Canucks Army Player Profiles: Luca Sbisa

8 years ago

What can one say about Luca Sbisa that has not already been said?

One of the most erratic defenseman in the league, Luca Sbisa is a nice, quadrilingual young man who plays a fast and physical game. Something of an anti-Chris Tanev, Sbisa lacks the instinct to make safe, smart play, especially when under pressure. Occasionally, this will result in impressive breakout passes or offensive rushes, but more often than not, it ends with a mad scramble in the Canucks’ end.

Read on past the jump to get re-aquainted with the most discussed 6th defenseman in the league.

ORIGINS

Luca Sbisa started his professional hockey career with a Swiss club based in Zug. His work with Zug was impressive enough to see him drafted 19th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers in 2008.

Sbisa spent his first year in North America between the WHL’s Lethbridge Hurricanes and the Flyers. At the 2009 entry draft, Sbisa and Joffrey Lupul were sent to Anaheim in exchange for Chris Pronger and Ryan Dingle (who is currently playing just hours south of Zug in the Italian Serie A).

Luca was a regular in the Ducks’ line-up from the start of the 2010-11 season and later that season signed a 4-year extension with an AAV of $2.175 million.

In June 2014, Luca Sbisa and Nick Bonino were traded to Vancouver for Ryan Kesler. Despite struggling mightily during his first few months as a Canuck, Sbisa was signed to a contract extension worth $10.8 million over 3 seasons.

CAREER STATISTICS

courtesy eliteprospects.com

courtesy ownthepuck.com

WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2015-16

Absolute chaos. Luca Sbisa is probably not going to significantly improve upon his aforementioned poor possession numbers, nor upon his lacklustre 11 points. Sbisa is an adventure to watch, and is almost guaranteed to produce some wild moments during 3-on-3 overtime. In the words of Nations Network Overlord Thom Drance, “no Canucks player has caused more hockey-related excitement [in 2014-15] than Sbisa has”. Sbisa will continue to frustrate almost everyone who watches him, but in a fun way, kind of.

Sbisa will likely play on the third pairing with Matt Bartkowski or Frank Corrado. There is no official clause that prevents Sbiaa from being a tradeable asset, so there is a chance that the Canucks could trade him at the deadline to team looking for a physical defenseman who does not score a whole lot.

MILESTONES

October 4th, 2014: Luca Sbisa referred to a giveaway as a “pizza”. This inspired the rise of a prolific local meme among fans and media alike, due in part to the fact that Sbisa sounds so similar to pizza. When addressing the media at the end of the 2014/15 season, Sbisa revealed that he had no idea that his pizza comment had taken such a hold upon the fanbase.

Sbisa has represented Switzerland at multiple levels, including at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

HIGHLIGHTS

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