Tyler Myers – McKeen's Hockey

MCKEEN’S 2025-26 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Team Preview/Player Profiles/Predictions

Fri, 26 Sep 2025 16:01:06 +0000

LOS ANGELES, CA - FEBRUARY 26: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) skates in warm ups before a Los Angeles Kings game versus the Vancouver Canucks on February 26th, 2025, at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Rob Curtis/Icon Sportswire)

After winning the Pacific Division with 109 points in 2023-2024, the Canucks collapsed to 90 points (38-30-14) last season, missing the playoffs. They ranked 19th in both Corsi percentage (49.2) and expected goals percentage (49.5), so they earned their finish. Vancouver’s power play was middle of the road, ranking 15th with 7.72 goals per 60 minutes of five-on-four play. The Canucks’ penalty killing was excellent, ranking second in the league with 5.55 goals against per 60 minutes of four-on-five play. While Kevin Lankinen was solid in goal, Thatcher Demko missed a good portion of the season and Arturs Silovs struggled, so the overall goaltending picture was not ideal.

What’s Changed?

Head coach Rick Tocchet departed for Philadelphia, replaced by first-time NHL head coach Adam Foote. The Canucks were not terribly motivated to make dramatic changes to the underachieving roster, perhaps figuring that the trade deadline deal sending J.T. Miller to the New York Rangers was the more significant roster shuffle. This summer, they traded to acquire Vancouver native Evander Kane from the Edmonton Oilers. They lost centre Pius Suter as a free agent to the St. Louis Blues, and traded winger Dakota Joshua to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Canucks also dealt Silovs, who was ticketed to be third on the goaltending depth chart, to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Silovs may have struggled with Vancouver but was outstanding in the Abbotsford Canucks’ championship run to the Calder Cup in the AHL, winning Playoff MVP.

What would success look like?

Getting back into the playoffs is a starting point for Vancouver. The roster at the start of the season doesn’t necessarily look like it’s capable of more than that, but if Elias Pettersson rebounds and Quinn Hughes stays healthy all season, they could have a much better shot at the postseason. Mix in even league average goaltending or better, and the Canucks could win a round or two in the playoffs. They are probably a few players light of being a bona fide Stanley Cup contender, but if they are contending, the Canucks’ brass will surely be ready to add to the roster, if need be.

What could go wrong?

There is a lot riding on Pettersson this season, because with Miller gone, the expectation is that Pettersson will get back to being the star player that he had been previously, and it’s great if that’s what happens, but if Pettersson can’t get back to that level, then the season will almost surely end up as a disappointment. The Canucks are relatively unproven down the middle of the ice, with Filip Chytil and Aatu Raty penciled in for the second and third-line centre roles, the Canucks need Pettersson to be great, or else it’s going to be really difficult to drag this team back into the playoffs.

Top Breakout Candidate

He may not score enough to really generate a lot of buzz, but Aatu Raty has a chance to play a significant role for the Canucks. Raty had 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 33 games for the Canucks, despite playing fewer than 11 minutes per game, but he did score on more than 20 percent of his shots, so that’s not likely to last over a full season. In the AHL, he had 40 points (17 G, 23 A) in 43 games, so there is some offensive upside. The 22-year-old pivot also plays a physical game, with 80 hits in 33 games for the Canucks, so if he scores enough to hold a third-line centre role, Raty’s hit totals could propel him into deeper league fantasy relevance.

FORWARDS

Elias Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	26	52	78	0.98

It is so difficult to pin down Pettersson’s all-around value because just when it looked like he was running with the elite, he turned in a season like 2024-2025, when he clearly had an issue with former teammate J.T. Miller before Miller was ultimately traded to the New York Rangers. Pettersson finished the season with 45 points (15 G, 30 A) in 64 games, the lowest per-game point production of his career, and a far cry from the 191 points (73 G, 118 A) in 162 games that he had in the previous two seasons. He is a cerebral player who is often a step ahead of the action, but when his game lacks passion, it doesn’t matter how smart he is on the ice because the results can not only be subpar, but it looks awful, too. When he’s on his game, Pettersson has an outstanding shot and can beat a goalie clean from distance with a wrist shot or one-timer. That kind of ability is not common, so it should be part of the Canucks’ plan to get Pettersson pucks in position to shoot. Although he is not the most physical player, he did register 74 hits last season and had a career-high 125 hits in 2023-2024, so it’s in his toolbox and when he gets fired up, he will play with more edge to his game. He is more of a finesse player, and it’s not like there is a desire to have him shed that skilled game, but if he plays with passion on a more consistent basis, it would help offset times that the offensive numbers aren’t going his way. He is too good to languish in mediocrity like last season, so expect some kind of bounce-back campaign for Pettersson, with 25 goals and 70-plus points, though he has obviously proven capable of even more than that.

Brock Boeser

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	28	27	55	0.73

When the 2024-2025 season wrapped up, Boeser was headed for free agency, and it seemed entirely likely that he would be moving on from Vancouver. The Canucks weren’t ready to concede that, however, so they signed Boeser to a new seven-year, $50.25 million contract. The Canucks recognized that Boeser’s ability to put the puck in the net should not be taken for granted. Last season’s 25 goals represented the sixth time in his eight NHL seasons that he surpassed 20 goals, and he has recorded at least 50 points in three straight seasons. Boeser is not so much a generator of chances as he is the finisher who puts himself in position to score. He has good hands and strong offensive instincts which allow him to thrive when playing with quality linemates, but he is more dependent on those linemates to transport the puck and create those opportunities. With the Canucks shaking up their roster, the most likely scenario is for Boeser to skate on the top line with Elias Pettersson, and that should help both players, but that only applies if Pettersson can rebound from his down season, because they did not fare well when they played on the same line last season, getting outshot, out-chanced, and outscored. It should be reasonable to expect 25 goals and 55 points from Boeser, with the understanding that Pettersson could potentially help to lift him even higher.

Jake DeBrusk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	25	25	50	0.61

After signing a big free agent deal last summer to join the Canucks, DeBrusk didn’t have an earth-shattering first season in Vancouver, but he scored a career high 28 goals and that should not be ignored. Half of those goals came on the power play, a massive increase over his power play role in Boston. He has been a complementary player throughout his career and that is largely the role that he fills well with Vancouver now. His ice time has remained consistent, hovering just under 17 minutes per game, but DeBrusk’s shot rate has declined from where it was two years ago, at 2.98 shots on goal per game, to last season’s 2.09 shots on goal per game. When it comes to sustaining production, it’s preferable to maintain the higher shot rate because it doesn’t require DeBrusk scoring on 16.4 percent of his shots to score 28 goals when his career shooting percentage prior to last season was 12.4 percent. That extra four percent, over 171 shots on goal works out to nearly seven goals, a pretty significant difference for a player who scored 28. Going into 2025-2026, DeBrusk should be able to count on a regular scoring role with the Canucks, possibly even skating on the top line, with first unit power play time, so he should be able to contribute 25 goals and 45 points, but that may seem underwhelming if that is indeed his place on the depth chart.

Conor Garland

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	21	35	56	0.68

A feisty winger who has turned into an excellent two-way player, Garland saw his ice time jump by more than four minutes per game last season and he hit the 50-point threshold for the second time in his career. Garland uses his speed to effectively create chances and while last season was unusual in that the Canucks were outscored with Garland on the ice, he was hardly to blame, ranking first among Canucks forwards in terms of expected goals against per 60 minutes. Garland’s most common linemates last season were Pius Suter and Dakota Joshua, who have both departed, so it’s not like he was propped up by his teammates. His next most common linemate is more interesting, though. Garland played more than 258 five-on-five minutes with Elias Pettersson and in that time, the Canucks controlled 63.0 percent of expected goals with those two on the ice. If you have players controlling play to that degree in the NHL, there are not many reasons good enough to split them up, so maybe Garland will find his way to spending more time with Pettersson in 2025-2026. At the very least, Garland has established that he is a valuable player who can move the puck the right way. Provided he continues to play significant minutes, he seems like a good pick to score 20 goals and 50 points this season.

Kiefer Sherwood

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	18	18	36	0.48

A veteran winger who lingered on the fringes of NHL rosters for years before breaking through with the Nashville Predators in 2023-2024, Sherwood had the best season of his NHL career, by far, last season with Vancouver, scoring 40 points (19 G, 21 A) and leading the league with 462 hits. Yes, 462 hits, 156 more hits than second place Mathieu Olivier of the Columbus Blue Jackets. Sherwood found that the hard-driving physical game is what would keep him in the league, turned the dial up to 11, and kept it there all season. He had double digit hit totals in 10 games and recorded fewer than three hits twice in 78 games. Sherwood is not even physically imposing, listed at six feet tall and 195 pounds, but there is something to be said for being relentless and, in Sherwood’s case, being relentless earned him a two-year, $3 million contract from the Canucks last summer, and will surely earn him more on his next deal. As a player who started just 38.3 percent of his five-on-five shifts in the offensive zone, Sherwood still ended up with positive possession numbers and the Canucks outscored opponents with him on the ice. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, since Sherwood is a net +26 in five-on-five goal differential for his career, not bad for a 30-year-old winger who couldn’t stick in an NHL lineup until two years ago. Sherwood is not an offensive dynamo, but he does more than enough to hold down his spot in the lineup. Going into the 2025-2026 season, he should play a regular top nine role for Vancouver and should bring 15 goals and 30 points, along with at least 300 hits.

Filip Chytil

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
70	20	25	45	0.64

Acquired from the New York Rangers as part of the J.T. Miller trade, Chytil had recovered from serious concussion woes but had middling production in a third-line role with the Rangers. In Vancouver, his ice time went up by more than two minutes per game, but his point production did not follow as he managed just six points (2 G, 4 A) in 15 games for the Canucks, but he played really well in that time, only to have his results undone by poor percentages. Chytil scored on just 4.5 percent of his shots on goal, and his five-on-five on-ice shooting percentage was 3.0 percent, which is absurdly low, so take some solace in the fact that Chytil had a 54.5 percent Corsi in Vancouver, driving play even if he wasn’t getting rewarded offensively. Chytil is a strong skater with a big frame and apparently wanted a bigger role than the third line spot that the Rangers could provide him, so the chance to fill a second line role in Vancouver is a prime opportunity for him, but he also needs to take advantage of that opportunity. While Chytil has never been great in the faceoff circle, last season’s faceoff winning percentage of 46.8 was the best of his career, and he got there by winning 49.7 percent of his draws with the Canucks. If Chytil can remain relatively healthy, he should have a chance to score 20 goals and 45 points in his first full season with Vancouver, and that point total would match his career high, set in 2022-2023.

Evander Kane

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
62	20	18	38	0.61

After sitting out the entire 2024-2025 regular season while recovering from multiple surgeries, Kane was plugged into the Edmonton Oilers lineup for the playoffs and had some strong moments while contributing 12 points (6 G, 6 A) in 21 games. He also faded from relevance in the Stanley Cup Final but that’s not an easy situation, playing a very strong Panthers team when Kane was maybe not quite where he needed to be to play at that level. He is 34 years old so it may not be a prime situation for any winger coming off of an injury to bounce back, but that is what the Canucks will hope that they can get out of a winger who, when he is on his game, is both a legitimate scoring threat and a physical presence. He has had plenty of off-ice issues over the years, and there’s no guarantee that those won’t crop up in Vancouver, but if Kane is committed to playing his best, there is a version that works out well for the Canucks because he has some of the fire that they need. Injuries have plagued Kane, and the 77 games he played for the Oilers in 2023-2024 represented the only time since 2018-2019 that he played more than 65 games in a season. Taking into account, then, that Kane is likely to miss 20 games for some reason or another, he could still contribute 20 goals and 35-40 points. His physical play could also yield 150 hits (or more, he had a career-high 250 for the Oilers in 2023-2024). For those in banger leagues, Kane led the NHL in penalty minutes in the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons and while that’s unlikely now, he is still typically good for more penalty minutes than games played.

Aatu Raty

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	13	17	30	0.38

Highly touted as a prospect, Raty slipped to the second round in the 2021 NHL Draft, and it has taken him some time to make it to the league, but last season was a promising sign from the 22-year-old center who contributed 11 points (7 G, 4 A) in 33 games for the Canucks. While he may not continue to score on 20.6 percent of his shots, as he did in that small sample of games, Raty did win 57.7 percent of his faceoffs and recorded 80 hits in 33 games despite playing 10:39 per game. That physical style and reliability in the faceoff dot should give him a leg up on any competition for forward roles in Vancouver. Raty has been productive at the AHL level, putting up 92 points (35 G, 57 A) in 115 games across the past two seasons, so there is some reason to be hopeful that he can at least score enough to fill a top nine role with the Canucks. The Canucks have improved their forward depth so there could be an opportunity for Raty to play with quality linemates. If that’s the case, he might be able to contribute 12-15 goals and 30 points. If he adds 150-175 hits, that might give him some appeal in deeper fantasy formats.

Nils Hoglander

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	15	18	33	0.42

After breaking through for career highs of 24 goals and 36 points in 2023-2024, Hoglander took a step backwards last season, though some of that was merely going from a 20.0 shooting percentage to a 9.6 shooting percentage. Hoglander is on the smaller side but is a high energy player with good skills and he plays with some tenacity that belies his size. Hoglander has also had difficulty securing regular linemates. Last season, he played more than 150 five-on-five minutes with Teddy Blueger, Elias Pettersson, Conor Garland, and Pius Suter and had varying degrees of success with all of them, but there was a lack of consistency in his deployment, to be sure. The challenge that Hoglander faces is getting a real foothold on ice time in Vancouver. He played 15:27 per game as a rookie in 2020-2021, went down to 13:05 per game the next season and has hovered just over 12 minutes per game for three straight seasons. It may be unreasonable to expect that to suddenly change but securing a role that would see him play 14-15 minutes per game could have a significant impact on his production. Since that is in doubt, it’s fair to expect 15 goals and 30 points from Hoglander.

DEFENCE

Quinn Hughes

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	16	68	84	1.09

There is essentially a two-horse race being waged for the title of top defenceman in the league, with Hughes and Colorado’s Cale Makar the two contestants. Hughes won the 2023-2024 Norris Trophy and looked like he was on track to repeat again last season before getting injured in late January. At the end of January, he had 59 points (14 G, 45 A) and 136 shots on goal in 47 games and was a dominant force in the Vancouver lineup. After missing several weeks with a lower-body injury, including being kept out of the Four Nations Face-Off, Hughes finished the season with 17 points (2 G, 15 A) and 56 shots on goal in his last 21 games. That would be entirely fine for most defencemen in the league, but it was a step down from the exceptional tier that Hughes had been inhabiting for the previous season-and-a-half. Hughes has become even more dangerous offensively since he started shooting the puck more and the result has been 33 goals in his past two seasons. He is not only a game-changing offensive force, whose 244 points in 228 games and 1.07 points per game both rank second only to Makar among defencemen across the past three seasons, but Hughes has upgraded his defensive play in recent seasons, too. Last season’s 2.25 expected goals against per 60 minutes at five-on-five was the lowest rate in Hughes’ career. There were 138 defencemen that played at least 1,000 five-on-five minutes last season and only 15 of them had a lower rate of expected goals against. A healthy Quinn Hughes is a difference-maker, and the Canucks will certainly hope that he is in good health for the 2025-2026 season. If he is, Hughes should be expected to contribute 15 goals and 80 points and run neck-and-neck with Makar for defenceman supremacy.

