Count this author in as one of the few in the Vancouver fanbase who were actually excited about the signing of Tim Schaller in the summer of 2018. While that opinion has aged about as gracefully as Keith Tkachuk, there was once plenty of reason for optimism.
When he signed with the Canucks, Schaller was coming off a career season in which he put up 22 points in 82 games. While those are respectable numbers for a fourth liner, the real reason this author and a handful of others were overjoyed with the signing of Schaller was the reaction of the online Boston Bruins community to his departure.
To hear Boston fans tell it, Schaller was a heart-and-soul player, a fan favourite, and the driving engine behind their team’s internal motivation. Don’t take our word for it, let’s head to the Twitter archives for the Bostonian reactions to Schaller’s July 1 signing with the Canucks!
without Tim Schaller we’re nothing im so sad
— ??? ?? ???????? (@dvawitch) July 2, 2018
Banner day for the Boston bruins the lose Tim schaller and nick Holden ,lost out on John Tavares and signed John Moore for 5 freaking years ….not pleased at all
— chase gillies (@therealgillies) July 1, 2018
WE LET TIM SCHALLER GO ARE YOU KIDDING ME. WHY. GIMME SCHALLER OVER NORDSTROM AND WAGNER ANY DAY OF THE WEEK
— Elijah DiDomenico (@_elijah_63) July 1, 2018
tim schaller carried this team into the playoffs
— hamburger dipshit (@nvrhungoveragn_) July 1, 2018
Me hearing about Tim Schaller leaving Boston pic.twitter.com/ZcL2rOSIFL
— Chloé (@FrenchFirework) July 1, 2018
Taking a glance at other social media platforms from around the time of his signing reveal even more positive takes on Schaller’s time with the Bruins, including quotes like “This one hurts more than not getting JT” and the assertion that Schaller was a premium fourth liner—“[he’s] got the speed and talent to play third line minutes but lacks the shot. Willing to play physical all the time. Wish him nothing but the best in Vancouver.”
That all serves as pretty sharp contrast to the kind of opinions being thrown around about the guy by Canuck fans after a half season in Vancouver:
The #canucks acquisition of Roussel and Beagle are paying dividends for Benning this season. Schaller… not so much.
— Michael Paweska (@mrpaweska) January 23, 2019
please sauce hot garb tim schaller a healthy scratch and plug in goldy
— BM (@VirtanensStuff) January 19, 2019
Tim Schaller makes me miss Linden Vey.
— Shaun Blight (@shauntzyB) January 19, 2019
All of which raises the important question of What The Heck Happened To Tim Schaller?
How exactly does one go from an energetic hustler than fans in Boston couldn’t bear to be without to a nigh-invisible entity that Vancouver fans want to drive to the airport? Below, we’ll see if we can find any answers.
Production
It is possible that Schaller’s breakout of a 2017/18 with the Bruins was an anomaly, but his overall career progression doesn’t really jive with that. It was Schaller’s fourth season in the league—and only his second as a full-time NHLer—but his production didn’t increase all that much from previous outings. In fact, Schaller’s production in 2017/18 was only a smidge higher than it was in his first season with the Bruins, suggesting he didn’t so much “breakout” as receive more of an opportunity.
| Tim Schaller | 2014/15 (Buffalo) | 2015/16 (Buffalo) | 2016/17 (Boston) | 2017/18 (Boston) | 2018/19 (Vancouver |
| Games | 18 | 17 | 59 | 82 | 34 |
| Points | 2 | 3 | 14 | 22 | 5 |
| Points-Per-Game | 0.11 | 0.18 | 0.24 | 0.27 | 0.15 |
Perhaps, then, it is Schaller’s lack of opportunity in Vancouver that has caused his offensive output to plummet. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case.
Opportunity
Tim Schaller is definitely getting less of an opportunity to play hockey in Vancouver than he did in Boston last year—especially when his numerous healthy scratches are entered into the equation—but not to such a degree that it would explain his poor performance.
| Tim Schaller | 2014/15 (Buffalo) | 2015/16 (Buffalo) | 2016/17 (Boston) | 2017/18 (Boston) | 2018/19 (Vancouver |
| Average TOI | 10:16 | 7:08 | 10:42 | 11:18 | 9:31 |
| Average Shift Length | 0:42 | 0:38 | 0:42 | 0:43 | 0:40 |
| Average Shorthanded TOI | 1:02 | 1:11 | 1:08 | 1:53 | 1:46 |
For the most part, Schaller is playing close to the same amount of minutes in Vancouver—in the same sort of situations—as he did in Boston over the past two seasons.
