Logan Stankoven - Carolina Hurricanes (2) Shorthanded Goal
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
3 ways the Canucks can get more out of their power play
Photo credit: IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Oct 22, 2026, 13:30 EDTUpdated: Oct 22, 2026, 14:03 EDT
The Vancouver Canucks are 11 games into the 2026-27 NHL regular season, and fans and analysts alike have been divided over their special teams.
On the penalty kill, the club ranks last in the league, rocking a 63.9% success rate, but has seen some improvement as of late, killing 10 of their last 11 penalties, including a stellar night against the Carolina Hurricanes, killing all five penalties and stopping an additional penalty shot (thanks to the cheeky, yet illegal, stick work of Elias Pettersson).
On the flip side, the Canucks’ power play, on its surface, is doing well. With seven goals and a 21.9% success rate, the 14th-best in the league, both power play units have looked more confident in the offensive zone. The first unit, in particular, has found success, moving away from set locations and emphasizing more movement. Now, players must occupy multiple roles on the power play, allowing the club to attack more fluidly rather than setting up in a specific formation before attacking.
Under the hood, however, the numbers are less favourable. Net power play percentage (Net PP%) is an advanced hockey statistic that measures a team’s true power play efficiency. It takes power play goals, subtracts any shorthanded goals allowed, and divides the total by the number of opportunities they’ve had.
In Net PP%, the Canucks rank 22nd in the league at 12.5%. Ranking second in the NHL in shorthanded goals allowed per game at 0.27, the Canucks have done a poor job at managing the puck while on the man advantage. Failed zone entries, moments when the puck carrier has been stationary, and poor neutral-zone movement are just a few reasons the club has struggled to maintain the success we saw down the stretch of last season, when they converted on 34.5% of their power plays from March 1st onward.
Here are three ways the Canucks can get more out of their power play as we head into November.
Solution #1 – Move Filip Hronek off PP1
Ever since the Canucks traded Quinn Hughes, their main defenceman on PP1 has been Filip Hronek, and considering he was the best-producing defenceman on the power play in the NHL last season per 60 minutes, it makes sense that he would retain that role going into 2026-27.
Through the early goings of the season, however, the results have been hit or miss, as Hronek has failed to establish himself as a consistent threat from up top in the offensive zone, and has struggled to create clean entries.
Hronek is not a traditional “quarterback” defenceman. With the puck, he shows little hip or shoulder mobility. He isn’t particularly deceptive and relies on shot-based offence to generate chances. On zone entries, he telegraphs his plays well in advance, usually executing a drop pass to EP40 or DeBrusk. Lately, he’s started faking the drop pass before attacking over the blueline and chipping the puck in for Lekkerimäki, Rossi, or Boeser to go after, but he still struggles to create controlled entries.
Hronek’s limitations are most evident around the opponent’s blueline, and any mistake there can quickly turn into a shorthanded chance against.
To make matters worse, Hronek’s two-on-one defence has always been one of his poorer defensive qualities, and when teams counter on the penalty kill because the Canucks can’t establish the offensive zone, he can’t prevent chances from getting through to the Canucks net.
Hronek is best used as a power play decoy. His shot can draw a penalty killer up high, letting the four forwards attack the three PKers low; if the PK collapses, Hronek’s heavy one-timer becomes an option up top. But with Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson on the PP, both of whom have elite shots and can get pucks through layers in front, Hronek doesn’t need to stay on PP1.
Instead, Zeev Buium or Tom Willander could do a better job there. Both possess fantastic transition ability, and with the Canuck’s power play showcasing more fluidity in its off-puck movement, both players are more than capable of activating low with the puck and creating. Giving one of the younger defencemen a real, prolonged opportunity to run PP1 wouldn’t only help their long-term development, but their current skill sets also fit what the Canucks need now.
Solution #2 – Move Filip Chytil to PP1
If the Canucks want zone entries, they have one of the league’s best transition forwards (as long as he’s healthy): Filip Chytil.
Controlled Zone Entries % leaders this season (min. 8 games played): 83% — Filip Chytil as a Canuck 78% — Connor McDavid 77% — Martin Necas 75% — Drew O'Connor as a Canuck 74% — Leon Draisaitl 74% — Jack Hughes 71% — Macklin Celebrini Chytil has been ELITE at zone entries.