Filip Hronek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	6	35	41	0.51

An excellent partner for Quinn Hughes, Hronek has been a quality top pair defender for several years and while he tends to get overshadowed by Hughes, Hronek is a strong puck mover who is effective at both ends of the rink, can kill penalties, and run the second power play unit. His skill set, and his deployment, leads to strong possession numbers and the Canucks outscore the opposition with Hronek on the ice. While Hronek makes a good first pass to start the breakout and is comfortable getting involved offensively, he is very much the stay-at-home partner to a phenom like Hughes. It’s not like Hronek is a big bruiser who is a punishing physical presence, but he can handle when the game gets gritty and he will deliver hits to separate opponents from the puck. When Hughes was injured in the second half of the season, Hronek contributed 10 points (2 G, 8 A) and 24 shots on goal in 10 games with Hughes out of the lineup, so Hronek has more to give offensively, if needed. It just so happens that it is not needed that often. In his strong complementary role, Hronek should contribute 40 points for the Canucks in 2025-2026.

Marcus Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	4	26	30	0.38

Acquired by the management team that had him in Pittsburgh, Pettersson has been a reliable top four blueliner, logging more than 20 minutes per game for the past three seasons. Pettersson is a tall and rangy defender who does not have a huge role offensively, with minimal power play time, and yet he has contributed 59 points (8 G, 51 A) across the past two seasons, in part because he is a strong skater and makes good passes to jumpstart the attack. Where Pettersson can make a difference, at least for fantasy managers, is when it comes to hits and, especially, blocked shots. He had 80 hits last season but has recorded more than 100 hits five times in his career and, in the past three seasons, Pettersson had 434 blocked shots, which was tied for 27th in the league over that time. Heading into the 2025-2026 season, Pettersson figures to be No. 3 on the Canucks’ defensive depth chart and that should mean consistent ice time, allowing him to contribute 25-30 points and 125-plus blocked shots. That probably won’t generate a lot of interest in most leagues, but in deeper leagues, Pettersson could be worthy of consideration.

Tyler Myers

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
74	5	17	22	0.30

A towering presence on the Canucks’ blueline, standing 6-foot-8, Myers has found a more suitable role at this stage of his career. For so long, he was maligned for not being the standout performer that he was early in his career, when he won the Calder Trophy as a rookie and received Norris Trophy votes in his first two seasons. Myers went through some difficult seasons, and his years in Vancouver are not without their own flaws, but in a secondary role, of course his performance is not going to match what is happening on the top pair with Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek. Myers’ ice time decreased in 2023-2024, going under 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career, but he averaged 20:48 per game last season and while his Corsi was 47.3 percent, Myers’ expected goals percentage was 50.2 percent and the Canucks were outscored 51-50 with Myers on the ice, so he was certainly in the neighbourhood of breaking even during five-on-five play. This is all to say that Myers should be relatively secure in his role on the Vancouver blueline. He can still skate well, especially for his size, and he does contribute offensively as well as with hits and blocked shots. He has put up at least 125 blocked shots in four straight seasons and has topped 100 hits three times and is typically over a hit per game. In 2025-2026, Myers should be expected to chip in 20-25 points with 130 blocked shots. Again, it’s not going to garner widespread fantasy appeal, but might have some potential in deeper formats.

Goal

Thatcher Demko

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
58	28	17	7	3	.908	2.62

The Vancouver Canucks had finally managed to reach the postseason with an elite caliber goaltender in 2024 when disaster struck, and a knee injury suffered by Vezina caliber starter, Thatcher Demko, ended the team's playoff hopes along with nearly his entire following season. Demko didn't play an NHL game until December 10th of last season, and constant minor injuries held him to just 23 games (and a fairly disappointing statistical scorecard overall) by the time the year was over. When he's healthy, he's a downright bargain for the Canucks - but the healthy qualifier has become one of the most difficult things to produce, year after year.

The story, ultimately, looks the same for the upcoming season as it did last year. If Demko can stay healthy - and get enough game play to return to his peak form - they have very little in the way of true competition in the Pacific Division to fight through. But if he can't stay healthy, they'll have to hope that Kevin Lankinen - signed to a hefty deal with suboptimal numbers and very little consistency in his game year over year - can produce one of his better seasons in Demko's stead. The Canucks have plenty of young talent developing throughout their system, but the lack of another clear NHL-ready option at the moment makes things a bit dire for Demko, Lankinen, and the team as a whole.

NHL: CULLEN – 20 FANTASY POINTS – McMann surprising source of offense for Leafs, Fowler making a difference in St. Louis, Holloway cooking since the Blues’ coaching change, Foegele has found a fit in Los Angeles, and much more!

Scott Cullen — Fri, 03 Jan 2025 20:22:17 +0000

ST. LOUIS, MO - DECEMBER 15: St. Louis Blues center Dylan Holloway (81) handles the puck during a NHL game between the New York Rangers and the St. Louis Blues, on December 15, 2024, at Enterprise Center, St. Louis, MO. (Photo by Keith Gillett/IconSportswire)

Each week, I dig into the stats to find information that can help you make better fantasy hockey decisions. This week, Bobby McMann is a surprising source of offense for the Maple Leafs, Cam Fowler is making a difference in St. Louis, Dylan Holloway is cooking since the Blues’ coaching change, Warren Foegele has found a fit in Los Angeles, and much more!

Here is this week’s edition of 20 Fantasy Points:

#1 Toronto Maple Leafs winger Bobby McMann scored a pair of goals in Thursday’s 2-1 win at the Islanders, continuing what has been a very good run for the 28-year-old who set career highs with 15 goals and 24 points in 56 games last season. In his past nine games, McMann has tallied 10 points (6 G, 4 A) with 22 shots on goal, giving him 12 goals in just 31 games this season. McMann is playing with Max Domi and Nick Robertson, and Domi has assisted on half of McMann’s 12 goals. McMann is generating 10.88 shots on goal per 60 minutes of five-on-five play, which ranks second on the Maple Leafs, behind only Auston Matthews.

#2 After scoring a couple of goals in St. Louis’ 6-2 win over Chicago in the Winter Classic at Wrigley Field, St. Louis Blues defenceman Cam Fowler is up to seven points (3 G, 4 A) in nine games since he was acquired from Anaheim. Two of those points have come on the power play and Fowler is averaging 22:38 per game with the Blues while and getting time on the top power play unit.

#3. Staying in St. Louis, the Blues’ offseason signing of left winger Dylan Holloway is paying huge dividends, especially since the Blues fired head coach Drew Bannister and replaced him with Jim Montgomery. In 17 games since the coaching change, Holloway has delivered 18 points (10 G, 8 A) with 49 shots on goal. He skates with Brayden Schenn and Jordan Kyrou at even strength, where he has produced 22 of his 26 points this season.

#4 Another former Oilers winger, Warren Foegele, is heating up in Los Angeles. In his past eight games, the Kings winger has contributed 10 points (4 G, 6 A) with 17 shots on goal. Foegele is finding chemistry on a line with Quinton Byfield and Tanner Jeannot, a line that can get physical and win puck battles, which plays into Foegele’s strengths, too.

#5 Buffalo Sabres right winger Jack Quinn got off to a miserable start this season, managing just five points (1 G, 4 A) through the first 24 games, but has finally started to shake out of that slump. In his past eight games, Quinn has nine points (4 G, 5 A) though he has just 13 shots on goal, which is not exactly a recipe for continued offensive production. Quinn had been playing with Dylan Cozens and JJ Peterka, but on Thursday night in Colorado he skated with Jiri Kulich and Alex Tuch.

#6 It has been an undeniably disappointing season for the Nashville Predators and one of their prime free agent additions, winger Jonathan Marchessault, struggled early on. The veteran scorer has started to come around, however, putting up 14 points (9 G, 5 A) and 26 shots on goal in his past 10 games after he had just 13 points through his first 28 games. The Preds have shuffled lines and Marchessault is skating with Filip Forsberg and Steven Stamkos on the top line. All three could be considered finishers, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out long term, but Marchessault is thriving.

#7 Veteran Seattle Kraken left winger Jaden Schwartz has been contributing consistent offense for a while now. In his past 16 games, Schwartz has 13 points (8 G, 5 A) with 40 shots on goal. While he is on a line with Matty Beniers and the recently acquired Kaapo Kakko, Schwartz has had different players assist on each of his last six even-strength goals. Schwartz is getting first unit power play time but has only managed two power play points during that 16-game span.

#8 Following two seasons in Calgary during which his cumulative point total was less than in his last season with Florida, Flames left winger Jonathan Huberdeau is starting to find his way back to being a productive scorer. In his past 14 games, Huberdeau has put up 17 points (9 G, 8 A) with 28 shots on goal while averaging 19:29 of ice time per game. A player who has been known far more for his playmaking ability throughout his career, Huberdeau has already scored 16 goals in 38 games, his highest goal total in three seasons with the Flames. Be aware that this may not continue, as Huberdeau has scored on a career-high 24.6 percent of his shots, which is almost three times his shooting percentage from last season (8.4).

#9 Carolina Hurricanes winger Jack Roslovic has been riding a similarly productive shooting percentage, scoring on 22.4 percent of his shots on goal. He has seven points (4 G, 3 A) in his past six games and while it’s reasonable to suspect that Roslovic is getting higher quality chances in Carolina, where he frequently lines up on the top line with Sebastian Aho and Seth Jarvis, it’s still not likely that he can keep finishing at such a rate over a full season.

#10 After missing most of last season with a torn ACL, Chicago Blackhawks left winger Taylor Hall started slowly this season, with just six points (2 G, 4 A) in 20 games, but he has started to round into form. In his past 17 games, Hall has contributed 14 points (6 G, 8 A) and just two of those points have come on the power play. With the 33-year-old winger showing that he can still generate offence, he is an increasingly likely trade candidate as he is in the final year of his contract and the Blackhawks are already 18 points out of the final Wild Card playoff spot in the Western Conference. Hall should have some appeal in a supporting role on a contender, but he also has some control over the process, with a 10-team no-trade list.

#11 The Montreal Canadiens have climbed into the playoff race and part of the reason for their recent success has been improved depth scoring. Jake Evans, for example, has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in his past seven games, though he has just nine shots on goal in that time, so the goal-scoring is not on a sustainable pace. At the same time, he already has 23 points (10 G, 13 A) in 37 games, which is only six points behind his career high. Habs rookie winger Emil Heineman has contributed seven points (3 G, 4 A) in his past seven games, though he only has eight shots on goal in that span, so these scoring surges do not appear to be likely to continue long term.

#12 Hard driving Vegas Golden Knights right winger Keegan Kolesar has moved up the depth chart, producing six points (2 G, 4 A) while averaging 16:15 of ice time per game in his past six games. Kolesar has 116 hits for the season, which is tied with Radko Gudas and Tom Wilson for 15th in the league, so if he is contributing offensively, his value starts to become relevant for fantasy managers, especially those in banger leagues.

#13 Although his reputation is built on excellent defensive play, Philadelphia Flyers centre Noah Cates is adding some offensive production to his game. In his past 11 games, Cates has 10 points (6 G, 4 A) while playing 15:24 per game. Cates is having success alongside second year left winger Tyson Foerster, who has eight points (5 G, 3 A) in his past eight games after he had 10 points in his first 30 games this season.

#14 Oft-injured Anaheim Ducks winger Robby Fabbri has taken on a bigger role recently, contributing six points (4 G, 2 A) with 17 shots on goal in his past six games. Fabbri has been enjoying this productive stretch while skating with young forwards Mason McTavish and Cutter Gauthier, and while he is getting second-unit power play time in Anaheim, Fabbri has recorded all 10 of his points this season at even strength.

#15 As the New York Rangers have watched their seasons slip away, they are struggling to generate offence, even from players that have been reliable contributors. Artemi Panarin is sitting on 39 points (16 G, 23 A) in 35 games, so it’s not like his game has gone completely off track, but he has just two points (1 G, 1 A) and nine shots on goal in his past five games. The lack of production is much more concerning when it comes to Alexis Lafreniere, who has just one assist in his past 11 games. Lafreniere does have 28 shots on goal over that time, so he is getting opportunities, but an 11-game goalless drought while playing more than 18 minutes per game is a tough stretch.

#16 To make matters worse for the Rangers, starting goaltender Igor Shesterkin has been placed on the injured list due to an upper-body injury. Shesterkin, who signed an eight-year, $92 million contract extension less than a month ago, had a .885 save percentage in his last six starts before he was taken out of the lineup. He has a career-low .906 save percentage this season, but also has 10.94 Goals Saved Above Expected, an indication that the Rangers’ defensive play has been a bigger problem than Shesterkin’s own performance.

#17 Injuries continue to plague the Minnesota Wild, who have been able to battle through them for the most part this season. Scoring leader Kirill Kaprizov is out with a lower-body injury and that leaves a big hole in the lineup, considering he has 50 points (23 G, 27 A) in 34 games. With Kaprizov out, Matt Boldy has moved up to the top line, though he is mired in a slump, with just one assist in the past seven games.

#18 Toronto Maple Leafs superstar centre Auston Matthews remains out of the lineup with an upper-body injury, which was aggravated against Buffalo on December 20th. The Maple Leafs have a record of 10-5 in 15 games without Matthews and while there have been contributions from the likes of McMann, Domi, and Robertson, Toronto’s offense has really been carried by the big guns. Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares are all scoring at better than a point-per-game pace since Matthews started missing time in early November.

#19 With Quinn Hughes and Filip Hronek both out of the Vancouver Canucks’ lineup, Tyler Myers is quarterbacking the first power play unit. Myers only has nine points this season but scored a goal and had seasons highs in shots on goal (five) and time on ice (25:37) in Wednesday’s win over Seattle. As a short-term solution, Myers might have some appeal for fantasy managers, which is certainly more than he would have if Vancouver was not missing its top two defencemen.

#20 The Florida Panthers still look like worthy contenders in their quest for back-to-back championships, but a couple of their top wingers have hit a rough patch. Matthew Tkachuk has zero points and nine shots on goal during a four-game homestand, but that comes on the heels of him scoring 20 points (8 G, 12 A) in the previous 13 games, so this may just be regression coming home to roost. In the case of Carter Verhaeghe, though, the slump is a little more pronounced. Verhaeghe has gone six games without a point, recording 10 shots on goal. This follows a stretch of 13 games in which Verhaeghe produced 14 points (5 G, 9 A), but he has also been moved down the lineup to skate with Anton Lundell and Jesper Boqvist on Florida’s third line, which does not seem to be igniting his offensive production.

