewhat surprised — but ultimately warm — reception. Had you told the same thing to, say, an Edmonton Oilers fan — or worse, a member of Canucks media — you would have been ridiculed to the point where you’d have to cut your hair, change your name and flee the country.

You know who called it before the season even began, though? Leon Draisaitl.

“They have everything you need, essentially, to be a successful team,” he saidto Sportsnet’s 32 Thoughts crew in September.

Draisaitl’s words proved prophetic. The Canucks would beat his Oilers 8-1 in the season opener and three more times in the regular season, before losing to them by a goal in Game Seven of the second round of the playoffs.

But what exactly went well? Why were the Canucks in the Connor Bedard conversation last year and the Stanley Cup conversation this year? Let’s break it down.

1) Stars Being Stars

When you have six players, a coach and a P.A. announcer at the All-Star game, you know things are going well. Nobody that watches the Western Conference was surprised to see Quinn Hughes, JT Miller, Elias Pettersson or Thatcher Demko perform like franchise players, but to have that many guys have career years at the same time like that is unusual.

Brock Boeser, on the other hand, surprised everyone. He could have hit the 30-goal mark — the one that had alluded him his whole career — with one hand tied behind his back. Perhaps time helped to heal the wound left by his father’s passing two years ago this week, or maybe a four-goal performance in the season opener just put him on a good track. At any rate, anyone with a heart was glad to see him doing well after struggling for so long.

A 1st period hat-trick and natural hat-trick is about as rare as it gets. Brock Boeser makes history with that performance. Incredible. 🎩 🎩 🎩 #Canucks pic.twitter.com/PqeQKmhYCj
— Grady Sas (@GradySas) May 13, 2024

Other honourable mentions go to Elias Lindholm for making the All-Star game and Filip Hronek for crushing it the majority of the regular season. (Editor's note - Hronek's dip in form has been attributed to an arm injury, even though he denied as such as his end of season presser.)

2) Depth Domination

Unlike the NBA, you can’t win in the NHL with just stars. Ask the Toronto Maple Leafs. Equally as important to the Canucks’ success were their depth players.

Unfortunately, Conor Garland shut down the attempt to name the league’s most dominant third line, but with or without a name, it contributed to just as many wins as the Lotto Line. On nights where the top guys just couldn’t seem to generate any offense, Garland, along with Dakota Joshua and Teddy Bleuger, would pick up the slack.

After five years of the “Chaos Giraffe,” Tyler Myers finally became the responsible veteran defenceman the Canucks thought they were getting when they signed him. Additionally, guys like Ian Cole (before the Edmonton playoff series), Noah Juulsen and Carson Soucy provided the stability that the team needed.

Nils Höglander took a massive step in his development this year, contributing up and down the lineup. Pius Suter and Sam Lafferty did the same, chipping in key goals when needed.

And where would the Canucks be without their goaltending depth? Arturs Silovs is the obvious story with everything he did in the playoffs, but Casey DeSmith also played a key role as he allowed Demko to rest as much as he needed.

3) The Impact of a Coach

The biggest struggle for the Canucks’ coaching staff is their hair — or lack thereof. Coaching an NHL team is easy compared to that.

Nobody was surprised to see Rick Tocchet run away in Jack Adams Award voting. He did what others couldn’t do in his position: get the most out of almost every player for a sustained period of time. Many have praised him for the way he connects with his players, talking about life outside of hockey just as much as on-ice performance.

X’s and O’s are an integral part of a coach’s role too, and that’s something the Canucks did exceptionally well this year. It was especially evident in the playoffs, where they became the first team to ever hold Connor McDavid shotless in a playoff game, among other things.

Tocchet was also known for his ability to stick to his game, regardless of the score. This led to several improbable comebacks and it almost made a difference in Game Seven.

What shouldn’t be lost here, too, is the impact of the assistant coaches. If you’ve played hockey at any organised level, you’ve probably seen two things from assistants: ultra-specific examples of things to improve and a tendency to play good cop when the head coach goes bananas.

