How many goals do the Canucks have left in them?

Monday’s news that Markus Granlund’s season is over all but ensures this year’s version of the Vancouver Canucks will be the lowest-scoring team in franchise history. They likely would have achieved that dubious distinction anyhow even if Granlund had finished the season. But without their second-leading goal scorer — and the team’s top marksman since January 1^st — it’s virtually impossible to see how the Canucks will muster much offence over their final 11 games.

After getting shutout for the ninth time this season in Saturday’s 2-0 loss in Edmonton, the Canucks have scored just 19 goals in their past 11 games. Being charitable and giving them 19 more over their final 11 will bring the Canucks total on the season to 176. But it’s important to consider that Granlund scored four of the 19 goals in the team’s past 11 (and missed a pair of games with mumps symptoms and food poisoning) and since January 1^st has accounted for a team-high 12 markers. So, without him and his 19-goals on the season, the Canucks challenge to put pucks in the net the rest of the way gets that much more difficult.

Factor in that the Canucks finish the season with seven of their final 11 games on the road and among their remaining opponents San Jose, Anaheim, Los Angeles, Minnesota, Chicago and Edmonton are all in the National Hockey League’s top 10 in goals against this season. How many goals do the Canucks have left in them this season? 10? 15? 20? It’s impossible to know for sure, but given the challenges this team has had scoring at even-strength and on the power play, brace yourself for a shockingly low total. Whatever the final number, you’re watching history unfold on a nightly basis.

In John Tortorella’s one season behind the bench (2013-14), the Canucks managed to score 191 goals. That was one goal fewer than the dysfunctional Canucks of 1998-99 – a season that brought an end to the Mike Keenan era in Vancouver. As dark as those days were, quite remarkably, last year’s Canucks lowered the bar with just 186 goals. Now it’s hard to imagine the team won’t wind up in uncharted territory for non-lockout shortened seasons. So, three of the past four seasons have forced the Canucks to re-write the record book. To put the team’s goal-scoring woes in perspective this season, the 1970-71 expansion Canucks scored 229 goals in 78 games.

And it’s not just team totals that are at stake.

In 1998-98, Markus Naslund led the club with 36 goals and Adrian Aucoin has 23. Last season, the Canucks had a pair of 20+ goal scorers – Daniel Sedin (28) and Jannik Hansen (22). Tortorella’s season stands alone because Ryan Kesler was the lone Canucks to crack the 20-goal mark and set a franchise-mark with the lowest team-leading goal total at 25. With Granlund’s season done, Bo Horvat (20) appears to be the only Canuck who will reach 20 goals this season, and unless he catches fire over the final 11 games, it looks like Horvat will replace Kesler as the lowest high-scorer in franchise history.

Last season, the top five goals scorers combined on the Canucks totalled 94 goals (Daniel Sedin 28, Hansen 22, Horvat 16, Baertschi 16 & Vrbata 15). Right now, the top five on this year’s team have combined for 84 (Horvat 20, Granlund 19, Baertschi 17, Sutter 15, Daniel 13). Granlund is finished for the season, Sutter has one good wrist and has gone 13 without a goal and Daniel Sedin is in the midst of a 10-game goal-scoring drought.

It would be great if the Canucks could count on some production from the blueline, but that’s been a sore spot all season, too. Through 71 games, Canucks defensemen have produced a total of 17 goals. Last year’s blueline scored 23 times including six from Matt Bartkowski who shared the team lead among defensemen with Alex Edler. Right now, Ben Hutton leads the way with a meagre five goals this season and just one in his past 30 games.

And don’t hold your breath waiting for the Canucks power play to ride to the rescue over these final 11 games. The power play is 2 for its last 36 opportunities over the past 15 games. One of the most remarkable statistics pertaining to this year’s team is that Daniel Sedin and Loui Eriksson share the Canucks lead with five power play goals apiece this season – and they’ve maintained their lead despite the fact each has scored just one power play goal since January 1^st.

No matter how you slice it, it’s been a challenging year for the Vancouver Canucks, and it doesn’t figure to end with a bang. At least not offensively. The hope has to be that this team has hit rock-bottom with its offensive struggles although there are no guarantees that next year won’t offer many of the same challenges.