The numbers look even more damning when broken down on a month-by-month basis.
| Tim Schaller | First Month In Vancouver | Since Then |
| Games | 13 | 21 |
| Average TOI | 11:18 | 8:25 |
| Average Shift Length | 0:39 | 0:40 |
| Average Shorthanded TOI | 2:24 | 1:22 |
This chart demonstrates that when Schaller first joined the Canucks, coach Travis Green gave him just as much opportunity on the ice as he was receiving in Boston. It was only after a month of play that Green began to decrease Schaller’s minutes—and by that point, Schaller had certainly given him ample reason to make that decision.
Quality Of Teammates/Competition
There’s little doubt that the two Bruins rosters that Tim Schaller played on—both of whom made the playoffs—were better overall hockey teams than the 2018/19 Canucks are.
However, that doesn’t mean that the actual players who Schaller currently lines up with—or against—are of any different quality than what he dealt with in Boston.
Again, the numbers back up this assertion. By measuring the Time on Ice Percentage of Schaller’s linemates and opponents, one can come up with his TOI% Quality of Teammates and TOI% Quality of Competition stats—which are meant to reflect how good the players he shares the ice with are on either side of the puck.
| Tim Schaller | 2016/17 (Boston) | 2017/18 (Boston) | 2018/19 (Vancouver) |
| TOI% QoT | 28.95% | 28.64% | 29.06% |
| TOI% QoC | 28.44% | 28.4% | 28.67% |
These stats seem to indicate that Schaller is currently dealing with teammate and competition quality similar to his assignment in Boston, but he’s still struggling.
Such numbers, however, may be flawed. This statistic being so heavily based on icetime may be a mitigating factor, as a player of lesser quality in Vancouver may receive equal minutes to what a better player might receive on a deeper roster. By looking at the average Corsi For % of Schaller’s linemates, one can finally find a possible answer for his decline in Vancouver.
| Tim Schaller | 2016/17 (Boston) | 2017/18 (Boston) | 2018/19 (Vancouver) |
| Corsi For % QoT | 53.4% | 51.34% | 45.47% |
This would seem to indicate that the quality of Schaller’s teammates in Vancouver is holding him back a bit compared to the support he received in Boston. That tracks logically, too, with the Bruins of the past two seasons having objectively deeper rosters than the current Canucks.
However, an actual look at the most frequent linemates of Schaller in Boston—Sean Kuraly, Noel Acciari, Brian Gionta, Tommy Wingels, Austin Czarnik, and the like—versus those he’s lining up with in Vancouver—Markus Granlund, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, and Tyler Motte—reveals that the difference isn’t all that pronounced.
Luck
As a low-volume shooter, it’s tough to use Shooting Percentage to perform any sort of assessment on Tim Schaller. With a whopping zero goals on the season, he’s obviously shooting blanks in 2018/19—but his percentage has traditionally been pretty low anyway, and he’s been shooting at an even lower volume than usual.
| Tim Schaller | 2016/17 (Boston) | 2017/18 (Boston) | 2018/19 (Vancouver) |
| Shots Per Game | 1.51 | 1.61 | 0.94 |
| Shooting Percentage | 7.9% | 9% | 0% |
There’s obviously some bad luck involved in Schaller literally rocking a 0.00% in this category, but sometimes individuals make their own luck. Schaller hasn’t been doing much to help himself in this department.
Intangible Factors And The “Eye Test”
It’s become quite clear that Schaller had something in Boston that he does not have in Vancouver—his coach’s trust. Both Claude Julien and Bruce Cassidy found enormous value in having Schaller in their lineup, but Travis Green obviously feels differently. There’s no way to know what expectations Green has communicated to Schaller, but he doesn’t appear to be meeting them.