*Advanced stats via Natural Stat Trick

MCKEEN’S 2024-25 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Team Preview

Tue, 17 Sep 2024 16:00:37 +0000

_{VANCOUVER, BC - NOVEMBER 06: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes (43) waits for a face-off during an NHL game against the Edmonton Oilers at Rogers Arena on November 6, 2023 in Vancouver, B.C. (Photo by Ethan Cairns/Icon Sportswire)}

After managing just 83 points during the 2022-2023 season, the Canucks did not have great expectations going into the 2023-2024 campaign. However, the Canucks ultimately won the Pacific Division, accumulating 109 points (50-23-9). The Canucks were the beneficiaries of lofty percentages last season. During five-on-five play, Vancouver scored on 10.6% of its shots, the highest mark in the league. To their credit, the Canucks ranked seventh in both Corsi (52.8%) and expected goals percentage (53.2%), so the underlying numbers were positive indicators before the Canucks turned into such highly efficient finishers. The Vancouver power play ranked 12th with 8.18 goals per 60 minutes while the penalty killing unit ranked 19th with 7.64 goals against per 60 minutes. There is not much to be gained from those special teams results, so the Canucks enjoyed their success because of a strong possession game coupled with league-best finishing around the net.

WHAT’S CHANGED? The Canucks shuffled the deck this offseason, while keeping the core intact. They traded Ilya Mikheyev to Chicago to shed salary and moved the rights to Sam Lafferty in that same deal, though Lafferty ultimately signed with Buffalo. Players that the Canucks acquired last season moved on as free agents. Nikita Zadorov and Elias Lindholm both landed in Boston and Anthony Beauvillier signed in Pittsburgh. Defenceman Ian Cole signed with Utah and goaltender Casey DeSmith landed in Dallas. With all those bodies leaving, the Canucks signed left wingers Jake DeBrusk and Danton Heinen from Boston, as well as right wingers Daniel Sprong from Detroit and Kiefer Sherwood from Nashville. On defence, the Canucks inked Derek Forbort from Boston and Vincent Desharnais from Edmonton.

WHAT WOULD SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? After finishing in first place in the Pacific Division and taking the Edmonton Oilers to seven games in the second round, success will look different for the Canucks in 2024-2025. While they are prime candidates to experience regression from that lofty shooting percentage, they are going to have expectations that they will not only make the playoffs but at least win a round and maybe more. To have that kind of success, they will likely need to have their stars play like stars – Quinn Hughes, J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko were all excellent last season, driving the team’s results.

WHAT COULD GO WRONG? The most glaring concern for the Canucks could be that they just stop scoring so easily. The Canucks scored on 10.6% of their shots during five-on-five play which was about two percent higher than league average. That would have a ripple effect throughout the lineup as players like Miller, Hughes, and Pettersson would all face uphill fights to maintain the same level of production. An injury to Hughes would pose a problem on a Vancouver defence that is not long on puck-moving talent, but Hughes has also been very durable, so it’s not like he should be expected to miss time.

TOP BREAKOUT CANDIDATE: Even though he scored 24 goals last season, Nils Hoglander is still a bona fide breakout candidate for the Canucks. Hoglander had a strong season, which included scoring on 20% of his shots on goal, which is not likely to carry over to a new season. On the other hand, Hoglander played just over 12 minutes per game last season and appears to be ticketed for a bigger role in 2024-2025. He could very well start on the left side of a line with J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser, and while it’s easy to say that Hoglander’s shooting percentage will come down, it’s just as easy to say that he will play more than 12 minutes per game in 2024-25. Getting more minutes, potentially with more skilled linemates, opens up Hoglander to having a bigger impact this season.

Forwards

Elias Pettersson

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	40	59	99	1.21

Across the past two seasons, Pettersson has accumulated 191 points, which ranks tenth in the National Hockey League. Pettersson is a cerebral player who does not depend on physicality but always knows where to be on the ice and is ready to shoot when the opportunity presents itself. Pettersson has a terrific shot and can score from distance using a wrist shot or a one-timer, particularly on the power play. It is not easy to beat NHL goaltenders cleanly on a shot from distance, but Pettersson can do it, so allowing him the time and space to unleash that cannon is a bad decision from those defending against the Canucks centre. Pettersson delivers consistently strong possession numbers, and the Canucks have outscored the opposition every season during five-on-five play with Pettersson on the ice. Last season, they outscored the opposition 67-47 with Pettersson on the ice. He also showed marked improvement in the faceoff circle, winning 50.8 percent of his draws. It was the first season of Pettersson’s career that he won more than 45.0 percent of his faceoffs. He also recorded a career-high 125 hits and can surprise opponents when he suddenly steps into them with more authority. That seems to indicate a little more edge to Pettersson’s play and that should serve him well. He’s a finesse player and a really good one, but it helps if he can carve out more space to maneuver on the ice. Petterson has been able to stay healthy, missing a total of four games across the past three seasons, and has established that he can produce at better than a point-per-game clip. Looking ahead to 2024-2025, Pettersson should be able to score 35 goals and 85-90 points.

J.T. Miller

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	34	64	98	1.20

After years of inconsistency, particularly on the defensive end, Miller set career highs with 37 goals and 103 points last season. He won 56.3 percent of his faceoffs and took 1,461 draws, the ninth-highest total in the league. Miller is a physically strong player who has grown increasingly comfortable using his size to add a physical presence. He has reached 200 hits in each of the past two seasons, and his 284 points across the past three seasons ranks tenth in the NHL, while his 108 power play points in that time ranks eighth. A centre that wins faceoffs, hits, and puts up elite point totals, Miller is one of the top players in the game when healthy. He has also not been caught dogging it on backchecks, an indiscretion that would creep into his game from time to time. Miller had an epic productive season in 2023-2024 while playing 19:29 per game, his lowest average time on ice since arriving in Vancouver for the 2019-2020 season. The 31-year-old is still going strong and should be counted on to score 30-35 goals and 90 points for Vancouver. On his way to a career-best scoring season in 2023-2024, Miller depended on a shooting percentage of 19.1 percent and an on-ice shooting percentage of 13.0 percent. It is highly unlikely that Miller can hit those thresholds again in 2024-2025.

Brock Boeser

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	35	30	65	0.81

As the 2022-2023 season concluded, it looked like Boeser might have played his last game for the Canucks. They stuck with him, though, and were rewarded in a big way last season, when he set career high with 40 goals and 73 points. He followed that up with seven goals and 12 points in a dozen playoff games. That was the best season of his career. Boeser scored on 19.6 percent of his shots, easily the best mark of his career, so regression on the goal-scoring front seems inevitable, but that is expected. He had never scored 30 goals in a season before busting out for 40 last season. Boeser has good hands and goal-scorers instincts, but he does not generate a ton of shots and that can cause his goal-scoring to fluctuate, depending on what percentage of his shots beat the goalie. Boeser spent most of last season skating alongside Miller but the third member of their line rotated. Pettersson, Phil Di Giuseppe, Pius Suter, and Nils Hoglander all played more than 200 five-on-five minutes with Boeser. While Boeser figures to remain with Miller, Hoglander might have the inside track to play with them in 2024-2025. No matter who ends up in that spot, Boeser should deliver offence, and it would be reasonable to expect 30 goals and 60 points.

Jake DeBrusk

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	32	28	60	0.73

Vancouver’s big free agent addition in the summer, DeBrusk has filled a complementary role in Boston for much of his career, finishing with between 40 and 50 points in five of his seven NHL seasons. In 2022-2023, DeBrusk set career highs with 27 goals and 50 points in just 64 games, and part of the reason for that success is that he was shooting the puck, finishing with a career-high 2.98 shots on goal per game. He is never going to be an intimidating presence like his father, but DeBrusk did record a career-high 107 hits last season. Goal scoring can be fickle, though. In DeBrusk’s case, he had one goal in his first 16 games last season, had one goal in another 15-game stretch, then had one goal in the last 10 games of the regular season. He then went on to tally five goals and 11 points in 13 playoff games. In Vancouver, the objective should be to get DeBrusk consistently into position to shoot and it looks like he could start the season skating with Elias Pettersson, who is more than capable of distributing the puck. That would give him a great chance to surpass his previous production. With skilled players around him, DeBrusk should have a chance to deliver 25 goals and 50 points in his first season with the Canucks.

Conor Garland

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	22	29	51	0.62

A small but scrappy winger, Garland has been very consistent, ranging between 39 and 52 points over the past five seasons. He uses his speed to drive play and, in three seasons with the Canucks, Garland’s team has outscored the opposition by 45 goals when he is on the ice during five-on-five play. Under the radar, Garland also had a terrific defensive season in 2023-2024. Among forwards who played at least 500 five-on-five minutes, only eight had a lower rate of shot attempts against per 60 minutes, and six of those eight were Carolina Hurricanes. It was really a superb season, and while Garland has typically had positive possession numbers and strong goal differentials, his 2023-2024 season was dominant, the kind of underlying numbers that a player should strive to achieve, because it makes the eventual on-ice results more sustainable. Full credit to Garland for putting this season together, skating primarily with Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua, on a third line that outscored opponents 21-10 during five-on-five play. With that trio still in the fold, the Canucks will likely let them carry on doing their thing. Garland has established what his baseline for production is and he should be able to continue at that level in 2024-2025, picking up 15-20 goals and 45-50 points.

Danton Heinen

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	18	17	35	0.45

Signed as a free agent from Boston, Heinen has bounced around quite a bit in his career. It seems that he ends up being an odd fit because he tends to play in the bottom six and does not offer the physicality that many coaches want out of a winger in the bottom six. Even so, Heinen finished last season with 17 goals and 36 points, his second highest totals in both categories. He also had 28 penalty minutes, the first time in his career that he finished a season with more than 16 penalty minutes. Heinen has good hands and does a nice job finding soft spots in the attacking zone. One of the benefits of having a player like Heinen playing lower on the depth chart is that he is entirely capable of moving up when needed, because he has the required skill to skate alongside talented linemates. Last season, in Boston, his most common linemates were David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha, but Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle, Morgan Geekie, and Jake DeBrusk all played more than 150 minutes with Heinen, and three more forwards landed between 100 and 150 minutes. That versatility can help the team but may not set Heinen up for a lofty projection because it means uncertainty about the impact that his role is expected to have on the Canucks season. A reasonable projection for 2024-2025 would see Heinen notch 15 goals and 30-35 points.

Dakota Joshua

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	17	16	33	0.43

As a pending free agent last season, Joshua was starting to draw interest from other NHL teams and why not? The 6-foot-3 forward had already established his physical presence and had more than 200 hits for the second straight season, but he also set career highs with 18 goals and 32 points despite playing in just 63 games. He added another eight points in 13 playoff games, so it was no wonder that the Canucks did what they needed to do in order to keep Joshua. While there are plenty of positives to Joshua’s game, his statistical step forward was heavily dependent on lofty percentages. He scored on 21.4 percent of his shots on goal, after finishing on 13.5 percent of his shots in 121 games over the previous three seasons. He is a big-bodied forward who can be a net front presence, and those players tend to have higher shooting percentages, but he is still unlikely to duplicate 21 percent. He also had an on-ice shooting percentage of 10.1 percent, which is high, but six Canucks forwards had higher on-ice shooting percentages last season – that was part of the reason for Vancouver’s success. If Joshua can continue to have success with Blueger and Garland, that should include 15 goals and 30 points in 2024-2025.

Pius Suter

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
75	13	14	27	0.36

The Canucks signed Suter last August, so there were modest expectations placed upon him and he probably delivered about what they could have expected, scoring 14 goals and 29 points in 67 games. Suter had a spectacular defensive campaign, with solid defensive metrics, but he also had a .940 on-ice save percentage so the Canucks outscored opponents 39-20 with Suter on the ice. Even with that lopsided goal differential, Suter is generally a low-key player. He is on the smaller side and skates well enough but is not outstanding at any one thing. It’s more a case of him being solid at a variety of parts to his game and he happened to thrive on good fortune last season, with his PDO at 104.8. It does appear that Suter could be on the fourth line this season, though he will likely compete with Blueger for ice time in the bottom half of the Canucks’ depth chart at centre. Suter did have a handful of power play points last season which earns him some credit for his skill level. For the 2024-2025 season, it is fair to expect Suter to contribute 15 goals and 30 points, which is not going to get him much fantasy relevance, but he has had spurts that could make him a viable short-term pick during the season, especially if he lands on the power play.

Nils Hoglander

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
82	15	20	35	0.43

There have been ups and downs in the development path of Hoglander, a 23-year-old winger, but last season was a clear step up for him. He finished the season with career highs of 24 goals and 36 points, despite playing just 12:06 per game. How rare was that production? Auston Matthews and Zach Hyman were the only two players with a higher rate of goals per 60 minutes than Hoglander’s 1.58 last season. While Hoglander is not the biggest guy on the ice, he is solidly built and plays an aggressive physical style. He recorded 100 hits last season for the first time in his career and taking that aggressive approach on the forecheck helped to generate more chances. Like many Canucks forwards, Hoglander faces likely regression in 2024-2025 because it is so rare to carry a 104.8 PDO for more than one season. What he has going for him is that he could also add a decent amount of ice time to help offset the likely statistical settling. Hoglander has a chance to play at least in Vancouver’s top six, potentially even on the top line, so he should be looking at the most productive season of his career. Hoglander should be able to top the 20-goal mark again and could put up the first 40-point season of his career.

Daniel Sprong

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
78	15	20	35	0.45

A rare commodity, Sprong has found a niche as a fourth line scoring winger, finding the net with incredible efficiency last season in Detroit and the year before that in Seattle. Across the past two seasons, there have been 373 forwards who have played at least 1000 five-on-five minutes. Of that group, Sprong ranked ninth with 1.26 goals per 60 minutes. He is in great company, including Auston Matthews, David Pastrnak, Jared McCann, Nathan MacKinnon, Brayden Point, Filip Forsberg, Nils Hoglander, and Carter Verhaeghe are ahead of him, while Zach Hyman is one spot behind. Sprong has always had a dangerous shot, but the battle has been getting him to deliver a well-rounded game that can earn him more significant ice time. The interesting choice facing the Canucks is what to do with Sprong. Do they give him a chance to play more minutes higher up the depth chart? Probably, yes. But they might just be able to roll him out in a fourth line role and still get the kind of production that he has delivered for the past two seasons. It is fair to expect 15-20 goals and 35-40 points from Sprong, with the caveat that if his ice time gets a substantial boost, then his ceiling for offensive production will get higher.

