Canucks Midseason Report: Consistency has been a problem, but not resilience
Posted January 13, 2025 11:03 am.
One of the reasons sports is the greatest reality show going is that the plot is always liable to twist and dip.
But the Vancouver Canucks have taken unpredictability to a new level in the opening half of their season, providing drama that has captivated the National Hockey League while alarming and exasperating a fan base that had hoped last season’s thrilling 109-point campaign was the start of a new golden era.
By the time key defenceman Filip Hronek injured his shoulder on Nov. 27, the Canucks had already endured more adversity in the opening quarter of this season than they did all of last year.
CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO 1130 NEWSRADIO VANCOUVER LIVE!By then, J.T. Miller was on his 10-game leave of absence, Thatcher Demko hadn’t yet played a game, Dakota Joshua had not long returned from cancer and Brock Boeser was just back from a concussion. And then December came and brought renewed stories about the disharmony between Miller and Elias Pettersson, and then injuries to Pettersson and Quinn Hughes.
“It seems like every other day there’s something that’s been thrown on our plate,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said. “I’ve (spent) a lot of energy around different things. There’s holes in the dyke and you’ve got (only) so many fingers.”
And yet, the dyke hasn’t collapsed. Despite all the upheaval and lineup challenges, the Canucks have kept themselves in a playoff spot by harvesting points from 29 of their first 42 games. Consistency has been a problem, but not resilience.
“I think the adversity that’s hit, hopefully it’s going to make some individuals stronger for it,” Tocchet said. “And, you know, there’s some guys here that we need to play better — a chunk of them. You can’t worry about their first 40 (games); they’ve got to worry about the next 40.”
Under the circumstances, it’s possible Tocchet’s coaching this season has been even more critical to the Canucks than when he won the Jack Adams Award last year.
“I’ve got to own up to whatever I’ve got to own,” he told us. “I always think that I can fix everything. I think I can teach everything and I think we can win. I would never take this job, or I wouldn’t coach, if I just came to the rink and thought, ‘it’s not me, it’s the players.’ I’ve got to take responsibility.”
And if the players do, too, the Canucks’ second half will be better than the first.
KEY STATS
Record: 19-13-10 (4th in Pacific Division, 13th in NHL)
Goals per game: 2.93 (19th in NHL)
Goals against per game: 3.07 (15th in NHL)
Power play: 22.2% (14th NHL)
Penalty kill: 81.5% (12th in NHL)
BEST SURPRISE
Quinn Hughes has been spectacular for the Canucks. But after last season’s Norris Trophy win, we knew “spectacular” was in the captain’s repertoire. But when training camp began, we barely knew Kevin Lankinen.
A career backup in Chicago and Nashville, the goaltender was snatched from the free-agent bargain bin by Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin on Sept. 21.
The idea was that Lankinen, 29, would provide experience and depth, push opening-night rookie starter Arturs Silovs while No. 1 goalie Thatcher Demko recovered from his perplexing knee injury, and eventually provide insurance in the minors.
Instead, Lankinen won the interim starting job from Silovs in the opening week of the regular season and has been more responsible than anyone except Hughes for keeping the Canucks in a playoff position despite the tumultuous, drama-filled first half.
Behind a defence that has struggled for consistency, Lankinen is 16-7-6 and has earned the Canucks points in 22 of his 29 appearances while posting a .906 save percentage that has been supressed by four goals when the opposition net was empty. Were it not for Hughes, Lankinen would be the Canucks’ MVP. And he has continued to play well since Demko returned. No wonder management is looking at salary-cap scenarios that would allow them to re-sign Lankinen and keep both goalies next season.
The first runner-up for most positive surprise would be Lankinen’s former Predators teammate, Kiefer Sherwood. Signed as a free agent to provide some speed and physical agitation in a depth role, Sherwood has 13 goals and 21 points and is the NHL’s runaway leader in hits with 249.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
The biggest individual disappointment must be winger Nils Hoglander, who has fallen off a cliff statistically after a 24-goal season that earned him a three-year, $9-million contract extension. Hoglander has two goals this season, none since Oct. 19, and has been healthy-scratched three times.
But the most concerning disappointments have been alpha forwards J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson — and not because they were never close friends, but because neither star has been able to locate and maintain the elite form for which the Canucks are paying them nearly $20 million annually.
Coming off a virtuoso 103-point season and a playoff run that validated his position as the Canucks’ emotional leader, Miller started this season trying to play through an undisclosed injury. The 31-year-old was still impactful but clearly lacked the trademark explosiveness. After an erratic Nov. 17 game against Nashville, the centre from Ohio went on personal leave. Clearly, Miller is dealing with things that are probably more important than hockey. As a player, he has been just OK since he returned on Dec. 12. Given what Miller has been through — and is going through — 29 points in 32 games is not a disaster, but he needs to make more impact more often.
After a dreadful end to last season, when he was largely invisible in the playoffs, Pettersson was expected to have a massive bounce-back year after signing an eight-year contract extension for a franchise-record $92.8 million. Instead, he has 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games, 15 of those points packed into the 10 games Miller missed. Pettersson revealed at the Canucks’ year-end press conference in May that he had played through tendinitis in his knee. Whatever his problems, Pettersson’s play through the first half frequently lacked speed and engagement, although his 200-foot game in Saturday’s 3-0 win in Toronto was probably his best of the season.
When Tocchet says “a chunk” of Canucks need to be better in the second half, start that list with Pettersson and Miller.
BIG QUESTION FOR THE SECOND HALF
Well, the Canucks have more questions than a curious toddler, and the overriding one is whether this team with Stanley Cup aspirations can find its identity and actually reach the playoffs with some momentum.
But the most compelling question: Will Miller and Pettersson still be teammates after the NHL trade deadline on March 8? The Canucks are gauging the market for them, and it’s at least possible that one or both of the franchise cornerstones will be traded. In a Canucks season marked so far by earthquakes and tremors, trading Miller or Pettersson would be the greatest seismic event of all.