Over the past two games, with Marco Rossi out of the lineup, head coach Manny Malhotra has used Jonathan Lekkerimäki in his place. That makes sense, given that Rossi and Lekkerimäki are best used on the left half-wall and can get lost in the high slot.
What’s notable, however, is that Chytil has seemingly been ignored on the power play. Through his first three games, Chytil has been utilized more than EP40 at even strength, and in his most recent game against the Hurricanes, his combination of size, skill, and speed has been on full display with the puck, creating a myriad of entries and chances off the rush, and not displaying any hesitation to take the puck to the guts of the ice and attempt to make something happen.
As has been the case for the previous eight seasons, the job of “zone entry forward” on the power play has been put on the shoulders of Elias Pettersson.
Despite how efficient and elite he has been at creating rush chances at even strength, Pettersson has historically been about league average in PP zone entries, as teams typically have three or four players in front of Pettersson on the PK, while at even strength, Pettersson’s rush chances are typically the result of counterattacks or finding the highest-danger option on an odd-man rush.
If the Canucks were to give Chytil a spot on the top unit, their power play would instantly become a top-five zone-entry team with the man advantage, and with Pettersson as the secondary puck carrier on the unit, he can do what he does best: being an off-puck option that creates extremely dangerous chances using one-touch offence, either executing a tap pass for back-door and slot chances, or using his rejuvenated one-timer.
Chytil has displayed natural chemistry with Lekkerimäki and Boeser through his limited games as a Canuck, and with DeBrusk failing to score on the man advantage thus far, the opportunity is open for the Canucks to try shoring up their biggest weakness.
Solution #3 – Implement a Five-Forward Power Play
A decade and a half ago, NHL teams would typically use two defencemen on their power play units. Now, 10 years after the league began to use a “four-forward, one-defenceman” power play unit almost exclusively, some teams have begun experimenting with a five-forward power play unit.
As analytics has expanded in hockey, the growing sentiment is that forwards impact the game far more than top-end defencemen. From a strictly offensive perspective, even middle-six forwards tend to provide more offensive value than the average top-pair defenseman.
Traditionally, it’s ill-advised to have five forwards on a power play unit, because despite the increased offensive output, defensemen are more used to walking the blueline, utilizing lateral movement up top to open up lanes, and when the penalty kill does eventually counterattack, they’re better equipped to assess a situation and defend as needed.
In the Canucks’ case, however, a five-forward unit could be the best way to maximize their offensive-zone potential while preventing shorthanded goals against.
First, the Canucks’ shorthanded goals against come from failed entries stopped just before or just after the blue line. By having a five-man unit, the Canucks would be able to put Chytil on the power play as a zone entry threat while maintaining a balance of right- and left-handed players.
Second, the Canucks best three offensive defencemen, Hronek, Buium, and Willander, are experiencing peaks and valleys at five-on-five, and by minimizing their power play time, they would be able to focus their attention on stabilizing their even-strength performance.
Third, the Canucks, lacking 200-foot impact players, have a fair share of high-quality offensive forwards. Pettersson, Boeser, Rossi, Chytil, DeBrusk, and Lekkerimäki are all more efficient than Hronek right now, and with Hronek’s defensive warts, the best way to minimize shorthanded chances against might be to maximize the club’s offence and transition game with the man advantage.
In the midst of an eight-game losing streak, if the Canucks want to steal a game or two over the next week and raise their spirits, they’re going to need to have a couple of games where the power play takes over. The answers are in that dressing room; now Malhotra, the coaching staff, and the players have to find them.
Sponsored by bet365
Breaking News
- 3 ways the Canucks can get more out of their power play
- WDYTT: How do you want to see the Canucks handle their goaltending moving forward?
- ‘Gotta game it out’: Schenn and Buium talk Canucks’ third period struggles amid 8-game losing skid
- ‘Hesitant with everything’: Canucks’ Buium talks early season struggles; says confidence ‘growing’
- Scenes from practice: Rossi returns and Canucks shake up forward lines in effort to snap 8-game losing streak
Vancouver CanucksTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$87,295,050
$71,329,167
Projected Cap Space
$16,704,950
$42,170,833
Current Cap Space
$18,841,630
$42,170,833
Active Players
23/23
13/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
1
1