DEFENCE

Quinn Hughes

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	15	75	90	1.13

The reigning Norris Trophy winner exploded for career highs of 17 goals, 75 assists, and 92 points last season. An exceptional skater, Hughes has always been an offensive threat, but his all-around game could be underrated, at least until he was named the league’s best defenceman. Among the 138 defencemen to play at least 1000 five-on-five minutes last season, only four had a lower rate of shot attempts against than Hughes. But Hughes really stands out as a puck moving defender who can turn a quick transition opportunity into an attack. While Hughes has acceleration and great edges that allow him to change direction quickly, the game also appears to have slowed down for him, so that he is processing it better than he did early in his career. Additionally, Hughes was more assertive offensively last season, taking more shots and generating more scoring chances than he ever had before. Essentially, he didn’t arrive at his career high in points by accident. Such is the natural evolution of an elite talent entering the prime of his career. Hughes is an excellent power play quarterback. Over the past three seasons, his 96 power play assists paced all defencemen and his 103 power play points left him tied with Cale Makar. It might be asking a lot for Hughes to duplicate his 2023-2024 production, especially considering he had a career-high on-ice shooting percentage of 12.1 percent last season, but he is probably not falling off a cliff in terms of productivity, either. He should still have a chance to push a point per game, with an 80-point season provided that he remains healthy, which has been a relative strength of his, not missing more than six games in any season.

Filip Hronek

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
80	8	37	45	0.56

Hronek had established his credentials as a top pair NHL defencemen in Detroit and yet the Red Wings still moved him to Vancouver before the 2023 trade deadline. Hronek only played four games for the Canucks that season before he needed shoulder surgery, so they didn’t really get a good look at him. Last season, Hronek paired frequently with Hughes and the duo excelled. Obviously, Hughes got the accolades, but Hronek put up a career-best 48 points along with excellent play driving numbers while logging more than 23 minutes per game. Hronek has excellent puck skills, can make a good pass and owns a rocket shot from the point. He also handles the puck well and it makes him a strong complement to Hughes. On this pairing, Hronek is also the one tasked with more stay-at-home responsibilities, and while he is not a devastating physical force, he is comfortable getting involved and has gone over 100 hits in back-to-back seasons. Signed to an eight-year contract, for $58 million, Hronek has long-term security in Vancouver and as the partner to the Norris Trophy winner, he is poised to be a valuable piece on the Vancouver blueline for years. So long as he stays healthy, Hronek should be able to contribute 45 points to the Vancouver attack in 2024-2025.

Tyler Myers

Predicted Stats
GP	G	A	PTS	PPG
77	4	21	25	0.32

For many years, Myers took criticism for all of the things that he wasn’t, as he was not an effective play-driving defenceman making him big money, but the value in Myers now is based on a more reasonable contract that brings more reasonable expectations. At 6-foot-8, Myers is not a crushing physical presence, but skates extraordinarily well for a player of that size. That can get short-circuited by poor decision making at times and that’s why Myers had brought more appeal in a secondary role. He chipped in 29 points last season, his highest total since 2018-2019 and he did that while starting more of his shifts in the defensive zone. Now 34-years-old, Myers has finally reached the point of lower expectations. He played 18:57 per game in 2023-2024, the lowest average time on ice of his career, and it was only the second time in his career that he surpassed 100 his and 100 blocked shots in the same season. That does not put Myers in a very valuable place for fantasy managers but given the other alternatives in Vancouver, Myers picking up 20-25 points with triple digit hits and blocked shots might hold a little appeal in deep leagues.

GOAL

Thatcher Demko

Predicted Stats
GP	W	L	OT	SO	SV%	GAA
56	33	16	6	4	0.915	2.51

It only took them the better part of a decade, but Canada's westernmost NHL club has finally seemed to have arrived - and leading the charge is none other than Thatcher Demko, who spent the 2023-24 season reminding the league that he belongs in the conversation with the Connor Hellebuycks and the Jeremy Swaymans, the Igor Shesterkins and the Andrei Vasilevskiys. His 0.918 unadjusted save percentage was bested only by Hellebuyck's own 0.921 among starters with more than 30 games last year, and his five shutouts helped a tumultuous Vancouver club finally start to find some even footing.

The real concern for Vancouver remains their number two spot; for yet another year they failed to see any other netminder post a save percentage topping the 0.900 threshold at the NHL level, and Demko remains a bit of a liability in the injury department. It's likely that their best option behind Demko is up-and-comer Arturs Silovs, but he has yet to prove himself at the NHL level and can suffer from bouts of inconsistent play and bad bounce-backs from tough goals against. That leaves Vancouver's goaltending in a position where it still doesn't inspire as much confidence as it deserves, even with a Vezina candidate manning the pipes the majority of the time. If Silovs can break onto the scene, though, and help stabilize the workload for Demko, the Canucks could become the most formidable team in the Pacific.

FANTASY: THE WEEK AHEAD – November 20th – 26th – Carolina and Colorado with favourable weeks – Goaltending issues rampant

Ryan Dadoun — Mon, 20 Nov 2023 13:41:29 +0000

OTTAWA, ON - JANUARY 27: Carolina Hurricanes Center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82) skates during the second period of the NHL game between the Ottawa Senators and the Carolina Hurricanes on January 27, 2022 at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Steven Kingsman/Icon Sportswire)

The 2022-23 campaign was amazing for offensive defensemen, but this year might be even better. That’s not a statement that should be made lightly. Erik Karlsson had 101 points last year, the most for a blueliner since Brian Leetch in 1991-92, and seven other defensemen exceeded the 70-point milestone. How could 2023-24 end up being even better?

It starts with Quinn Hughes, who is tied for the overall scoring lead with seven goals and 28 points through 18 contests, but it doesn’t end with him. Cale Makar is also in the top 10 with 24 points in 16 outings and an additional four defensemen (Victor Hedman, Evan Bouchard, Filip Hronek and Karlsson) are averaging at least a point per game while logging 16 or more contests. A total of 12 blueliners have PPGs of at least 0.88 (72-point pace over 82 contests) while making at least 16 appearances.

So, while it’s still early, we are on track to set an even higher bar than last year in terms of offensive defenseman.

Overall scoring is up too, though just slightly. Through Saturday’s action, the league was averaging 3.20 goals per team per game. If sustained, that would make this the highest-scoring season since 1993-94, though it’d represent just a small upgrade from 2022-23 (3.18). Still, scoring has been on an overall upward slope for years and has risen significantly compared to 2015-16 (2.71). It’s a fun time to be a hockey fan.

Carolina Hurricanes

Carolina has a trio of home games ahead of them, hosting Edmonton on Wednesday, Tampa Bay on Friday and Columbus on Sunday. The Blue Jackets are one of the worst teams in the league, the Lightning have been mediocre without Andrei Vasilevskiy (back) and Edmonton did go on a three-game winning streak, but it’s over now and even after that, the Oilers have a lowly 5-10-1 record. In other words, the Hurricanes have a real chance to win all three games.

Goaltending Frederik Andersen remains out indefinitely with a blood clotting issue. Last year, that would have led to Antti Raanta becoming the clear No. 1 goaltender, but Raanta has struggled in 2023-24 with a 4-2-0 record, 3.02 GAA and .877 save percentage in seven contests. Even with Andersen gone, Raanta has warmed the bench for Carolina’s last two games due to his poor play. Instead, Pyotr Kochetkov started in those games, but with a 1-4-0 record, 3.10 GAA and .876 save percentage in five outings, he might not be the solution either.

Keep an eye on Jaroslav Halak. He’s been with the team on a tryout basis, and with the Hurricanes’ goaltending being this shaky, he might end up being signed and get some starts. Alternatively, the No. 1 job is wide open, so either Kochetkov or Raanta could snatch it with a single hot streak.

Up front, Sebastian Aho is riding high with three goals and seven points over his last five games. With the weak goaltending the Hurricanes are set to face this week, Aho and Carolina’s forwards in general could be in for a fun time. That might help Jesperi Kotkaniemi rebound. He has a solid six goals and 13 points in 17 contests but has been held off the scoresheet over the last three contests -- his longest drought so far this campaign.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche will play in Nashville on Monday, host the Canucks on Wednesday, play in Minnesota on Friday, and wrap up with week with a home contest versus Calgary. Vancouver should be a challenge, but the rest of that competition has PTS% below .500.

Colorado endured a rough patch from Oct. 26-Nov. 11, winning just two of seven games, but they’ve bounced back in a huge way, not just winning their last three contests but outscoring the competition a stunning 19-6 over that span.

Cale Makar has been the biggest benefactor of the Avalanche’s offense catching fire, collecting a goal and eight points over the last three contests. Valeri Nichushkin is on fire too, supplying four markers and five points during the same stretch.

Alexandar Georgiev has held his own too, but his save percentage over the last three contests is a merely okay .906. It’s fair to say he’s stabilized after posting a 4.73 GAA and an .842 save percentage over seven outings from Oct. 21-Nov. 11, but there is still some level of concern with him. Still, Pavel Francouz (groin) is not going to play this campaign and Ivan Prosvetov lacks experience, so Georgiev has one of the safest jobs in the league, and the Avalanche offense means he’ll rack up plenty of wins even if he ends up having a subpar campaign.

Nashville Predators

The Predators have a busy week ahead of them. They have home games versus Colorado and Calgary on Monday and Wednesday, respectively. After that, they’ll play in St. Louis on Friday before returning to Nashville to host the Jets on Sunday. The Avalanche and Jets are tough opponents, but the Blues are middling, and Calgary is near the bottom of the pack.

Thomas Novak was off to a great start, providing six goals and 12 points in 14 contests, but he hasn’t played since Nov. 11 because of an upper-body injury and isn’t expected to return until mid-December. Meanwhile, Cody Glass returned Nov. 11 from a lower-body injury. He has no points in seven contests this campaign, but he’s still worth regarding as a short-term pickup. The 24-year-old is averaging 3:46 of power-play ice time, including 5:16 over Nashville’s last two outings.

Cole Smith is another forward who might be good to pick up for a brief period. He’s typically not much of a significant offensive threat, but he did score two goals Saturday, so that could be the start of a hot streak. Even if it’s not, Smith should at least help you in terms of PIM and hits -- he has 24 and 42, respectively, over 16 contests.

New Jersey Devils

The Devils are set to play on the road against the Red Wings on Wednesday before hosting the Blue Jackets on Friday and Sabres on Saturday. Buffalo is playing without Tage Thompson, Detroit has dropped four of its last five and Columbus is Columbus, so New Jersey appears to be in a favorable position.

New Jersey also got Jack Hughes back Saturday, and he picked up right where he left off, providing a goal and an assist versus the Rangers to bring him up to six goals and 22 points through 11 outings this year. However, the Devils are still missing Nico Hischier (upper body) and Timo Meier (lower body), plus Tomas Nosek exited Saturday’s contest with a lower-body injury, so New Jersey’s forward core has some holes.

Michael McLeod has been leaned on heavily, averaging 17:27 of ice time over his last six contests in contrast to 12:09 over his first five. Even with that extra playing time, though, he’s just a mildly okay option in fantasy circles for now, and he doesn’t do enough offensively to make him worth hanging onto long term -- once Hischier returns, McLeod should be dropped in everything but the deepest of leagues.

If you’re looking for someone to grab from New Jersey, Ondrej Palat would be a better option. He’s unlikely to get more than 40 points this season, but he’s factored on the scoresheet for three straight games and four of his last five outings.

New York Islanders

The Islanders are slated to host the Flyers on Wednesday, play in Ottawa on Friday and then return home to face Philadelphia for a rematch Saturday. The Flyers and Senators are decent, but not amazing teams this year, so these should be competitive contests.

That said, the Islanders have also been middling this campaign, and their lackluster 6-6-5 record is largely a symptom of their poor offense -- they're tied for 29th with 2.53 goals per game. However, their offense has shown life recently with the Islanders scoring 11 goals (not including the shootout) over their last three outings.

Mathew Barzal is finally heating up, providing a goal and five points in that three-game stretch, bringing him up to four markers and 15 points through 17 contests overall. Brock Nelson has been a major contributor doing the Islanders’ last three outings too with two goals and four points. He’s unlikely to repeat his career high of 75 points from 2022-23, but a 60-point campaign it’s still reasonable for fantasy managers to hope he finishes with around 60 points. Currently, he has eight goals and 12 points in 17 appearances this year.

Even with the offense starting to do better though, New York is still in a lot of trouble. The Islanders rely on goaltender Ilya Sorokin to be the backbone of the team, and traditionally he’s fulfilled that role admirably. However, through 11 appearances this year, he has a 4-3-4 record, 3.32 GAA and .906 save percentage. He’s also allowed at least three goals in each of his last six outings to further frustrate fantasy managers. He’s an interesting buy-low candidate though. While the team in front of him isn’t amazing, Sorokin is still likely to rebound.

Seattle Kraken (Mon vs. Cal, Wed vs. SJS, Fri vs. Van)

Seattle has won its last two games and will attempt to build off that with home games against Calgary, San Jose and Vancouver on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, respectively. The Canucks should be a tough matchup, but the Flames and Sharks are vulnerable teams.

Like the Islanders, Seattle’s offense has underwhelmed this year -- it ranks 28th with 2.63 goals per game -- and has similarly shown life recently with 10 non-shootout goals over the last three contests. In the Kraken’s case, it’s been Jordan Eberle leading the charge. He had a rough start to the campaign, supplying just a goal and three points over his first 12 games, but that seems to be behind him after scoring a goal and six points over his past four outings. Despite his initial slump, he’s still a vital part of the Kraken, averaging 17:14 of ice time, including 2:29 with the man advantage, and is likely to finish the campaign with 50-60 points.

Matthew Beniers seems to have turned a corner too. He had just three assists in 11 contests to start the campaign, but since then he went on a three-game scoring streak from Nov. 4-9 (one goal, four points) and has collected two goals and three points over his last two contests. The 21-year-old’s pace of three goals and 10 points through 19 contests is still down compared to his 2022-23 Calder Trophy-winning 57-point campaign, but there’s potential here.

St. Louis Blues

The Blues will play in Arizona on Wednesday, return home to play the Predators on Friday and finally travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks on Sunday. The Coyotes have done alright with an 8-7-2 start to the campaign, but Nashville and Chicago have a combined 11-21-0 record, so getting at least four of six points this week should be the goal for St. Louis.

That said, the Blues have been awfully inconsistent. Five of their nine wins have been by three or more goals, but at the same time, St. Louis has also lost by three or more goals six times. To put that into context, they’re the only team with at least five in each of those categories. You consequently never really know what you’re going to get with the Blues.

If you’re looking for a St. Louis player to consider taking for the week though, Brandon Saad is likely available. After all, he has just three goals and five points through 16 contests this season, so he hasn’t given fantasy managers a lot to be excited about. That said, he still has a top-six role and gets deployed on the second power-play unit, so with the schedule being favorable, he might do well in the short term.

If you already have Jordan Binnington, this should be a good week for him. Joel Hofer gave him a breather Sunday, so Binnington is likely to start in all three of the Blues’ upcoming contests. The starting goaltender is off to a strong start this season with a 2.47 GAA and a .922 save percentage in 12 games. The competition also ranges from middling to poor offensively, with the Coyotes being the best of them with 3.24 goals per game, which puts them in a tie for 16th in the league.