However, proponents of the “eye test” will have a hard time faulting Green in this regard. Whereas Bruins fans decried the loss of a “hustler” with “non-stop energy” in July, that version of Tim Schaller simply hasn’t shown up in Vancouver. Schaller often looks listless on the ice—when he’s even noticeable at all—and certainly hasn’t appeared to play in any manner that could theoretically give his team energy. Instead, Tyler Motte is filling that role this season, and Schaller is nowhere to be found.
Conclusion
The fact of the matter is that Schaller simply looks like a different player than he was in Boston. While there are many factors that could explain why Schaller is performing so much worse in Vancouver, none of them appear to offer definitive answers.
The best conclusion to the query of “What The Heck Happened To Tim Schaller?” is probably a narrative one. He came to Vancouver, struggled to fit in with his new teammates and system, performed poorly, lost his coach’s trust, and hasn’t been able to right the ship. Schaller has received plenty of opportunity with the Canucks, but he’s done a whole lot less with it than he has in previous NHL seasons—and the results speak for themselves.
Schaller needs another opportunity with another organization. Wonder if Boston would give up a 3rd for him?
I doubt Boston would take him back at $1.9/season. I don’t think they would be adverse to the player just the contract
We would be lucky if someone took him for free on waivers let alone get a draft pick of any kind..
I wonder if he’s a “home town” boy. He is from New Hampshire close by Boston. But here’s the funny thing when he first iced for Vcr I quite liked him … he was a possession type player. He often started and finished in the opponents end. He was great along the boards. However his enthusiasm seems to have waned. That role needs energy and enthusiasm and it seems to have left. Maybe he needs some home cooking
Maybe he’s another guy that can’t stand the smell of pot everywhere in the city.
Me either, I can’t stand the smell of marijuana and if I need to walk along Abbot street ( as an example ) passed The Pint, frankly I’m embarrassed at the state and conditions within Vancouver. It stinks, is covered with debris and full of druggies. What’s it say on the plates on your car “Beautiful British Columbia ” is not the case any longer, third world for sure
You should probably move then.
Nope I sadly just avoid going into Vancouver. You want that crap you can have my portion. Can you imagine visitors stumbling on that part of town. Eevn if they just put some street cleaner or hose the place down, A fine mix of Marijuana and urine ….. like I said you’re welcome to my portion. The concept of if you don’t like it run away is not one I’d think is desirable
And no ones missin’ ya’ Fred. B – Bye now
The presence of Tim Schaller reminds me of the long forgotten Marko Sturm signing and how short a tenure he had here. I’m disappointed most of all for the young man himself but perhaps he’s just not a proper fit for this club and basically Motte “took” his job. Maybe he’s was suppose to be mere fill-in until someone like Zac Mac was/is ready to step into the line up. Hopefully the guy can catch on with another team but unfortunately it hasn’t work out for Tim here. Good luck, guy.
Good take, I too thought he looked like a decent 4th line guy with lots of energy early in the year… For whatever reason that energy just disappeared and instead he appears invisible most shifts. Thank god Motte did take his job though, as he has been a bright spot.
Dont know what happened and at this point dont care. He isnt working out, if you can move him then do so, if not waive him and send him to Utica and lets see what ZacMac has to offer.
I did like this signing at the time. Short deal and he brought some grit while scoring the odd goal. He has brought none of that.
Wonder if Nashville might be interested, after Watson’s suspension, indefinitely.
I would take a late round pick, or future considerations.
He’s drinking Edmonton water
Maybe he had all that hustle in Boston because he was trying to avoid love licks from Rat Face.
No Mas Ex Bruins on the Canuck Roster. They are usually Boston Busts.
As I said back then, I would have liked 2 out of the 3 FA signings and prefered Rousell and Schaller. Beagle has definitely looked much better, and has proved the second half of that prediction very wrong.
Good article.
I also tend to check the twitter reactions or comments from other teams’ fans whenever we trade or sign someone….and yes, the more they lament, the better I feel about said trade or signing! 🙂
However, I find that sometimes fans over-value their own player and this may have been the case for Schaller. I remember how Canucks fans, though they loved the deal, were sad to see Jannick Hansen go. I’m sure Sharks fans must’ve been had high hopes too if they had read those comments/tweets.
In Schaller’s case, I think that he just had a great UFA season playing for his hometown team in 2018…his 2019 season might be closer to the type of player he really is.
The same thing that ‘happened’ to Loui Eriksson. They became useless and redundant.