Season slip-slidin’ away
A look at the top 10 disappointments from the Canucks as their season slips away
Columnist Jason Botchford rhymes off a list of top 10 disappointments of a Canucks team who had great expectations from key players, only to be let down as the year progressed.
No one had a precise count on how many things had to go well this season for the Vancouver Canucks to make the playoffs.
Everyone knew, however, it was a lot.
Some things have worked out better than expected. There’s Bo Horvat’s progression and the unexpected positive impacts being made by Nikita Tryamkin and Troy Stecher.
But not everything went quite as planned for the Canucks this National Hockey League season. Here are the top 10 biggest disappointments:
1 Eriksson hasn’t really worked with the Sedins
The whole point of signing a 31-year-old to a massive six-year contract was to try to squeeze as much as possible out of the Sedins’ sunset years.
Left winger Loui Eriksson is a really good two-way player known for scoring goals, lots of goals. Because of that, and his experience with the twins with Team Sweden, people assumed this would be an easy fit. It has been anything but. The Canucks have scored 45 per cent of their goals when Eriksson is playing with the twins. Their lack of chemistry was apparently so obvious the Canucks kept Eriksson off the Sedins’ power-play unit for most of the first half of the season. If right now he was closer to 20 goals than 10, the Canucks would probably be in a playoff spot.
2 Gudbranson’s wrist injury
He was set to be the Canucks’ heart and soul on defence. The big, affable blue-liner who was going to clear out the front of the crease while giving the Canucks the pushback they’ve lacked for years.
He was thought to be a perfect stay-at-home partner for Ben Hutton, and a legit top four defenceman. But none of this has worked out. No one can be sure how much of an impact Erik Gudbranson’s wrist injury was, but it got progressively worse from the start of the season until he concluded he needed the surgery which may have ended his season.
Not only did the Canucks miss out on what they thought Gudbranson was going to bring to the table, they also find themselves at something of a crossroads with him, as he’s a pending restricted free agent.
3 Hutton’s pre-season never translated
Never trust what you see in the pre-season. Defenceman Ben Hutton looked explosive and was poised for a huge offensive year. He burst kind of out of nowhere as a rookie last season and put up 25 points. Paired with Gudbranson, it was believed, would allow him to freelance more this season and bump his production significantly. Few were talking about a sophomore slump. But Hutton has struggled to produce even-strength points and will need a strong final six weeks of the season just to get back to 25 points.
4 Markstrom isn’t starting more
He was supposed to be the goalie of the future. If it feels like people have been saying that about Jacob Markstrom for about six years, it’s because they have.
This was thought to be the baton-passing year. This was the season Markstrom would take over as the No. 1 or at least fail trying. None of that has happened.
Markstrom’s start on Thursday in St. Louis was just his 23rd of the season. He’s started six times in six weeks. There was never a competition for the job as Ryan Miller was named the lead dog before training camp started and the Canucks’ coaching staff never gave Markstrom a chance to win the job.
It’s unfortunate, because this season will end with the same conclusion as last season. No one can be sure whether Markstrom is ready to be a lead goalie.
5 Virtanen not being ready
Among his raw tools, right winger Jake Virtanen has everything the Canucks need. He’s got the size, shot and skating which should have made him indispensable on this roster.
His rookie season in the NHL was far better than people’s memories of it seem to be. It was good enough where he should have been a lock to be a key contributor this year. It hasn’t worked out that way.
To hear the Canucks tell it, Virtanen was too heavy to start training camp. That, I’m sure, is just part of the story. The bottom line is the Canucks didn’t have anyone else who could play the way Virtanen can and the result has been a team that all season has played soft.
6 Penalty killing didn’t improve with a healthy Sutter
The Canucks aren’t a good enough even-strength team to have poor special teams. They’ve been helpless for years, it seems, to roll out a productive power play. But the pieces are there to have a good penalty kill unit.
Centre Brandon Sutter played just 20 games last season. Having him healthy this season was supposed to make a difference. It hasn’t worked out that way. The Canucks’ penalty killing is actually worse than it was a season ago.
7 Stecher couldn’t help on the power play
He’s smart, fast and promising. Defenceman Troy Stecher has good puck skills and a decent enough shot. He’s not shy about using that shot and does seem adept at getting it on net through traffic. Unfortunately, none of this was enough to uplift the Canucks’ first power-play unit, which has been disappointing enough to make this list.
Stecher has been exciting for lots of reasons this year. His work on the power play is not one of those things.
8 Megna ended up in the top six
Wait, what? When he was signed in the off-season it didn’t make a ripple in this market. Now, here we are in February and only eight Canucks forwards have seen more ice time.
Centre Jayson Megna has had an extended stint playing with the Sedins and lately has been a staple on Sutter’s second line.
Literally no one saw this coming and it hasn’t made the Canucks a better team. Not at all.
9 Hansen’s injuries
There were two long ones and they gutted the Canucks. When right winger Jannik Hansen is on his game, his speed and puck recovery skills can be huge difference-makers for the Canucks.
His injuries forced the coaching staff out of playing him with the twins and it’s probably the biggest reason the Sedins are suffering a down year.
Some contend they need to play with a winger with speed to remain effective and push opponents back. When Hansen isn’t around, there’s really no one else who can do that job.
10 Larsen never walked the line all that well
Defenceman Philip Larsen was targeted by the Canucks a season ago.
He was believed to be the point man who would revive the Sedins’ power-play unit.
Lauded for his ability to walk the line, Larsen was gifted the point spot on the Canucks’ first power-play unit to start the year.
He just never had sustained success there, or really any at all.
Now, Larsen has been pushed way down the pecking order as both Stecher and Nikita Tryamkin passed him on the depth chart.