Vancouver Canucks

The Canucks get to play against the 3-13-1 Sharks twice this week, first at home Monday and then in San Jose on Saturday. Between then, the Canucks will also play in Colorado on Wednesday and Seattle on Friday.

Vancouver has dropped its last two contests, but it’s still an impressive 12-5-1. Incredibly, three of the Canucks players already have 28 points (J.T. Miller, Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes). Brock Boeser isn’t too far behind with seven goals and 21 points while defenseman Filip Hronek has a goal and 18 points through 18 contests. That’s right: Vancouver has two defensemen averaging at least a point per game.

The Canucks’ current offensive output isn’t likely to be sustained, but it might last at least another week given Seattle ranks 24th defensively, allowing 3.47 goals per game, and San Jose is in the basement with an average of 4.24 goals allowed.

Beyond the usual suspects, that might be good news for Nils Hoglander. He’s averaging just 10:32 of ice time this season, so not a lot should be expected of him long term, but he’s going into the week on a bit of a roll after scoring a goal in back-to-back games. Defenseman Tyler Myers is hot too with four helpers over his last four contests, bringing him up to two goals and nine points in 18 appearances this year.

MCKEEN’S 2023-24 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – Team Preview – Player Profiles

Player Profiles + Team Preview – Scott Cullen, Goaltending – Catherine Silverman — Tue, 10 Oct 2023 14:34:00 +0000

Review: The Canucks limped to an 18-25-3 record (.424 points percentage) under Bruce Boudreau before replacing him behind the bench with Rick Tocchet. They were better under the new coach, going 20-12-4 (.611), though the Canucks still finished a dozen points out of a playoff spot. The Canucks struggled to control play, ranking 24^th with 47.0% of shot attempts and 25^th with 46.5% of expected goals during score-and-venue-adjusted five-on-five play. That is obviously not a winning formula, especially when it gets paired with abysmal penalty killing. During four-on-five play, the Canucks ranked 27^th in expected goals against per 60 minutes and 30^th in actual goals against per 60. Even a team with a top ten power play couldn’t overcome those problems.

What’s Changed? After buying out Oliver Ekman-Larsson, not giving Ethan Bear a qualifying offer after he was injured at the World Championships, and losing Kyle Burroughs as a free agent, the Canucks shored up their blueline, adding Carson Soucy, Ian Cole, and Matt Irwin to provide some veteran stability. The Canucks will also have Filip Hronek in a major role on defense. He played just four games after he was acquired from Detroit at the trade deadline. Up front, Vancouver stuck with low-key additions, bringing in centers Teddy Blueger and Pius Suter, inexpensive options who should be able to help on the lower half of the depth chart. It was not the most aggressive offseason, but the overhaul on the blueline could make a difference.

What would success look like? Barring a bad run of injuries, the Canucks are too good to bottom out, so success would have this team reaching the playoffs. That will require goaltender Thatcher Demko to bounce back to his previous form and the new-look defense will need to be more reliable than what the Canucks were working with last season. Real long-term success would probably include getting Elias Pettersson signed to a long-term contract extension, but if the Canucks continue to get high-end production out of Pettersson and J.T. Miller, that will give them the offensive foundation to be competitive.

What could go wrong? Most teams would be in trouble if they lost their starting goaltender to injury, but that insecurity may be more pronounced in Vancouver, where Thatcher Demko is so much better than backup Spencer Martin. If the new faces on defense don’t make Vancouver any more reliable, and regression comes for sophomore winger Andrei Kuzmenko, suddenly the season could start going sideways for Vancouver. Can head coach Rick Tocchet guide this team to more consistent play? There were some positive signs last season, not least of all that J.T. Miller showed up to play down the stretch, but it is easy to look at the Canucks going into this season and feel like what could go wrong is a more likely outcome that what success would look like.

Top Breakout Candidate: Part of the return for last season’s trade sending Bo Horvat to the Islanders, Anthony Beauvillier is in a great situation with Vancouver to have the best season of his career. He produced 16 points (7 G, 9 A) in his first 18 games with the Canucks before fading late in the season, but he is expected to have a shot at skating on the top line with Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko in addition to having a spot as part of Vancouver’s top power play unit. If Beauvillier holds onto those roles, he should surpass his relatively modest career high of 40 points, set last season.

Forwards

Elias Pettersson

After producing between 66 and 68 points in three of his first four seasons, Pettersson busted out in 2022-2023, scoring 102 points (39 G, 63 A), a thoroughly impressive season that showcased his offensive potential. Pettersson generated 3.21 shots on goal per game, easily the highest rate of his career, and he should be shooting as much as possible because he has an exceptional release. He scored on 15.2% of his shots last season, the lowest rate of his career, but he has scored on 16.6% of his shots through five NHL seasons. In those five seasons, there are only six players to have at least 500 shots on goal and have a higher shooting percentage than Pettersson – Leon Draisaitl, Brayden Point, Mark Scheifele, T.J. Oshie, Steven Stamkos, and Chris Kreider. From December 3rd through January 14th, Pettersson had 25 points (7 G, 18 A) and 61 shots on goal in 16 games. Pettersson, who still looks like he can get knocked over by a stiff breeze, is a surprisingly effective defender, with his hockey sense overcoming his lack of brawn. His reliable defensive play helps drive his strong possession results, and Pettersson tied with teammate J.T. Miller for the league lead with five shorthanded goals and nine shorthanded points last season. On the power play, Pettersson’s wrist shot from the right circle is a weapon, one that should probably be used more often. The Canucks earned 53.7% of expected goals during five-on-five play with Pettersson on the ice and that was the best mark on the team. Obviously, there is a lot to like about a 100-point scorer that can drive play. Pettersson is likely to see some regression after his on-ice shooting percentage of 12.1%, but his elevated shot rate is a strong foundation for point production. It would still be reasonable to expect 35 goals and 90 points from Pettersson.

J.T. Miller

An immensely talented player who will palpably downshift his effort when he gets frustrated, Miller has some of the worst backchecking lowlights in the league. However, when he is on his game, Miller uses his size to protect the puck and has high-end skill to go with it, so he creates opportunities in the offensive zone. His 117 assists in the past two seasons he ranks 12^th in the league. Miller also plays with a physical edge to his game and recorded a career-high 200 hits last season. Miller has versatility in his toolbox, too. He can play wing or center and in four seasons with the Canucks, has won 55.2% of his 3,363 draws. While he is a big point producer, Miller’s possession game is suspect. The Canucks controlled 50.9% of five-on-five shot attempts with Miller on the ice but earned just 46.5% of expected goals. He should be better than that, but it requires more consistency in his all-around game. Miller had a strong finish to the 2022-2023 season, scoring 28 points (12 G, 16 A) in 21 games after the trade deadline. Miller should still be good for 30 goals and 80-plus points, and it is worth noting that his on-ice shooting percentage last season was 6.9%, his lowest since 2013-2014, so he could be due for some positive regression and that could give him more scoring potential.

Andrei Kuzmenko

The 27-year-old ripped up the NHL in his first season, scoring 39 goals and 74 points, and was an unusually pleasant surprise for the Canucks. As exciting as Kuzmenko was, he is a prime candidate for regression. He scored a bunch of goals from the doorstep in 2022-2023 and led the league with a shooting percentage of 27.3%, which is not a sustainable rate over a long period of time. Among skaters that have recorded at least 500 shots on goal in the past three seasons, only three (Leon Draisaitl, Brayden Point, and Chris Kreider) are the only ones scoring on more than 18.0% of their shots, and none are over 20.0%, so it is unreasonable to expect Kuzmenko to keep filling the net in the same way. Nevertheless, he is a legitimately skilled player who makes the Canucks better and can continue to do that, even if it will be difficult to match his opening act. Kuzmenko finished the season by scoring 30 points (17 G, 13 A) in his last 29 games, but he scored on a ridiculous 32.7% of his shots in that span. Trying to forecast Kuzmenko’s production from 2023-2024, regression is assumed, so 25 goals and 50 points might be a more reasonable expectation, even if that is a massive drop from his first-year production.

Brock Boeser

Last season was a tough one for Boeser. His father had passed away the previous spring and it took him a long time to get on track. Playing 17:14 per game last season, his lowest average time on ice since his rookie season in 2016-2017, Boeser finished with 55 points (18 G, 37 A), which is just one point behind his career high. However, the Canucks controlled just 43.4% of expected goals and were outscored 67-53 during five-on-five play when Boeser was on the ice. He played with a bunch of different linemates, seven for more than 100 five-on-five minutes, and his second most common linemate, behind only J.T. Miller, was Phil Di Giuseppe. Boeser didn’t score a goal in his first 11 games, but he was returning to form by the end of the season, scoring nine points (5 G, 4 A) with 41 shots on goal in the last 11 games. Boeser has landed in many trade rumors in recent seasons, but he is still in Vancouver. At his best, Boeser has a quick release and a comfort around the net that has allowed him to score more than 20 goals in four different seasons. He should be expected to surpass 20 goals against next season and could reasonably challenge his career-best of 56 points.

Anthony Beauvillier

Acquired from the Islanders in the Bo Horvat trade, Beauvillier started his Canucks career with 11 points (6 G, 5 A) in his first 11 games. His pace slowed after that, and he ended up with 20 points (9 G, 11 A) in 33 games for Vancouver on his way to a career-high 40 points. The 26-year-old winger has skills that allow him to play in a scoring role but has yet to establish the consistency in his all-around game to maintain a spot on a first line. However, his most common linemates in Vancouver last season were Elias Pettersson and Andrei Kuzmenko so if that is going to be his reality in 2023-2024, then Beauvillier had better produce more than 40 points if he is going to warrant staying in that spot. The upside for Beauvillier is that he could also get first-unit power play time, which could push him closer to 50 points if he manages to stay in that role. Heading into the last year of his contract, Beauvillier is also likely trade bait if the Canucks are not in playoff contention by the trade deadline.

Conor Garland

A smallish but skilled and feisty winger, Garland saw his ice time cut last season and frequently finds his name in trade rumors. Even so, he is a valuable contributor on a Vancouver team with a lot of unproven options on the wing. After elevating his game early in his career in Arizona, Garland has been productive but there have been challenges in two seasons with Vancouver. The 27-year-old scored a hat trick in the final game of the season to give him 46 points (17 G, 29 A) in 81 games. Of course, he had scored two goals in the previous 24 games, so there are ups and downs in Garland’s production. That scoring is not irreplaceable, but if the Canucks are planning on competing for a playoff spot, Garland’s reliability should not be overlooked. A reasonable forecast for Garland this season would put him around 45-50 points, but if he can’t secure a regular spot in the top six, that could present more of a challenge for his offensive production.

Ilya Mikheyev

After signing as a free agent with the Canucks, Mikheyev made a smooth transition into his new role, providing a strong two-way game, driving play, and scoring 28 points (13 G, 15 A) in 46 games before requiring surgery to repair a torn ACL. Mikheyev had played through the injury before finally deciding on the surgery. The lanky winger is an excellent skater which, combined with his size, makes him a strong forechecker. He can create scoring chances and, so far in his career, his output has varied based largely on whether his shots are going in. From November 18 through December 27, Mikheyev contributed 14 points (8 G, 6 A) in 17 games. A healthy Mikheyev should be a fixture in Vancouver’s top six and his all-around play gives Vancouver a better chance to succeed. Mikheyev has never played more than 54 games in an NHL season, so it is difficult to trust his durability. That makes it a challenge to project him to score much more than 30 points, but he could provide more if he manages to stay healthy for a full season.

Pius Suter

An August free agent signing by the Canucks, Suter produced a modest 24 points (10 G, 14 A) in 79 games for Detroit last season and while that is not a big draw, Suter’s defensive play and penalty killing were positive contributions. That means that there is a role for him to fill, even if that role might be further down the depth chart than what he experienced in his first couple of seasons with Chicago. While his defensive play is the most attractive part of his game, Suter is not lost around the net. He shoots the puck well enough that he can score from distance, though the challenge can be creating enough of those opportunities. After averaging more than two shots on goal per game in his first two seasons, Suter had just 1.34 shots per game in 2022-2023, and that puts a limit on offensive production. There should be a path to Suter pushing for 30 points this season, which is quite useful if it is accompanied by Suter’s strong defensive play.

Vasily Podkolzin

While the 22-year-old winger has power forward potential, he managed just seven points in 39 games last season and was demoted to Abbotsford, where he contributed 18 points (7 G, 11 A) in 28 games. Podkolzin offers a tantalizing blend of size and skill and if it all gets harnessed properly, he could be an exciting scoring winger who also plays an aggressive physical game, but he remains a work in progress, and it will be up to Podkolzin to establish that he is indeed capable of taking his game to the next level. He has the release of a goal-scorer and showed a lot more in his rookie season before fading from view in his sophomore campaign. He has recorded 136 hits in 118 career games, averaging 12:29 of ice time per game. As Podkolzin continues to grow, the Canucks should find him a regular role and let him develop. Without any assurances of a major role at the start of the season, expectations should remain modest. If Podkolzin matches his rookie output of 26 points, that should be considered a successful season.

Defense

Quinn Hughes

A one-man transition game, Hughes recorded career highs of 69 assists and 76 points last season. While that offensive production is elite, Hughes’ play away from the puck is improving, too, and was a positive factor in his defensive contribution during the 2022-2023 season. Hughes has been a monster performer on the Vancouver power play, recording 65 power play points in the past two seasons to lead all defensemen. His 144 points overall in the past two seasons ranks fourth, behind Roman Josi, Cale Makar, and Adam Fox, so he is traveling in good company. Hughes started the season with 21 assists through the first 18 games and finished the season with 15 points (2 G, 13 A) in his last 15 games, despite having a six-game scoreless drought.

Filip Hronek

Acquired from the Detroit Red Wings before the trade deadline, Hronek finished with a career-high 39 points (9 G, 30 A) even though he was shut down after just four games in Vancouver due to a shoulder injury. Hronek has established himself as a quality right-shot puck-moving defenseman who can make long-range passes and quarterback the power play. At the same time, his defensive game showed progress last season and if Hronek can handle logging big minutes and still provide solid defensive play, he will be a factor for the Canucks in the 2023-2024 season. Hronek scored 16 of his 39 points on the power play last season, and it seems unlikely that he will have the chance to duplicate those power play numbers so long as Hughes is anchoring the first power play unit. Even so, Hronek’s track record suggests that 35 points is well within his range.

