The Vancouver Canucks’ penalty kill in 2019-20 was modestly successful this season, killing off 80.5% of penalties during the regular season (16th in the NHL) and 80.0% of penalties in the post-season (15th in the NHL). Being roughly league average on the kill is nothing to write home about, for better or worse. As a…
Happy Monday to you all! The smoke is beginning to clear out of the Vancouver sky, the moths are sort of chilling out and I am covering for David Quadrelli this week on the mailbag! I always enjoy mixing it up with a guest spot so let’s not waste any time. Let’s see what the…
“When the games mean something, that’s when he’s at his best.” That was Vancouver Canucks General Manager Jim Benning’s selling point when the trade was announced in July of 2015 that sent Nick Bonino to Pittsburgh in exchange for Brandon Sutter. The latter was expected to provide additional speed relative to Bonino, greater shutdown ability,…
The Vancouver Canucks’ longest-serving roster member, Alex Edler, remains the team’s best shot blocker and a very crucial defensive presence for the club. However, amidst the team’s search for increased production and transition ability from the back end, there are questions around his suitability as an offensive player. The reality may be that he was…
The Swedish Hockey League regular season kicked off on Saturday and Nils Höglander wasted no time getting on the scoresheet. Höglander had two assists in the season opener as his team Rögle BK won 6-4 against Linköping. This game had the potential to be a matchup between two Canucks prospects as Arvid Costmar is a…
In 2018, the draft thesis for Quinn Hughes came down to where one stood in the debate over the importance of size in today’s NHL. In Hughes, the team that drafted him was getting an uber-talented player. That much was clear. His edgework was already NHL calibre and his cerebral qualities allowed him to view…
Though it still feels like a supremely strange statement to make in September, the NHL’s free agent frenzy is nearly upon us. Unrestricted free agency will open up on October 9, and all early indications are that Jim Benning and Co. intend to take a run at extending all three of the Canucks’ big-ticket UFAS;…
By The Numbers Zack MacEwen made it into the lineup for six total games this postseason, with the Vancouver Canucks earning four straight wins in the first four playoff games of his career. The next two, however, were two losses to the St. Louis Blues, at which point MacEwen came out of the lineup and…
Jake Virtanen put the puck in the net 20 times this year, but only two came in the postseason, and it feels like we’ve been having this discussion since his first training camp. When will Virtanen figure it out? 18 goals in the regular season was a good accomplishment, but in the postseason, he was…
The media didn’t waste any time asking Brock Boeser about the swirling trade rumours and he didn’t waste any time shooting those rumours down. Boeser spoke with the media via a Zoom call on Thursday morning at 10 AM. I was on the call and got a great quote from him at the end of…
The 2020 World Junior championships will be played in the Edmonton bubble.
The Vancouver Canucks will be losing assistant coach Manny Malhotra who will be joining the Toronto Maple Leafs in a similar role.
