Canucks Army Year in Review: Brendan Gaunce

The Canucks 2012 first round pick Brendan Gaunce made some strides this season, appearing in first NHL game and later scoring his first NHL goal. It wasn’t pretty, but they all count!

Although Gaunce only appeared in 20 NHL games and scored one goal in a fairly limited role, where he made those aforementioned strides was for Utica in the AHL. Setting new career highs in goals, assists and points in 46 games for the Comets. Last season he scored 11 goals in 74 games in the AHL, this year he had 17 goals in 46 games.

Let’s start by looking at his games in the NHL.

Nothing stands out for Gaunce, limited to the one goal we mentioned above. That shooting percentage is skewed, as his only goal, was a point shot off his skate but we’ll let him have it!

Gaunce had a relatively decent showing in his 20 games, posting a CF% of 49.28%, which when compared to the rest of his team wasn’t an eye sore. Ideally he would’ve limited shots against, but it was happening all over the roster, so can’t really fault Gaunce here.

Posting a respectable scoring chance for % of 50.24% is worthy of mention, given his limited role with the Canucks.

The key in Gaunce’s analysis is that he only played 20 games with the big club and was in a generally limited role. As the season came to an end, and with his role increasing, he started to gain confidence and show better.

With that, it was great to see Gaunce consistently put in the role of an offensive leader for the Comets. He and Hunter Shinkaruk were a dynamic duo who led the attack on a team that needed players to step up. What is particularly impressive, is that Gaunce ended the season with a 60.8% GF% in the AHL, which is something to take notice of at any level.

Gaunce thinks the game very well and it shows in his defensive side of the game. So there are no concerns of that part of his game being able to be translated to the NHL.

The key next year, is to carry that offensive success to the NHL and try to carve himself out a role. The Canucks are fairly deep in the forward ranks, but that is a spot as the 13th/14th forward currently available for someone like Gaunce, or Alexandre Grenier, to seize.

With that being said, unless the Canucks make a few trades, I would expect Gaunce to not make the team out of camp but once again be in the position to be the first call up option. Which isn’t a bad thing, like many prospects, the best course of action for Gaunce is to play as much as possible and not sit in the press box.

Brendan Gaunce becomes eligible for waivers before the 2017-18 NHL season.

Gaunce will likely never be an offensive player in the NHL but it’s fair to say that developing into a bottom 6 forward. The Markham native had been much more effective when he was moved to centre in Utica, but saw regular duty as a winger with the big club. Time will tell where he finally lands, but having a smart player like Gaunce in your bottom 6 is a very good thing to have.