Tyler Myers

The much-maligned veteran defenseman has played more than 20 minutes per game in every one of his 14 NHL seasons, though last season’s 20:54 ATOI per game was the lowest of his career. There have been ups and downs along the way and last season would have to be considered a down because Myers had poor possession numbers, including 45.1% Corsi and 44.7% of expected goals during five-on-five play. The Canucks were outscored by 22 goals during five-on-five play with him on the ice, tying his career worst five-on-five goal differential. He is an excellent skater, especially for someone who is 6’ 8”, but it all comes down to decision making with Myers and too often those decisions lead to problems in the defensive zone. At this stage of his career, Myers still gets significant ice time, but he is not as much of an offensive threat, so 20 points is around the high end of what should be expected.

Carson Soucy

Following a strong season playing on Seattle’s third pairing, Soucy signed with Vancouver as a free agent, and that could come with an opportunity to play in the top four. Although Soucy finished with a modest 16 points (3 G, 13 A), while playing 16:18 per game in 78 games for the Kraken, he also picked up a career-high 143 hits, so if his ice time gets a boost, those numbers should climb, too. Soucy is a big presence in the defensive zone, standing 6-foot-5 and not afraid to use that size to his advantage, and the 29-year-old could be ready for a new phase in his career. While he could see a little more playing time this season, Soucy still has limited scoring upside. His career high is 21 points, set in 2021-2022 with Seattle, so anything beyond that would have to be considered a bonus.

Goaltending

Thatcher Demko

The 2022-23 season was a terrible, horrible, no-good day of sorts for starter Thatcher Demko. After starting the season looking uncharacteristically sloppy in net, the team’s number one suffered a torn groin midway through the season and missed a whopping three months of game action; by the time he came back, it was too little too late for his season’s performance. Although he was able to return to the Vezina-worthy form he had showcased in his first few years in the league, his struggles at the start of the year were enough to put him firmly in the league’s statistical basement while his team spent another year looking more forward to the draft lottery than the postseason.

When he’s healthy and playing at his best, Demko is a game-changer for the Canucks – something they desperately need, particularly given the kind of cap-related struggles they continue to find themselves in. He plays an uncharacteristically active game for a goaltender of his size but has the kind of strong foundational base to his technique to deliver more consistent saves when he needs to. He’s got the kind of game that makes it look like he’s having a ton of fun when his opponents are trying to frustrate him, making him well worth the price of admission night in and night out. But although he had an unexpected break in the season to mentally reset (something he even admitted to during media sessions in the spring), it’s hard to head into the 2022-23 season feeling as confident in what he can deliver as fans might have the year prior. He was struggling even before his injury, and the lack of a clear step forward for the Canucks yet again makes it risky to assert that he’ll be fine to lead the charge without some kind of improvement on the team’s blue line in front of him. He’s got the talent to make the Canucks a threat in the West – but as evidenced last year, he needs the team to step up around him to really challenge for a spot as a Pacific Division contender.

Projected Starts: 55 - 60

MCKEEN’S 2022-23 NHL YEARBOOK – VANCOUVER CANUCKS – NHL Player Profiles

Scott Cullen – Forwards and Defense, Catherine Silverman - Goaltending — Fri, 16 Sep 2022 21:57:43 +0000

VANCOUVER, BC - APRIL 03: Vancouver Canucks center J.T. Miller (9) skates up ice during their NHL game against the Vegas Golden Knights at Rogers Arena on April 3, 2022 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

FORWARDS

J.T. Miller

It is unusual for a player to have his best season when he is in his late twenties, but 29-year-old J.T. Miller delivered a monster season for the Canucks in 2021-2022, recording 32 goals and 99 points while the Canucks outshot opponents with Miller on the ice and struggled to do so when he was off the ice. Not only does Miller have skill and playmaking ability, but he is a strong physical player who recorded 172 hits, making him the only player in the league to have that many hits while recording more than a point per game. It would be asking a lot for Miller to duplicate the best season of his career, and there is some likelihood of percentages declining, but he also generated a career-best 2.58 shots per game last season and his high percentages, both in terms of his own shooting percentage and 5-on-5 on-ice shooting percentage have been above average every year that he has been in Vancouver. That would seem to indicate that he is still capable of producing in the range of a point per game, maybe a little more.

Elias Pettersson

Following an injury-shortened 2020-2021 season, Pettersson got off to a terrible start and by mid-January had just 17 points in 37 games. He looked lost and his confidence was fading fast. At his low point, he looked nothing like the slick playmaker that he had been for most of his first three seasons in the league, when he earned a reputation for making smart and creative plays in the offensive zone, providing surprisingly effective defensive play, and then ripping wrist shots to the top shelf. That player returned for the second half of last season, as Pettersson finished the season with 26 goals and 51 points in his last 43 games. He moved to left wing to play with Miller and that seemed to bring out the best in both. It also appeared to bring back Pettersson’s confidence and while his finish to the season would suggest that the 23-year-old could go for more than a point per game over a full season, that might be a bit optimistic. He has never scored more than 70 points in a season but that could happen this season.

Bo Horvat

The Canucks captain brings his hard hat to work and scored a career-high 31 goals last season. He does a lot of his damage on the power play. In the past five seasons, Horvat has scored 49 goals with the man advantage, tied with Brayden Point for 13^th in the league over that time. Horvat has played a significant role with the Canucks in those five seasons, averaging 19:54 of ice time per game and winning 54.9% of his faceoffs. In his eight-year NHL career, he has five 20-goal seasons and four seasons with at least 50 points, so he has established a baseline for what he might be able to produce. If he stays reasonably healthy, a point total in the mid-50s would be a fair expectation for a 27-year-old who, barring a new contract, is set to be a free agent at the end of next season.

Brock Boeser

Since scoring 29 goals as a rookie in 2017-2018, Boeser has not been able to get back to that level of production. He has a good shot but could always be more aggressive about using it. While Boeser’s all-around game looks like it could use some improvement, it’s worth observing that he always has better shot differentials relative to the rest of the team. Some of that might be due to more offensive zone starts, but those results have held long enough that he does deserve some credit. Boeser did have his fourth 20-goal campaign last season, so the goal-scoring ought to continue, but he had a low on-ice shooting percentage, which suggests that regression could bring a few more assists his way, which should put him in the 55-to-60-point range.

Conor Garland

An undersized winger who was acquired from Arizona, Garland had a brilliant start to his Canucks career, scoring eight points in his first six games, then finished his first season with 16 points in his last 12 games. In between, the production was a little spotty, but in total, Garland finished with a career-high 52 points to go with excellent puck possession numbers. Even though the 26-year-old is on the smaller side, he has a relentless style of play that earned him a place in the league and coupled with his offensive production, Garland is now a primary scorer. He produced a career-high 52 points last season and should be able to surpass 50 points again this season.

Ilya Mikheyev

In his first couple of seasons with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Mikheyev established that he could control play and generate shots, but had trouble finishing, tallying 15 goals in 93 games, scoring on just 7.3% of his shots. Last season, the puck started to find the net and Mikheyev scored 21 goals in 53 games, burying 14.3% of his shots. Tthat helped increase his demand in the free agent market. At 6-foot-3, Mikheyev has the size to cycle the puck in the offensive zone but he is an excellent skater so he can use that both in transition or on the forecheck to create chances. Now that he has shown some touch around the net, he ought to be able to contribute in a middle six role for Vancouver. The question about Mikheyev is whether he can stay healthy – in two of his three seasons he has missed substantial time with injuries – so in terms of projecting his offense going forward, it might be most reasonable to say that Mikheyev could surpass last season’s 32 points, his career high, and potentially by a wide margin if he plays something close to a full schedule.

Nils Hoglander

Although he went through some offensive dry spells and managed just 18 points in 60 games last season, there is still plenty of reason to like Hoglander’s contributions. The 21-year-old winger drives play consistently and can generate shots. It just so happened that pucks were not going in and he went through a horrid slump in the middle of the season. From mid-December through the end of February, Hoglander played in 26 games and managed one goal and four points. He is an easy candidate for a bounce-back season but where he plays in the lineup will have some say in just how big of a bounce-back is possible. Hoglander should be able to score 15 goals and 30 points, as a starting point, but has potential for more depending on how high he fits on the depth chart.

Vasily Podkolzin

The 21-year-old got off to a relatively slow start to his rookie campaign last season, scoring three goals with no assists in his first 15 games, but he got more comfortable as the season progressed and finished the year with nine points in his last 11 games. Podkolzin has good size and has power forward potential. He plays a reliable enough game without the puck so that should help secure a spot in the lineup, but if he is going to grow into possibly become a star quality player, Podkolzin will need to generate more shots but if he can pick up where he left off at the end of last season, Podkolzin’s second season could be exciting. The Canucks are deep on the wings, so optimism around Podkolzin ought to be cautious, but he could challenge for 20 goals if he can get enough ice time.

Tanner Pearson

The 30-year-old winger has two 20-goal and three 40-point seasons to his credit. He has decent size and speed, enough skill to fit in a middle six role but, as noted, the Canucks have a lot of bodies competing for playing time on the wings and it’s possible that Pearson could find it challenging to earn a regular spot in the top nine. Nevertheless, he has been able to produce more than 30 points five times in his career, including last season, and that’s probably a reasonable expectation for what he could score this season.

DEFENSE

Quinn Hughes

Any concern about Hughes’ play without the puck tends to be overblown because he is such an elite creator of offense that he tends to generate more shots and chances than he gives up. He is also not a terrible defender, as some other puck-moving defensemen might get classified. Hughes will turn 23 early in the season and he is a fantastic skater who plays with confidence and creativity. He is every bit the kind of player that a team should seek to build their defense around and, while there is obviously strong competition, a Norris Trophy at some point in his career is not out of the question for Hughes. As for his point production, Hughes finished with a career-high 68 points last season but going for 70-plus points this season would still be a fair expectation.

Oliver Ekman-Larsson

While there is little chance that Ekman-Larsson’s production will match his lofty contract, the 31-year-old delivered a solid first season in Vancouver after spending the first 11 years of his career in Arizona. He played more than 22 minutes per game for the 10^th time in the past 11 seasons and his per-game shot rate improved over the previous season. He might be a fringy top-pair defenseman at this stage of his career, but Ekman-Larsson could still be a strong top-four option. His percentages were relatively low last season so a little favorable regression could push him over 30 points this season.

Tyler Myers

Even at 6-foot-8 Myers is a smooth skater and while he will have moments in which his reads or positioning can get him into trouble, he is still a viable top-four defenseman. His relative possession numbers are a small negative and the Canucks have been outscored by 12 goals over three seasons with Myers on the ice during 5-on-5 play. It’s not great, and probably not worth his salary cap hit, but it’s not as terrible as critics would suggest. The 32-year-old is not asked to contribute as much offensively as he did earlier in his career, so he may score 20-25 points but he was also one of 11 defensemen to have at least 140 hits and 140 blocked shots last season so he can fill the stat sheet in other ways.

Luke Schenn

At 32-years-old, the veteran blueliner seemed to find his niche as a partner to Hughes. Schenn’s 17 points last season was his most since 2011-2012, and his average ice time of 17:13 was his highest since 2016-2017. Schenn is not good with the puck on his stick, so he is a good partner for Hughes, in that he Schenn offers complementary skills that Hughes does not typically bring to the game. While his puck skills may be limited, Schenn is not shy about bringing a physical presence to the game. He recorded 273 hits last season, the fifth time in his career that he surpassed 250 hits in a season, and Schenn will drop the gloves when needed. A 15-point season is about all that can be reasonably expected from Schenn offensively.

GOALTENDING

Thatcher Demko

It’s finally looking like Vancouver is ready for the Thatcher Demko show. After a handful of seasons in which the Pacific Division club kept the American-born netminder splitting his net with veteran mentors, Demko made his starter debut in the 2021-22 season with a 64-game campaign. He held his own, too; while the Canucks are still desperately working their way out from under some truly ill-advised contracts and roster transactions, his numbers were good enough to rise up above the Western Conference’s glut of rebuilding rosters and return to the Wild Card chase.

Much of that is thanks to the fact that Demko has continued to fine-tune the more controlled elements of his game without losing the creative spark that made him look so attractive as a prospect; he’s eliminated a lot of unnecessary extra movement as he learns to read shooters and systems at the NHL level, but has kept that wide-ranging toolkit of unexpected stop selections in his arsenal that make him so hard for offensive systems to read in return. Add in some smart depth management to go with intimidating size, and Demko shines as an example of a goaltender who can both close off holes in his net from a sightline perspective and react effectively to the high-danger chances that teams create for themselves when the defense in front of him struggles a bit. Now, the only thing that lacks certainty in Vancouver’s crease is who will emerge as his second-in-command; with both Mikey DiPietro and Spencer Martin hovering at the door to the NHL in the team’s depth chart and Jaroslav Halak departing for the New York Rangers in the off-season, the Canucks will have to determine who provides the club with their best chances for success moving forward.

Projected starts: 60-65

Oh, Canada ! A weekly tour of the North Division: Bennett stays put – Russell chases history – Filling the void in Montreal – Time to Downsize Jumbo in Toronto? – Pearson signing – The trade that wasn’t in Winnipeg

Jeff Veillette — Fri, 09 Apr 2021 15:05:43 +0000

Before getting to this week’s “Oh, Canada” storylines, I just want to make a quick note regarding the Vancouver Canucks’ COVID outbreak. Specifically, to wish all those impacted in the organization good health and a speedy recovery. This pandemic has been awful for all, and to see an outbreak of this size hit a pro team is an amplification of the strength of the opponent we face – stay safe, stay vigilant, and we’ll hopefully all move forward soon.

With that covered, let’s take our tour around the country:

Sam Bennett #93 of the Calgary Flames Canadian Sport Institute in Calgary, Canada. (Photo by Brad Watson/NHLI via Getty Images)

Calgary Flames – Bennett Stays Put

One of the earliest storylines for the Calgary Flames this season, even before we had a sense for what their season might look like, came when forward Sam Bennett requested a trade from the club, in search of a change of scenery and a bigger role.

Unfortunately for Bennett, the Flames were also in pursuit of a worthwhile return, and that’s just not something that they’re going to find in the modern market, particularly in a year where teams are strapped for both cap space due to the lack of increase, and real dollars due to the pandemic. While his physical attributes get him his share of admiration throughout the league, his rather strict offensive upside as a bottom-six forward has made his $2.55 million salary a tough sell.

The good news for him is that under new head coach Darryl Sutter, the scenery and role shift has come from within. “I’m happy playing under Darryl”, said Bennett to reporters on Wednesday, according to Eric Francis of Sportsnet. “I think I’ve gotten more opportunity and I’ve been able to play my game a little bit more”. Sutter is a coach who values a style that plays to Bennett’s strengths, and while the team’s struggles are likely of frustration to all of its players, the likely shift to selling this weekend could open up more minutes for the 24-year-old.

Edmonton Oilers – Russell Chases History

In an unusual season, one element that has brought entertainment to many is watching players chase history. Two great examples are Alex Ovechkin’s steady climb towards the all-time goals record, and more imminently, Patrick Marleau’s push to eclipse the late Gordie Howe’s record for most games played in the NHL. But what if I told you there was a third one coming up?

