The poets Stefan Kendal Gordy and Skyler Austen Gordy once delivered the immortal lines “Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, EVERYBODY.”
But sometimes, it’s not everybody taking shots, and it’s no LMFAOing matter.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;
In fact, when it comes to shot-taking, the Vancouver Canucks were a downright phenomenon in the 2023/24 season.
Coming in at a crisp 12.0%, the Canucks tied for the highest team shooting percentage in the regular season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s a distinction they held throughout almost the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign.
But what the Canucks delivered in pure efficiency, they failed to in bulk.
The Canucks only took a total of 2,328 shots, ranking them 26th overall in the league at a rate of just 28.4-per-game.. Only one playoff team, the Washington Capitals, took fewer shots. The rest of the teams ranked below the Canucks on the list – Arizona, Montreal, Anaheim, Chicago, and San Jose – are exactly who you’d expect to struggle putting pucks on net.
And then there are the anomalous Canucks.
The dichotomy of Vancouver shooting continued into the playoffs, where the Canucks took the fewest shots of any playoff team (by far) with 20.8-per-game and another tie for the highest shooting percentage at 12.2%.
It’s not a bad thing to be an efficiently-shooting hockey team. The bang-for-buck approach obviously worked out well enough, and the Canucks finished with the sixth-highest goals-per-game in the NHL in the regular season, and they made it all the way to Round Two and Game 7 against the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up.
But there is also an element of playing to one’s own strengths. If the Canucks are so consistently good at converting on shots-on-goal, wouldn’t it ultimately be to their benefit to then take more shots on goal overall.
It’s a line of thought that GM Patrik Allvin and Co. seem to be following in the 2024 offseason, where the Canucks have added some real volume shooters.
Before we get into the new folks, let’s take a look at the shot-volume standard they’re skating into for the 2024/25 season. We’ve laid out the remaining Canucks here by the shots-per-60 stat, which has Conor Garland leading by a fair margin.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="312">Player</td>
<td width="312">2023/24 Shots-per-60</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Conor Garland</td>
<td width="312">10.07</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Brock Boeser</td>
<td width="312">8.12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Elias Pettersson</td>
<td width="312">7.71</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Nils Höglander</td>
<td width="312">7.43</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">JT Miller</td>
<td width="312">7.37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Pius Suter</td>
<td width="312">6.07</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Quinn Hughes</td>
<td width="312">5.90</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Source: MoneyPuck.com
As anyone can see, there’s a bit of an issue, and it’s an issue that is exacerbated the further one descends down the depth chart.
Now, here’s what the Canucks have done about it.
Their most recent signing of Daniel Sprong was the clearest indication that shot-volume is something the team is looking to improve upon. Sprong fired 10.53 shots-on-goal-per-60 in 2023/24, which made him the highest-volume shooter on the Detroit Red Wings and the 27th-highest volume-shooter in the entire NHL.
Volume-shooting, in fact, might be just the singularly strongest trait Sprong brings to the table.
A much more high-profile signing came in the form of Jake DeBrusk and, obviously, he’s got more going to his game than just a high number of shots. But, then, he does also have that going for him.
DeBrusk fired 8.15 shots-per-60 in 2023/24. That ranked him fourth overall on the Boston Bruins, but then they were a frequently-firing team overall. DeBrusk’s shooting rate would have ranked him second overall on the Canucks, behind Garland.
And while we’re on the subject of former Bruins, we will note that Danton Heinen finished just two spots behind DeBrusk at sixth overall in volume-shooting for the Bruins, though his 6.67 rate per 60 isn’t all that much to write home about, and would have also ranked sixth on the Canucks.
Perhaps a name that fans wouldn’t expect to hear brought up in this discussion is Kiefer Sherwood. He was signed more for the shots he’ll take at opponents along the end-boards and during post-whistle scrums than the shots he’ll take on goal. And yet, Sherwood comes across as yet another high-volume shooter added to the Vancouver mix.
In 2023/24, Sherwood let loose 7.98 shots-on-goal-per-60. That ranked him fifth overall on the Nashville Predators, but it would have put him ahead of everyone on the Canucks, save Garland and Brock Boeser.
It’s hard not to look at the forwards added by the Canucks this offseason and not see that adding more digits to the shot-clock on a nightly basis was, if not a primary goal, then at least a secondary one.
And the best news of all? The Canucks didn’t necessarily have to compromise on shooting efficiency to do so.
Sprong shot at 11.3% last season and maintains a career average of 11.8%. DeBrusk shot at 10.4% in 2023/24, down significantly from a 12.4% career average. It was opposite for Heinen, up to 14.3% last year from a 11.0% average. Sherwood, meanwhile, only shot at 9.1% last season and only has a career average of 8.9%, but it is trending upward.
There are countless other factors to consider here, including team systems and structures. Head coach Rick Tocchet’s style of play probably played a factor in the Canucks’ low overall shot totals last season, and there’s no telling how that will impact the incoming shooters.
But it should suffice to say, for now, that this is a weakness in the team’s approach to 2023/24 that has been addressed with some direct attention via free agency, and that should lead to the Canucks being a more shot-heavy team in 2024/25. Which, really, is par for the course for this front office.
Everyday they’re shufflin’.
Sponsored by bet365
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&nbsp;

The poets Stefan Kendal Gordy and Skyler Austen Gordy once delivered the immortal lines “Shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, EVERYBODY.”

