Today, we analyze 6’0″ 195-lb winger Daniel Sprong.

We’ve talked about him ad nauseam since he’s signed in Vancouver, so I’ll keep this short and sweet.

Sprong, 27, can best be described as a depth scorer. He’s got a lethal shot but has always struggled to find a consistent role with top-six minutes. However, he has been able to carve out a specific role as a sniper on his team’s second powerplay unit. This perfectly encapsulates the reasoning behind his impressive point totals while playing minimal minutes.

Last year with the Detroit Red Wings, Sprong had 18 goals and 43 points while averaging 12:00 minutes of ice time. Two seasons ago with the Seattle Kraken, Sprong scored 21 goals and 46 points while averaging 11:25 minutes of ice time. Vancouver signed him to a one-year, $975k “prove it” deal; even Vancouver’s President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford, acknowledged this:

“Certainly, based on the year he had last year, deserved to get a bigger contract than he got, but he recognized where he was at,” said Rutherford.

In his signing interview, Sprong made it clear that he traded money this season for an opportunity to play in a competitive market:

“I wanted to put myself in a situation where I can be happy and be in a situation where an opportunity is and be a part of a good team and an opportunity for me to be somewhere long term.”

What better way to see what to expect from Daniel Sprong than to see how he played against his new team, the Vancouver Canucks.

Let’s get into the tape.

Of course, we start off where Sprong projects to help the Canucks the most, on the powerplay. Off the faceoff, Sprong goes straight to the same side goal line, a prime position to receive a pass from the half-wall and feed the bumper spot for a one-timer. The pass goes to Sprong, and about as quick as the puck was on his stick, it’s off with a quick pass to the bumper spot. If this is the level of play we see on the man advantage, he might lift the second unit to actually see some playing time.

Here, we get our first taste of Sprong in the defensive end. Earlier in the shift, Sprong showed all the fundamentals you’d hope to see as a winger. When the puck was below the net, he crept down to the faceoff circle, keeping a constant eye on the point man, ensuring he wasn’t creeping towards the net.

In this clip, Sprong sees his opportunity and strikes. Ilya Mikheyev wins the race to the loose puck along the boards and prepares his stick for a backhand pass to Nikita Zadorov at the point. Sprong reads the play and tips the poor pass past Zadorov. The big Russian defenceman is left with two choices: let Sprong beat him down the wing for a breakaway or take an interference penalty. Zadorov chose the latter, and Sprong sent the Red Wings to the powerplay.

Wow. Now, this was Sprong’s best chance of the entire game. Of all the players to be in on the forecheck, Jeff Petry wins the battle at the puck behind the net against Filip Hronek and shovels the puck to Sprong. He then gives a quick one-touch pass to Raymond at the front of the net. Caught off-guard, Raymond fans on the shot to perfection, as it goes straight to the streaming Sprong coming around the net with a wide-open net. However, with the puck bouncing, Sprong isn’t able to get all of it, and Thatcher Demko does Thatcher Demko things and gets across to make the save.

This was a great, swift heads-up play from Sprong in the offensive zone; he just wasn’t lucky enough to get rewarded.

Just a small clip here, but after that near-goal, Sprong got a shift up on the top line with Dylan Larkin, and it was for a reason. If the Red Wings won the faceoff, they had a set play for Sprong. As soon as the puck goes back to Moritz Seider, Sprong turns on the jets up the middle of the ice in hopes of getting sprung on a breakaway. However, the Canucks defence picked up on this and by the time Seider was in a passing position, Sprong was well covered.

It is encouraging to see that his former team trusts Sprong in the defensive zone and drew up a set play for him.

Later on that same shift, after two consecutive icings, Sprong was visibly tired. However, he remained in proper defensive positioning with the puck behind the net, parking himself in the slot while the puck was behind the net.

Now, the goal against is more of a byproduct of the exhausted Red Wings rather than Sprong’s fault — as it was on his off-wing — but it’s still a minus on the scoresheet.