It also helps when everyone behind your bench has Stanley Cup rings, not just as coaches but also as players. In fact, the eight members of the Canucks’ coaching and player development staff who have played in the NHL have logged just 1,437 games less than the entire 23-man roster combined — and they have their names on the Cup many more times.

@Canucks 23-man roster games played vs. 8 members of coaching & player development staff. Credit to Brogan Houston @FSTheCanuckWay https://t.co/Abah3efEac #NHL #AllTogether #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/6P9tdgtfEl
— Paul Taylor (@EnglishPaul07) May 25, 2024

Needless to say, there’s no question these guys command respect within the locker room, and it showed in the standings.

4) PDO Machine

If you didn’t know what PDO was before the season, you definitely do now. Analytics experts criticized the Canucks to no end in the first quarter of the season for “unsustainable” margins of shots for versus shots against, but once again, the Canucks proved their doubters wrong.

This goes back to coaching structure: If there was no significant chance of scoring in a potential shooting situation, players were under strict orders to hold onto the puck and find another option. The most significant result of this was that the opposing goalies often never got a feel for the puck, leading them to be cold when high-quality shots came through.

Eventually, the Canucks’ PDO did regress to the mean as the experts had predicted, but it didn’t stay there because it was never meant to.

Goodbye to the Vancouver Canucks, a team that improved considerably while teaching us that PDO doesn't matter, and then that it does matter, and then that it doesn't matter, and then that it kind of matters. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/tbGV9UUGus
— JFresh (@JFreshHockey) May 21, 2024

5) Trades, Contracts, etc.

Regardless of whether or not Patrik Allvin wins the Jim Gregory Award for general manager of the year, he and Jim Rutherford, along with the rest of the front office, made some exceptional moves. First, they bought out Oliver Ekman-Larsson, freeing up almost $6 million with which they signed Cole and Soucy. Getting two players for the price of one is a tantalizing concept, especially when both of those guys play better than the first guy did.

Next, they added several depth forwards on excellent contracts. The only unfortunate thing is that they didn’t secure them at those prices for longer term. Blueger and Suter will get both get raises this year, whether from the Canucks or other teams.

Just before the start of the season, the Canucks managed to turn a negatively valued player — Tanner Pearson — and a mid-round pick into a reliable backup goalie. That trade was the icing on the most beautiful cake Vancouver has seen in more than a decade. The Lafferty trade was a fleecing, too.

Management wasn’t shy during the season, either, making more trades than any other team during the season. GMs around the league are still scratching their heads, wondering how the Canucks turned Anthony Beauvillier and a third into Nikita Zadorov.

They also swapped out some spare parts for Elias Lindholm, who really became useful in the playoffs. If they can find a way to keep him this summer, that trade could really pay off. And, although it happened last year, the acquisition of Hronek paid massive dividends this year.

Management has plenty of decisions to make this summer, but it’s a lot easier to trust them now that they’ve proven what they’re capable of.

6) No Doctors? No Problem.

The Canucks did the rest of British Columbia a favour by staying out of the hospital during a time where healthcare professionals are in short supply. Injuries just couldn’t seem to touch them for the most part.

There were exceptions to this, unfortunately, in the playoffs. Had a few guys been a little healthier, we could be analyzing how the Canucks pulled off a surprise Stanley Cup victory, rather than a surprise second-round exit.

7) What’s Next?

Now, the question revolves around the replicability of this season. The Canucks can’t afford to keep everyone.

Can they fill out their depth roles with bargain contracts again? Is there any guarantee that things will mesh with the new group the way they did this year? Will Pettersson and Hronek find their game again? Will Silovs continue to trend in the right direction? Will Jonathan Lekkerimäki or any other prospect be able to step into the lineup and make an impact?

There’s certainly no guarantees, but Canucks fans are much more optimistic now than they were at this time last year.