But sometimes, it’s not everybody taking shots, and it’s no LMFAOing matter.
<div class="bam-inline-promotion-block" data-max-length="2" data-placement-id="2111" data-context="web-content-promocard" data-property-id="329"></div>
&nbsp;

In fact, when it comes to shot-taking, the Vancouver Canucks were a downright phenomenon in the 2023/24 season.

Coming in at a crisp 12.0%, the Canucks tied for the highest team shooting percentage in the regular season with the Tampa Bay Lightning. It’s a distinction they held throughout almost the entirety of the 2023/24 campaign.

But what the Canucks delivered in pure efficiency, they failed to in bulk.

The Canucks only took a total of 2,328 shots, ranking them 26th overall in the league at a rate of just 28.4-per-game.. Only one playoff team, the Washington Capitals, took fewer shots. The rest of the teams ranked below the Canucks on the list – Arizona, Montreal, Anaheim, Chicago, and San Jose – are exactly who you’d expect to struggle putting pucks on net.

And then there are the anomalous Canucks.

The dichotomy of Vancouver shooting continued into the playoffs, where the Canucks took the fewest shots of any playoff team (by far) with 20.8-per-game and another tie for the highest shooting percentage at 12.2%.

It’s not a bad thing to be an efficiently-shooting hockey team. The bang-for-buck approach obviously worked out well enough, and the Canucks finished with the sixth-highest goals-per-game in the NHL in the regular season, and they made it all the way to Round Two and Game 7 against the eventual Stanley Cup runner-up.

But there is also an element of playing to one’s own strengths. If the Canucks are so consistently good at converting on shots-on-goal, wouldn’t it ultimately be to their benefit to then take more shots on goal overall.

It’s a line of thought that GM Patrik Allvin and Co. seem to be following in the 2024 offseason, where the Canucks have added some real volume shooters.

Before we get into the new folks, let’s take a look at the shot-volume standard they’re skating into for the 2024/25 season. We’ve laid out the remaining Canucks here by the shots-per-60 stat, which has Conor Garland leading by a fair margin.
<table>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="312">Player</td>
<td width="312">2023/24 Shots-per-60</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Conor Garland</td>
<td width="312">10.07</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Brock Boeser</td>
<td width="312">8.12</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Elias Pettersson</td>
<td width="312">7.71</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Nils Höglander</td>
<td width="312">7.43</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">JT Miller</td>
<td width="312">7.37</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Pius Suter</td>
<td width="312">6.07</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td width="312">Quinn Hughes</td>
<td width="312">5.90</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Source: MoneyPuck.com

As anyone can see, there’s a bit of an issue, and it’s an issue that is exacerbated the further one descends down the depth chart.

Now, here’s what the Canucks have done about it.

Their most recent signing of Daniel Sprong was the clearest indication that shot-volume is something the team is looking to improve upon. Sprong fired 10.53 shots-on-goal-per-60 in 2023/24, which made him the highest-volume shooter on the Detroit Red Wings and the 27th-highest volume-shooter in the entire NHL.

Volume-shooting, in fact, might be just the singularly strongest trait Sprong brings to the table.

A much more high-profile signing came in the form of Jake DeBrusk and, obviously, he’s got more going to his game than just a high number of shots. But, then, he does also have that going for him.

DeBrusk fired 8.15 shots-per-60 in 2023/24. That ranked him fourth overall on the Boston Bruins, but then they were a frequently-firing team overall. DeBrusk’s shooting rate would have ranked him second overall on the Canucks, behind Garland.

And while we’re on the subject of former Bruins, we will note that Danton Heinen finished just two spots behind DeBrusk at sixth overall in volume-shooting for the Bruins, though his 6.67 rate per 60 isn’t all that much to write home about, and would have also ranked sixth on the Canucks.

Perhaps a name that fans wouldn’t expect to hear brought up in this discussion is Kiefer Sherwood. He was signed more for the shots he’ll take at opponents along the end-boards and during post-whistle scrums than the shots he’ll take on goal. And yet, Sherwood comes across as yet another high-volume shooter added to the Vancouver mix.

In 2023/24, Sherwood let loose 7.98 shots-on-goal-per-60. That ranked him fifth overall on the Nashville Predators, but it would have put him ahead of everyone on the Canucks, save Garland and Brock Boeser.

It’s hard not to look at the forwards added by the Canucks this offseason and not see that adding more digits to the shot-clock on a nightly basis was, if not a primary goal, then at least a secondary one.

And the best news of all? The Canucks didn’t necessarily have to compromise on shooting efficiency to do so.

Sprong shot at 11.3% last season and maintains a career average of 11.8%. DeBrusk shot at 10.4% in 2023/24, down significantly from a 12.4% career average. It was opposite for Heinen, up to 14.3% last year from a 11.0% average. Sherwood, meanwhile, only shot at 9.1% last season and only has a career average of 8.9%, but it is trending upward.

There are countless other factors to consider here, including team systems and structures. Head coach Rick Tocchet’s style of play probably played a factor in the Canucks’ low overall shot totals last season, and there’s no telling how that will impact the incoming shooters.

But it should suffice to say, for now, that this is a weakness in the team’s approach to 2023/24 that has been addressed with some direct attention via free agency, and that should lead to the Canucks being a more shot-heavy team in 2024/25. Which, really, is par for the course for this front office.

Everyday they’re shufflin’.

Sponsored by bet365
<div class="bam-inline-promotion" data-property-id="329" data-promotion-id="19111" data-context="web-content-promocard"></div>
&nbsp;

To improve their low shot totals of 2023/24, the Canucks targeted volume shooters via free agency

Defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev during the Vancouver Canucks' 2-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers at the 2024 Young Stars Classic from Penticton, BC

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