Here we go back to where Sprong shines best: the offensive zone. After a bobbled puck from Noah Juulsen, Raymond picks up the puck and finds Sprong. Being a sniper, with the puck in the high slot, it’s a shock he didn’t try to catch Demko off-guard. Instead, he turns his body and sends a one-touch pass to Larkin. While Larkin dances around a defender, Sprong keeps his eye on the play and positions himself square to the puck while defenders leave him all alone for another chance with an open net. The saucer pass from Larkin has a bit too much heat on it, and it goes between Sprong’s legs.

Going back to his positioning, it’s more high-level offensive movement from Sprong.

Another powerplay shift for Sprong that shows more of his versatility. At first, we saw him play on the goal line as a quick pass option to the bumper spot. This time, we see him line up on the wing and winds up for a one-timer. After it’s blocked, the play goes to the opposite side. Now, Sprong moves to the bumper spot, where he’s always got his stick on the ice for a pass from either the half-wall or the goal line. This maneuverability with the man advantage is going to breathe some life into the Canucks second powerplay unit.

We’ve covered Sprong’s positioning on the powerplay, but we now see the vision and patience from the sniper. Off the faceoff, Sprong sets up along the goal line and quickly receives the pass. With the first option (bumper) covered, he waits one second for a streaming Patrick Kane and sends it cross-crease for a glorious scoring chance. However, Demko, being Demko, makes the cross crease save.

This is very minor, but the odd-man rush was definitely his fault. A Seider point shot takes a bounce off the backboards, and Sprong drops to a knee to take the one-timer. However, he misses the puck, springing Pettersson and Nils Höglander on a 2-on-1. The play ends with the trailing Elias Lindholm putting the nail in the coffin with the Canucks fourth goal of the game.

It’s a massive swing; if Sprong connected there and scored, it’s a 3-2 game rather than 4-1.

And honestly, it just wouldn’t feel right not to include at least one goal from the sniper in this article. So why not show you one of the biggest goals of not just his season but the Red Wings season?

Sprong rips a shot from the point, and makes a great defensive pressure to hold the puck in the zone. He then picks up the loose puck along the boards and sends a prayer of a shot from behind the goal line that goes off Samuel Montembeault’s right leg and into the net. This goal tied the game in the third period in a must-win game that would have sent the Red Wings into the playoffs.

Talk about clutch.

This was just a lacklustre effort on the forecheck. Something that Rick Tocchet saw all too well with former Canuck Andrei Kuzmenko, which was one of the reasons for his departure from Vancouver.

It wasn’t the only time Sprong did that in this game. He’s going to need to clean this up if he wants to earn opportunities in the top six in Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller.

Sprong gets caught puck-watching in the defensive zone. He glides into the zone with the puck in the opposite corner, not watching his point man. By the time Petry picks up the loose puck and loops around the net, Sprong is nearly at the goal line instead of being available on his wing to receive a breakout pass.

That kind of puck-watching in the defensive zone will only lead to a goal against.

This isn’t something we didn’t already know, but it was encouraging to see that when the Red Wings needed some offence, they moved Sprong up in the lineup with Larkin and Raymond. It wasn’t just for one or two shifts either. After getting promoted in the second period, he remained on the top line, even when they were pushing to tie it late in the game. Will he earn the same in Vancouver?

While we didn’t really highlight the sniper’s blistering shot — which, according to NHL Edge, ranked in the 72nd percentile of top speed score — it was encouraging to see the Hockey I.Q. to position himself properly in the offensive zone. It will be fascinating to see to what level he can step up his game when given the opportunity to play with Pettersson.

Piggy-backing off his offensive zone positioning, Sprong’s talents will be a main focal point for the second powerplay unit. Assuming Jake DeBrusk joins the top unit, a second unit of Sprong, Conor Garland, Dakota Joshua, Filip Hronek, and — if Patrik Allvin’s comments on his July 1st press conference about utilizing his shot come true — potentially Kiefer Sherwood is going to be an exciting secondary option that the club lacked last year.

If you want more highlight reels from Daniel Sprong last season, check out this hype clip the Canucks Twitter posted earlier this summer.

What do you think, Canucks fans? Are you excited about Daniel Sprong in a Canucks uniform next season?

P.S. This will be the last Daniel Sprong article for a while… I think.