Canucks Army Year in Review: Jannik Hansen

Though usually a versatile, if underappreciated element in the Vancouver Canucks bottom six, Jannik Hansen shed that label this season en route to a 20-goal campaign, riding shotgun alongside the Sedins. 

Hansen steadily built his case in sparse ice-time over the five seasons prior, proving up to the task whenever called upon to fill in as the third Sedin. Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins bought in, putting the Danish grinder on the top line in the injured Brandon Sutter’s stead, bucking convention and reaping enormous rewards for his trouble.

While the on-ice product left little, if anything to be desired of Hansen this season, the strides he made off the ice were every bit as profound and impactful. As the Canucks ship inched closer towards the iceberg, Hansen, who finished the season a 30-year-old, grizzled veteran of eight seasons, became increasingly vocal as a member of the Canucks leadership group. 

Rare are the players who looked exceptionally good this season, but Hansen certainly has a strong case. Let’s delve deep and unearth the underlying reasons why…

Hansen set career highs this season, with 22 goals and 38 points. That number is especially impressive when prorated over the course of an 82 game season, as you can add, likely, another five goals to that total. Viewed through the lens of rate production, Hansen’s 1.21 G/60 is bested by David Pastrnak, Jason Spezza and Alexander Ovechkin. That’s it.

Though Hansen has spent much of his professional career in the black by raw possession metrics, he’s never been a necessarily proficient possession player. This is just the second time in the last seven seasons that he’s finished with his head at, or above water by Cf%Rel.

No matter the context, a Gf% of 61.6 is highly impressive. That’s pretty elite company to keep. That said, I don’t think Hansen is a true talent 19% shooter. Not even with the Sedins. That 11.2% OSh% is a little outside the realm of realistic possibility, too.

Nothing special here. If anything, this represents a slight step in the wrong direction. Last season Hansen was a relative positive, if barely, with 0.5% SCF%Rel. 

I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that this, Hansen’s best season as a Canuck, might be his last season as a Canuck, too. The Canucks are a rebuilding franchise, with depth on the wing and lots of it. At some point, they need to filter high-end talent to the top of the lineup. The question then becomes, is Hansen likely to contribute 22 goals next season? What about another three or four down the road?

The likely answer is no. Hansen isn’t a true talent 19% shooter at even strength. It’s that simple. He can offer a comparable level of production, and likely for a few more seasons at that. When this next wave of talent and the core that advances it are ready to compete with the league’s best again, will the futures that Hansen might yield via trade offer more in three to four years time? Probably, yes.

Regardless of what Hansen’s future holds and where it is held, this season legitimized the Danish winger as a player with top-six credentials, in spite of his well-documented stone hands and a penchant for all-around clumsiness. He might not be a 27 goal talent over the course of an 82 game season, but he’s probably closer than most, even his most ardent supporters, give him credit. That’s not nothing, especially for a former ninth-round pick.