It’s a little weird, but it’s true. Edmonton Oilers defenceman Kris Russell is chasing an all-time mark of his own, albeit in a stat that has only been tracked in modern times. Heading into this weekend, the 33-year-old sits at 1966 blocked shots, trailing recently retired Brent Seabrook by just 32.

The metric, of course, has its flaws. It’s only been around since the beginning of the salary cap era (2005/06), so we’re only looking at a couple generations of players. It’s more subjectively counted than the aforementioned games played or goals, among other statistics. It’s also up for debate whether it’s valuable to dominate the metric – as Calgary Flames writer Kent Wilson once put it, “Blocking shots is like killing rats. Doing it is preferable to not, but if you’re doing it all the time it suggests you have bigger problems.”

All the same, getting in the line of fire remains a popular trait in the traditional hockey spectrum, and it still takes a lot of guts and durability to get in front of nearly 2000 moving pucks and still be standing and willing. One can argue that Russell would have had a more impactful career had teams developed him to be more of a puck mover as he first looked to be, but that likely doesn’t come with the bragging rights of an all-time record.

Montreal Canadiens – Filling the Void

There were reasons to be excited in Montreal this week. Eric Staal became the first player in franchise history to score his first goal with the team as an OT winner, and Cole Caufield went pro and has joined the Laval Rocket. But as great as both of those nuggets of news were, they were countered by a huge blow to the roster on Monday, when an errant Alexander Romanov shot hit Brendan Gallagher’s hand, fracturing his right thumb. Incredibly, this is Gallagher’s third hand injury of his career, though just his first on the right side.

Gallagher is, for all intents and purposes, the team’s top overall forward and the heartbeat of the group. Through 35 games this year, he was ranked 5^th on the team in points and second in goals, along with third in team-relative shot attempt differential. He has consistently been a player that pushes the puck in the right direction, goes to the slot to make sure it goes in, and when he’s not doing that, he’s been more than capable as a defensive forward, a grinder, and a pest. In losing Gallagher for six weeks, the Habs lose a lot of different game elements in an especially important part of the season.

What they do gain, on the other hand, is the ability to place him on Long-Term Injured Reserve for the remainder of the season and use his $3.75 million cap hit towards another acquisition. They also gain an opportunity to see what young forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi can do in a bigger role, shifting the 20-year-old from centre to the wing to play with Phil Danault and Tomas Tatar. I’m curious as to whether GM Marc Bergevin uses the opportunity to make one last move; he’s a Big Game Hunter at his core, and this certainly gives him an opportunity to make lemonade out of his lemons.

Ottawa Senators – Breezy Season Approaching

Sometimes, it pays to be the team that can absorb cap space, especially when you can pull in a decent player from a divisional rival. This is what the Ottawa Senators did in 2019 when they took in Connor Brown from the Toronto Maple Leafs, taking Nikita Zaitsev’s deal in exchange for Cody Ceci and getting the Etobicoke-born winger as the sweetener.

While Brown was struggling to find playing time in Toronto, certainly not enough to justify his $2.1 million cap hit at the time, the Senators have afforded him the opportunity to play top six minutes, including both sides of special teams. Brown leaped up to a career-high 43 points in 71 games last year and is continuing to pace out into the half-point-per-game territory this year, the first of a three-year extension.

His most impressive stretch has come over the past week and change, though. While the Senators lost their third consecutive game on Thursday night against the Oilers, it was the continuation of a more positive streak – Brown’s sixth consecutive with a goal. It’s the longest such streak of his career, having previously gone on three game runs on two separate occasions. With only a handful of weeks left in the season it might be a little too late to take advantage of this streak for your fantasy team, but the Sens are no doubt loving what they’re seeing from a player that is already among their hardest working.

VANCOUVER, BC - MARCH 04: Toronto Maple Leafs center Joe Thornton (97) waits for a face-off during their NHL game against the Vancouver Canucks at Rogers Arena on March 4, 2021 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. (Photo by Derek Cain/Icon Sportswire)

Toronto Maple Leafs – Time to Downsize Jumbo?

Among the many dynamics within the Toronto Maple Leafs roster this year, one of the most fun to see unfold has been their vintage contingent – players who dominated the headlines in an era past but are providing low-cost support to the present-era core in Toronto. Jason Spezza, Wayne Simmonds, and Joe Thornton have provided all sorts of entertainment and wisdom on and off the ice for the Maple Leafs, and at a combined cost of just $2.6 million, are really helping keep the sheets balanced.

Of that trio, Thornton is the most tenured, the one with the best career behind him, the one who already has a first-ballot Hall of Fame pass in his pocket, and the one who can help in the most areas. But after exploding for nine points in his first seven games back from a rib injury in February and early March, things haven’t been so great for Jumbo. In his last sixteen games, he’s averaged just 12:49 of ice time and picked up just one assist, a March 13^th helper on a William Nylander goal. Thornton’s underlying shot metrics in this time remain rather good – a 55% share of attempts and a 56% share of expected goals, and his negative goal differential can mostly be attributed to a 0.849 on-ice save percentage, but there’s a point where you wonder why one of the most productive players of all time isn’t putting up his own points.

I do wonder a little if there’s value in giving the soon to be 42-year-old some rest. The Leafs are about to embark on a run of 16 games between April 10^th and May 10^th, with only one multi-day break in between, and the last thing you want is for a player with his experience to be gassed come the postseason. This is obviously imperative on him wanting the time off himself, and I don’t think that he’s a negative on the ice if he chooses to keep playing, but you can’t help but wonder if some extra rest will unlock an extra gear.

Vancouver Canucks – Same Year, Same Error

There seem to be three guarantees in life: Death, taxes, and Jim Benning using the Vancouver Canucks’ cap space on depth players. People who have kept an eye on this organization over the past seven years are no stranger to the decision-making process that happens there, where a plan is promised but each move seems to be inconsistent and without thought for what has to come next. On Thursday, those feelings were revived with the contract extension of Tanner Pearson.

Pearson’s deal sees him commit to the team for another three years at a $3.25 million cap hit, with The Athletic’s Canucks reporter Thomas Drance reporting a verbal commitment to protecting Pearson in the upcoming expansion draft. For any other team, such a signing would lead to all sorts of questions. Pearson is a useful depth player, and the term isn’t completely insane, but paying $3 million for a third-line talent is the sort of thing you should only do with lots of flexibility, and de-facto shielding from expansion screams counter-intuitive.

For the Canucks? It’s decidedly worse. Pearson has been useful for them since his acquisition in 2018/19, picking up 68 points in 121 games, but each year has felt like a slight step backward. Moreover, this contract lumps into an already existent depth logjam. Vancouver already had $20.25 million committed next season to a depth core of Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, Jake Virtanen, and Tyler Myers – all negative value players according to Evolving Hockey’s “Goals Above Replacement” model – not to mention another $4.3 million committed to a struggling Braden Holtby as their backup goaltender. Pearson’s deal puts more than a third of Vancouver’s salary cap commitments into players that would be considered replacement-tier or worse and leaves them with about $17 million remaining to extend stars Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. Oh, and fill about 6-8 more roster spots. Needless to say, this is going to be a tough, tough summer for the Canucks front office, and while they might like Pearson as a player, he’s now only adding to the difficulty for minimal, if any long-term gain.

Winnipeg Jets – The Trade That Wasn’t

The Winnipeg Jets have a lot going for them this year. They’ve got an enviously deep forward core, with the likes of Nikolai Ehlers, Mark Scheifele, Kyle Connor, Pierre-Luc Dubois, and Blake Wheeler leading the way. They’ve got one of the best goaltenders on the planet at their disposal in Connor Hellebuyck. Their back end, however, is a little bit on the lighter side – Neal Pionk has been a nice little revelation and Dylan DeMelo seems to remain a solid middle-option, but the overall group of six and extras leaves a lot to be desired for a team that has Stanley Cup aspirations.

It stands to reason, with that in mind, that they would be one of the teams connected to Nashville Predators defenceman Mattias Ekholm over the past few weeks. The Swedish left-handed defenceman has been lauded by both eye-test and numbers crowds for his ability to control play, especially in his own zone. His 6’4, 215-pound frame satisfies the old school expectation of a shutdown defender, and his $3.75 million cap hit for this year and next is very, very team-friendly.

As such, it should come as no surprise that Nashville’s price for the player would be steep, especially as their early-season slump spun back around and the team began to win games. According to TSN insider Darren Dreger in an appearance on the Daily Faceoff podcast, their asking price was a first-round pick, prospect Ville Heinola, and “something else”. While no one would fault the Preds for asking for a first rounder for a player with cheap term, I can see why trade talks fizzled out here. Heinola has been nothing short of excellent for the Manitoba Moose this year, showing serious future NHL potential as an already talented 20-year-old. To give him and another piece up on top of a pick would no doubt make the Jets better today, but the long-term value lost would likely exceed the short-term gain.

Central Division Training Camp News

Ryan Dadoun — Sun, 30 Sep 2018 13:05:12 +0000

Chicago Blackhawks

Corey Crawford

The single biggest question surrounding the Chicago Blackhawks throughout the summer was what the future held for Corey Crawford. His last game in 2017-18 was on Dec. 23 and the specifics of his injury were never made clear during that campaign. What little news we did get about Crawford over the summer did have an optimistic tone to it, but once training camp actually started, everyone seemed to get a little more cautious.

It was confirmed that the injury Crawford has been dealing with all this time is a concussion. He isn’t quite ready to return from it yet either and at this point it would be surprising to see him play in the season opener. The news isn’t grim though. He hasn’t taken part in a full team practice yet, but Crawford has been on the ice in full gear, taking shots. Hopefully he’ll continue to trend in the right direction.

In the meantime, Cam Ward will fill the void. He’s not an ideal starter, but he certainly has a lot of experience in that role, so he’ll provide the Blackhawks with a better Plan B than they had last season. That statement isn’t meant to be too harsh on last season’s Plan B, Anton Forsberg, though. Forsberg didn’t exactly shine when thrust into a bigger role in 2017-18, but he also came into that campaign with just nine career NHL starts under his belt. If Crawford is healthy, then Forsberg will head to the AHL, but until then he’ll get another chance with the Blackhawks as Ward’s understudy.

Outside of the goaltending situation, there isn’t a ton of roster uncertainty regarding the Blackhawks, but they do need to make a decision on Dylan Sikura. He’s been battling for a final spot and was given a golden opportunity to play with Artem Anisimov and Nick Schmaltz and on the top power-play unit Thursday. Sikura got knocked down to the fourth line before the game ended though, which probably isn’t a good sign. John Hayden replaced Sikura alongside Anisimov and Schmaltz and looked good. Just as an aside, when the season starts, Patrick Kane is expected to play with Anisimov and Schmaltz, but he was a healthy scratch on Thursday so that the bubble players could get more of a chance.

Colorado Avalanche

The Avalanche have made one of their tougher cuts when they decided to send defenseman Ryan Graves to the AHL. Avalanche coach Jared Bednar liked what he saw out of Graves, but there just isn’t room for him on the blueline right now. Bednar did specifically mention that Graves put himself in the mix to be a call up at some point, so we might see him again in 2018-19 in the event of an injury.

Another player that Bednar has liked in training camp is Logan O'Connor, who is still in the running to earn the Avalanche’s final roster spot. O'Connor would be making the leap straight from the University of Denver after scoring seven goals and 21 points in 41 games last season. He was never drafted, but the Avalanche inked him to an entry-level contract back in July and GM Joe Sakic praised his “leadership, energy, and speed” at the time.

Easily the biggest story with Colorado though is its goaltending. Semyon Varlamov was the Avalanche’s number one goaltender last season and was solid in that role, but the Avalanche acquired Philipp Grubauer, who is ready to be a number one after years of being the Capitals’ overqualified backup. In the long run, the job will probably go to Grubauer given that Varlamov is entering the final season of his contract, but who is the Avalanche’s number one right now?

The Avalanche would argue that they are both the number one goaltender, but at some point, one of them is likely to actually take that position. We don’t know who the opening game starter will be yet, but even that probably won’t be too telling as whoever warms the bench for Game 1 will probably start in Game 2. We’ve might have to wait weeks or even longer to see which one differentiates himself from the other or if Bednar demonstrates a clear preference.

Dallas Stars

Tyler Seguin had been dealing with a minor injury that kept him out of preseason contests from Sept. 18 until his return on Friday. There was never a lot of drama surrounding that situation because it never seemed like he was in serious jeopardy of missing the season opener, but given how important he is to the Stars, it was nice to get further confirmation of his availability going forward by seeing him get into that exhibition contest.

Unfortunately, Dallas still might not be entering the season at 100%. Defenseman Stephen Johns didn’t participate in Friday’s practice and has been frequently absent due to an undisclosed injury. With each practice Johns misses, it becomes increasingly likely that his recovery will end up bleeding into the regular season.

In the meantime, Gavin Bayreuther has been given a long look with Friday’s contest being his fifth preseason game of 2018. Bayreuther is coming off an encouraging campaign in the AHL where he scored seven goals and 32 points in 71 contests. However, Bayreuther’s offensive talents might not be enough as Stars coach Jim Montgomery has noted that they need him to be more of a defender. Still, if Johns isn’t available at the start of the season, perhaps Bayreuther will get an extended opportunity. Joel Hanley is also an option and he’s certainly the veteran alternative with 22 NHL games 259 AHL contests under his belt.

Minnesota Wild

MINNEAPOLIS, MN - FEBRUARY 25: Minnesota Wild Defenceman Ryan Suter (20) skates with the puck during a NHL game between the Minnesota Wild and San Jose Sharks on February 25, 2018 at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, MN. The Wild defeated the Sharks 3-2 in overtime.(Photo by Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire)

The Minnesota Wild dealt with more than its fair share of injuries last season, but perhaps this season they’ll be a little luckier. It certainly was a good sign that Ryan Suter, whose season ended prematurely due to a fractured ankle, not only made his preseason debut on Wednesday, but logged a healthy 21:22 minutes. He reported afterwards that he felt fine, so barring a last minute surprise he should be in the lineup for the season opener.

As a whole, the Wild appear to be basically healthy going into the season, but there are a couple minor exceptions. Luke Kunin hasn’t been cleared for contact yet, but he hopes to get the OK soon. Even when he’s healthy though, he’s expected to report to AHL Iowa. Gustav Olofsson is dealing with a shoulder injury sustained on Sept. 17, but he has at least resumed skating.

With the team largely healthy, there aren’t many roster battles to speak of. Perhaps the one of most consequence is the fight for the backup gig between Alex Stalock and Andrew Hammond, but it would be a little surprising at this point if Hammond ended up getting the gig over Stalock.

One player that probably would have made the team regardless, but has nevertheless had an encouraging training camp is Joel Eriksson Ek. Charlie Coyle has noticed that Eriksson Ek is a lot more confident now that he’s going into his sophomore season and the two should end up playing on a line together. If you’re looking for a player that could take a step up this season with Minnesota, Eriksson Ek is someone to keep in mind.

