It’s always funny to hand out an “Unsung Hero Award” in a market that leaves no stone unturned when discussing player performances, whether positive or negative. But that’s what the Vancouver Canucks will do in about a month’s time at their fan appreciation night.

Along with Unsung Hero, the Canucks will hand out three more fan-voted awards: MVP, Most Exciting Player, and Best Defenceman.

Obviously, Quinn Hughes could win all three of those and will certainly win at least two. However, one that Quinn certainly won’t win and thus leads to some good discussion every year is Unsung Hero.

Who has been the Canucks’ biggest unsung hero this season?

Suter has had quite the contract year for the Canucks. In the final year of his two-year, $1.6 million per year contract, Suter has exploded for a career year. Throughout his four years in the NHL, Suter has scored at least 14 goals in each but never more than 15. However, this year he’s broken out and hit the 20-goal plateau with 13 games remaining to build on that total.

The Swiss forward leads the team in 5-on-5 goals this season (15), two ahead of last year’s 40-goal man Brock Boeser and Kiefer Sherwood – who you might see on this list shortly. Suter’s contributions go much further than just offensively, as he is one-half of the Canucks top penalty killing forward group with him and Teddy Blueger – that same penalty kill that’s killing 91.2% of their penalties. In fact, Suter hasn’t been on the ice for a shorthanded goal against since January 6.

What makes Suter the Canucks’ Unsung Hero is the fact he’s on the ice in all situations and has had the responsibilities of centring the line tasked with shutting down opposing teams’ top lines. While he might not be the flashiest player, he logs consistent minutes (16:39) this season, scores goals on a team that struggles to do so, is rarely noticed for defensive blunders and has truly been this team’s Swiss Army Knife.

Sherwood has become a fan favourite here in Vancouver for his physical play. As of Thursday night’s game, Sherwood tied former teammate Jeremy Lauzon with the most hits (383) in a single season in 14 fewer games. He is on pace to finish with 460.

Playing in the bottom six for most of his career, Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin spoke about how the organization believed he was more than just a physical player. They raved about his shot and how they were hoping to utilize that, especially on the second power play unit. While he hasn’t seen tons of power play time, Sherwood has still managed to put his shot on display by scoring a career-high 15 goals and counting.

What makes Sherwood the Canucks’ Unsung Hero is because of his physical play and his durability in the process. It’s impressive that he’s been able to lay the body as much as he has and only missed four games this season. Like Suter, Sherwood has been played up and down the lineup. Anywhere you play him, whether it be on Elias Pettersson’s wing on the top line or down on the fourth line, you’re going to get the same guy, night in and night out.

Forbort has had a tough first year in Vancouver. He lost his father and dealt with injuries early in the season, but once he became a mainstay in the Canucks lineup, he’s had a fantastic season. We highlighted his elite penalty killing ability on the site earlier this week. But to recap, since December 19, Forbort has played all 38 games for the Canucks and, as the skater with the most average shorthanded ice time, is a key reason the club has turned their penalty kill from 13th to second in the NHL.

Another aspect is something you can’t find on a stat sheet. With two young, emerging defencemen, Elias Pettersson and Victor Mancini, Forbort has had the duty of being their defence partner. In such a role, he has a job to be a reliable, stay-at-home, calming defender to lead by example and slow the fast-paced game down for whichever player he’s paired with.

What makes Forbort the Canucks’ Unsung Hero is because of his role on the team in his own zone. As a defensive defenceman, he will never be noticed for his point totals, but if you’re not talking about Forbort, that’s a good thing. That means he’s steadily doing his job in his own end, limiting the opposition’s scoring chances.

Now, all three of these players deserve the honour for their contributions this season. However, this author has to side with Pius Suter. The fact he plays in all facets of the game, producing offence while mostly drawing the opposition’s top matchups, makes him the Canucks’ 2024-2025 Unsung Hero.

One of our candidates for the Unsung Hero Award, Kiefer Sherwood, was given the honour at CanucksArmy in our midseason Unsung Hero Award.

Who would your unsung hero be for the 2024-2025 season, Canucks fans? Let us know in the comments below.