Nashville Predators

Eeli Tolvanen was someone that was cited over the summer as a potential 2018-19 Calder Trophy contender, but that was contingent on him being able to land a meaningful role on the Predators, which would be a tall order given their depth. Ultimately he fell short of that goal and the Predators decided to send him to AHL Milwaukee rather than have him stick around and play on the fourth line. Given that Tolvanen is just 19-years-old and needs to adjust to North American hockey after spending 2017-18 primarily in the KHL, the decision to have him start in the minors where he can get big minutes makes a lot of sense for his development.

There’s a wrinkle though: Tolvanen has a clause in his contract that would allow him to return to the KHL if he plays at least 10 games in the AHL. Will he exercise it? That remains to be seen. Certainly the Predators hope he doesn’t, not just because he would be out of their control for the duration of his KHL stint, but also because it would be counterproductive to their goal of having him adapt to the smaller ice.

Outside of the resolved (at least for now) question about Tolvanen, there weren’t many question marks for Nashville going into training camp, which is to be expected of a team that went 53-18-11 and saw minimal turnover during the summer.

We’re waiting on word regarding the fate of Austin Watson. He was given a 27-game suspension by the NHL after pleading no contest to misdemeanor domestic assault. He appealed to that suspension to a neutral arbitrator on Wednesday and it might be a couple weeks before a decision is handed down.

St. Louis Blues

23 MAY 2016: St. Louis Blues center Robby Fabbri (15) takes a shot and scores against the San Jose Sharks during game 5 of the Western Conference Final of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Scottrade Center. (Photo by Jimmy Simmons/Icon Sportswire)

No matter what team you root for, you have to want only good things for Robby Fabbri. The 22-year-old showed such promise, but injuries have kept him from playing since Feb. 4. He was healthy coming into training camp with his sights set on resuming his career, but then he left a preseason game on Sept. 23 with a grade 1 groin strain. The good news is that he has already started to skate again and hopefully he’ll have much better luck on the injury front going forward.

Outside of Fabbri, the Blues are relatively healthy as we round the corner towards the regular season. Alexander Steen and Vince Dunn have been dealing with upper-body injuries, but they recently resumed practicing with the Blues, so they might be fine for the opener.

St. Louis did have an eventful summer though, so you might be wondering what the top lines look like now. That’s always going to be subject to change of course, but Friday’s preseason game seems like a good gauge in that regard. The top line was Patrick Maroon, Ryan O'Reilly, and Vladimir Tarasenko, the second line was Jaden Schwartz, Brayden Schenn, and Jordan Kyrou (probably filling in for Steen, who didn’t play), and the third line was David Perron, Tyler Bozak, and Sammy Blais (who might be replaced by Fabbri if he’s healthy). Again, take that with a grain of salt, but there you go.

Winnipeg Jets

The Jets were one of those teams coming off an amazing season that justifiably had little in the way of openings going into training camp. That’s not to say that they had nothing to settle during the preseason. The Jets and Tobias Enstrom parted ways over the summer, so Dustin Byfuglien needed a new partner.

Winnipeg toyed with putting Tyler Myers in that spot, but that would have involved Myers shifting to the left side and that experiment wasn’t encouraging during the preseason. Given that, Byfuglien is likely to be paired with Joe Morrow instead. This will be Morrow’s first full season with Winnipeg after being acquired from Montreal on Feb. 26, but did get some ice time with Byfuglien in 2017-18, so this won’t be an entirely new job for him.

One other story of note is Patrik Laine dropping 14 pounds over the summer. That’s unusual to hear given that most young players need to bulk up, but Laine’s a big guy and the hope here is that he’ll be faster now. He hasn’t ended up scoring in the preseason, but there was evidence of his increased speed, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out over the season. As it was, he was one of the league’s top snipers, so if this change can give him a little something extra, then we might be in for a pretty special season out of him.

Express Laine – Winnipeg Jets 2018-19 Season Preview

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 14 Sep 2018 14:22:27 +0000

REVIEW / STATE OF PLAY – The Winnipeg Jets entered the 2017-18 season as a team that looked dangerous offensively with a promising young group of forwards that featured Mark Scheifele, Patrik Laine, and Nikolaj Ehlers, but there was a lot of uncertainty about how they would fare at their own end of the ice.

A breakout performance from goaltender Connor Hellebuyck in 2017-18 elevated the Winnipeg Jets from being an interesting team with upside to a serious contender. He finished second in Vezina Trophy voting with a 2.36 GAA and .924 save percentage in 67 games. Meanwhile, the Jets had one of the league’s top offenses, led by a 91-point campaign by Blake Wheeler and a 44-goal showing out of Laine. Winnipeg had a 52-20-10 record in the regular season and made it to the Western Conference Final before the Vegas Golden Knights eliminated the Jets in five games.

TAKE TWO – Given that the Jets are a largely young group that took a major step forward last season, the summer was unsurprisingly dedicated to maintenance rather than additions.

Connor Hellebuyck

Hellebuyck, coming off a one-year, $2.25 million contract, was rewarded for his breakout performance with a six-year, $37 million extension. The Jets are taking a risk there given that Hellebuyck only has 149 total NHL games on his resume and his first two campaigns were a mixed bag, but he’s also just 25-years-old and that contract will look very good if Hellebuyck manages to stay at anything close to the level he showed in 2017-18.

Wheeler received the other big payday. He signed a five-year, $41.25 million contract that starts with the 2019-20 campaign. Wheeler is arguably one of the more overlooked stars in the league given that he ranks fifth in points over the past three campaigns with 243 in 245 games. Only Patrick Kane, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, and Nikita Kucherov have outperformed Wheeler in terms of points over that span.

With those two locked up, the Jets now have six forwards (Wheeler, Scheifele, Nikolaj Ehlers, Bryan Little, Mathieu Perreault, and Adam Lowry), two defensemen (Dustin Byfuglien and Tucker Poolman) and their starting goaltender (Hellebuyck) all locked up through at least 2021-22. It’s a luxury to have that much of their core locked up, but the flipside is that the Jets have committed $47.25 million in cap space to nine players over each of the next three seasons and those nine don’t even include some of their potentially most expensive players.

WILL THERE BE A TAKE THREE? – Given that the Jets are still a relatively young team it seems odd to look at 2018-19 as a do-or-die season for them, but the reality of the salary cap does present that question, at least to some extent. It’s unlikely that the Jets will be a bad team in 2019-20, but could 2018-19 be their peak? That’s not an unreasonable question.

After all, this is the last season that Laine will be tethered to an entry-level contract. He already has 80 goals and 134 points in 155 games and when you look at the contracts that other star players got immediately following their ELC in recent years like Connor McDavid (eight-years, $100 million), Jack Eichel (eight-years, $80 million), and Leon Draisaitl (eight-years, $68 million), you can quickly get a sense that Laine’s payday will be massive.

This will also be the final season of Kyle Connor’s entry-level contract. He’s not going to get a contract close to Laine’s, but Connor had 31 goals and 57 points as a rookie in 2017-18, so he won’t be cheap either. Then there’s the question of defenseman Jacob Trouba, who has dealt with more than his fair share of injuries already, but is also one of the pillars of their blueline when healthy. He’s on a one-year, $5.5 million contract for 2018-19 and will be a restricted free agent after that.

Even if the Jets manage to keep all of those players without exceeding the cap, they will have to make sacrifices elsewhere. One of the first could be Tyler Myers, who is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019 and already looks like something of a longshot to re-sign given the Jets’ other priorities.

OUTLOOK – A big factor for the 2018-19 Jets will naturally be Hellebuyck. If he proves that 2017-18 was a sign of what he can do for years to come, then Winnipeg will be one of the league’s most dangerous teams this season. Even without him playing like an elite goaltender, the Jets will still be able to generate a ton of wins through offense alone, but another standout season from Hellebuyck is likely what it would take for the Jets to enjoy another long playoff run.

McKeen’s 17-18 Yearbook Updates

Ryan Dadoun — Fri, 22 Sep 2017 21:20:54 +0000

It is early in the pre-season, but Ryan Dadoun brings a round up of the news so far. Nothing earth shattering, but lots to keep an eye on. McKeen's will do an update end of day Monday based on injuries, camp performance, etc.

In the meantime here is what you need to know.

Anaheim

Hampus Lindholm – Shoulder injury will probably keep him out until early November. That’s not surprising given the initial projections from when he had surgery in May, but it’s his absence is more probable now than it was over the summer.

Ryan Kesler – The hope is to have him back by Christmas after he underwent hip surgery in June. Over the summer it looked like he might be back in November, so the recent news here has been discouraging.

Antoine Vermette – Might end up being the one to fill the void left by Kesler. He’s been practicing on a line with Andrew Cogliano and Jakob Silfverberg. If we’re talking about standard fantasy leagues though, Vermette’s value is still borderline at best.

Arizona

Jason Demers – The Coyotes acquired him from the Florida Panthers. Arizona views him as a top-four defenseman, but it’s not clear who his defensive partner will be. He got a decent, but not great, amount of power-play time in Florida last season while Keith Yandle/Aaron Ekblad served as the team’s primary defensive options with the man advantage and he’ll probably end up in a similar situation in Arizona behind Oliver Ekman-Larsson/Alex Goligoski when it comes to power-play ice time.

Boston

Torey Krug – He suffered a non-displaced jaw fracture on Tuesday and was projected to miss at least three weeks from that date. That will cost him most of training camp and at least three regular season games.

Buffalo

Alexander Nylander – He suffered a lower-body injury on Sept. 8 and hasn’t skated at all in training camp as a result. Good news is that the Sabres think he’ll resume skating in near future, so maybe he’ll still return with enough time to spare to make his case for a roster spot.

Carolina

Lee Stempniak – More of a side note for now, but he’s been dealing with an undisclosed problem that might be more serious than initially believed. He has soreness in his hip/back and had an MRI on Thursday, so we’ll see what the results of that are.

Detroit

Andreas Athanasiou – Still hasn’t signed. There’s the threat of him heading to the KHL and even if he does re-sign in the not too distant future, he’ll be a young player that’s missed a good chunk of training camp/preseason play.

Edmonton

Ryan Strome – It’s a bit of a stretch to mention at this stage, but the Oilers seem to be going with a top line of Maroon, McDavid, and Strome so far. As a fun aside, McDavid also thinks Strome is a good sleeper pick in fantasy leagues. (https://www.nhl.com/news/edmonton-oilers-connor-mcdavid-sees-ryan-strome-as-fantasy-sleeper/c-290885390?tid=277729150)

Drake Caggiula – Similarly, it might be too early to read into it, but so far Drake Caggiula is being tested on the second line with Draisaitl and Lucic.

Los Angeles

Marian Gaborik – Is taking some contact as he recovers from a knee injury. Still unclear if he’ll play in the preseason, but it’s progress.

Nashville

Ryan Ellis – This happened a couple weeks before training camp, so you probably already have it in your projections, but just in case he’s out for four-to-six months with a knee injury. That has led to them mixing up their defensive pairings though. Ekholm and Subban were split up so that Ekholm is now with Josi (although Ekholm-Weber has also been experimented with) and Subban is with newcomer Emelin.

New Jersey

MONTREAL, QC - SEPTEMBER 21: New Jersey Devils center Nico Hischier (13) waits for play to begin during the third period of the NHL preseason game between the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens on September 21, 2017, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, QC (Photo by Vincent Ethier/Icon Sportswire)

Nico Hischier – Another stretch, but for what it’s worth Nico Hischier has stood out in preseason games so far, upping what were already good odds of him making the team. Hynes suggested that Hischier has forced talks of him having a bigger role than previously projected. Hischier-Hall is an interesting combo, though of course it’s another preseason pairing so who knows.

NY Islanders

Alan Quine – Quine sustained an upper-body injury in mid-September that was projected to cost him four-to-six weeks. So he’s missing training camp and a couple weeks of the regular season in all likelihood.

Ottawa

Colin White – Suffered a broken left wrist on Monday and is projected to miss six-to-eight weeks. He had been seen as being in a good position to make the team, especially due to Derick Brassard being a question mark. Although…

Derick Brassard – His recovery from shoulder surgery is ahead of schedule, per what Guy Boucher said today. He still might not be ready for the start of the regular season.

Clarke MacArthur – Unfortunately even after his strong playoff showing, he ended up failing his physical. Sucks to say, but it may be that his playing career is over.

Erik Karlsson – As of Thursday he still wasn’t skating due to his foot injury. He’s unlikely to be ready for the start of the season and who knows if he’ll be begin the curve once he finally is given the green light to play.

Philadelphia

Travis Sanheim – It’s still tentative, but he’s off to a good start and seems to have improved his chances of making the team. Had 10 goals and 37 points in the AHL last season.

Sean Couturier – The Flyers are toying with using Claude Giroux as a left winger. Couturier could be the beneficiary if that happens as he could move up in the depth charts as a result, possibly even on a line with Giroux and Jakub Voracek (which they did test out in practice, but that doesn’t mean they’ll actually use it in games).

St. Louis

Zach Sanford – Suffered a dislocated left shoulder that will keep him sidelined for the next five-to-six months.

Jay Bouwmeester – Has a fractured left ankle that will be re-evaluated in three weeks. Along with Sanford, these ones are fringe just because they didn’t have much in the way of fantasy value even when healthy.

Alexander Steen – Suffered a hand injury in the Blues’ first preseason game on Tuesday that will cost him at least three weeks (at which point he’ll be re-evaluated). Certainly he’s the most noteworthy of the three fantasy wise.

Toronto

Patrick Marleau – It’s looking like Patrick Marleau won’t play alongside Matthews in even strength as Babcock’s preference appears to be a trio of Zach Hyman, Matthews, and William Nylander. Marleau and Matthews should share the ice in power play situations though.

Joffrey Lupul – Team’s says he failed his physical, but now it looks like the league wants to look into it after Lupul’s claim of cheating followed by his retraction(deletion)/apology. Probably doesn’t matter fantasy-wise either way. Even if Lupul is deemed fit to play he’ll probably end up in the AHL at most.

Vegas

James Neal – Has a broken hand that was projected to sideline him for two-to-four weeks. He’s one week into that timetable at this point so perhaps he’ll be okay for the season opener. Still sucks to miss training camp on a brand new team though.

Washington

WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 16: Washington Capitals left wing Jakub Vrana (13) makes a pass during an NHL game on March 16, 2017, at the Verizon Center, in Washington, D.C. between the Washington Capitals and the Nashville Predators. Nashville won 2-1 in overtime.
(Photo by Tony Quinn/Icon Sportswire)

Jakub Vrana – More grain of salt stuff, but the Capitals have been giving him top-six opportunities. He played alongside Alex Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov in Wednesday’s preseason game and tonight it looks like he’ll be with Backstrom and Oshie (Kuznetsov/Ovechkin aren’t playing).

Winnipeg

Tyler Myers – Feels 100% after only playing in 11 games last season.