From the fourth line all the way back to the first, it was a hell of a year for the Canucks token Dane, as Jannik Hansen rebounded nicely from an ugly 2013-14 campaign. It may have been Derek Dorsett that carried the culture on the Canucks fourth line, but it was Hansen who carried the play, driving the best of possession results for either of his two regulars, be it Horvat or Mr. Pro-Biotic himself. When injuries or the coaches fancy called upon him, Hansen proved an equally valuable piece in the upper echelons of the Canucks lineup.

Of course, one of the better merits to Hansen’s play was his shorthanded usage. Nothing new, as Hansen has long been a staple of Canucks penalty kill, going as far back as his rookie season. This year, though, Hansen was especially useful, combining a solid GA/60 of 3.385 with his career-low FA/60 of 58.11. All this in his first return to the century mark in shorthanded TOI since the 2011-12 campaign. 

Scoring at a frantic pace to start the campaign, it didn’t seem outside the realm of possibility that Hansen could notch the first 20-goal campaign of his veteran career. Frankly, you’ll be outright shocked at the leading voice among those suggesting the possibility… 

By the end of the campaign, Radim Vrbata’s once locked-down spot with the Sedin twins fell into the laps of Hansen on spot-duty. Vrbata had, of course, been sent to the second line in an effort to salvage Nick Bonino’s second half and Alex Burrows was in constant flux. 

Hansen getting playing time alongside the Sedins has long been a point of contention among Canucks fans, as the optics just never seem to make the fit seem right. Hansen is fast and jittery, with hands of some material more firm than stone. All those qualities aside, there isn’t an observer among us that wouldn’t consider Hansen’s best traits as evident in the Canucks zone. 

This came to a head in the playoffs following the rib injury suffered by Burrows in game three of the Western Conference quarterfinals. From game four forward, Hansen’s role alongside the Sedins was bulletproof. As the offense dried up, calls for Vrbata to return to the Sedin line became increasingly loud. For better or worse, though, Willie Desjardins stuck to his guns, leaving The Great Dane alongside his Nordic teammates. 

And while the optics may not be favourable, even the most cursory of glances at the WOWY statistics for this trifecta show there’s something to be had there. The trio posted a Goals For of 60% and Corsi For of 63% this season, albeit in a limited 50-minute sample. When one increases the sample to include the entire of this trios time together since the dawn of the BehindTheNet Era, the numbers are considerably more favourable. In north of 450-minutes, the trio have a gaudy 68.3 Goals For% and Corsi For of 59%.

Is there any arguing with those results?

That’s a sizable increase on the paltry 20-points from the season prior. Considering that Hansen was used primarily on the fourth line and received minimal power play time and this is all the more encouraging. With 16-goals on the season, Hansen tied his previously set career high from the 2011-12 campaign. Where shots are concerned, Hansen’s 145 make for a new career high. Given his role and usage, the results are especially favourable. 

For the first time in seven seasons, Hansen was a sub-fifty percent possession player. While his relative numbers have never been sterling by any stretch, I’d like to think that his venture into the red has as much to do with team effects as anything else. It certainly didn’t help Hansen’s cause that he was playing with a 19-year old and a possession anchor on the opposite flank for the majority of his season.

Very few Canucks fared worse than Hansen by GF%Rel. This was driven by a poor performance at both creating offense and suppressing it. Surprisingly enough, this campaign was actually a step in the right direction. Just last season, Hansen posted a GF%Rel of -7.5%. Then again, a sizable jump in on-ice Sh% will do that.

Hansen actually fared relatively well by the scoring chance metric. He’s not in the black by any stretch, but the team did marginally better with Hansen on the ice than off. Unsurprisingly, it was the defensive specialist’s ability to suppress scoring chances that is driving this success. Hansen was one of the better Canucks where that aspect of the game was concerned. 

Scoring chances of the high-danger variety shine a much less favourable light on Hansen’s season. Interestingly enough, Hansen was actually quite passive when it came to suppressing these ten-bell opportunities. One of the worse Canucks forwards in this regard, frankly. 

These shot-based underlying numbers certainly aren’t a good look for Hansen. His results are middling both where generation and suppression are concerned. There are no positives there to be found. The team fared considerably better without Hansen on the ice by this metric, than they were with. Then again, teammate effects could be rather significant here.

At an affordable $2.5-million per season and on the right side of 30, Hansen can still contribute to the short and medium term health of this franchise. The speedy Dane has plus ability as a penalty killer and can contribute on any of the Canucks four lines in a pinch. The underlying numbers may not reflect positively on Hansen’s last campaign, but I’d suggest looking at his teammates first before writing him off as a territorial liability. Worth taking into account is the fact that only one Canuck forward had a worse quality of teammate last season, suffering a 17.02 TOIT%. Hansen’s zone starts were also ever so slightly tilted in the red, which would contribute in some small way to the dissatisfying results.

Assuming everything remains constant, I would expect Hansen to return to the Canucks third line and continue to be in either the first or second forward pairing on the penalty kill. In all likelihood, Hansen will continue to provide the Canucks with strong secondary scoring, somewhere in the range of what one might expect from a solid middle-6 winger. 

Most importantly, though, Hansen will bring an element that the Canucks current group of forwards is almost entirely bereft: speed. As the Canucks core – one that wasn’t the fleetest of foot at the best of times – continues to age, so to do they continue to slow down. It’s one of the many reasons that they failed so miserably to execute the dump-and-chase strategy implemented by John Tortorella and why they’ve seen a resurgence with an emphasis on controlled zone-entries under Willie Desjardins. For the Canucks to catch up to some of their younger, superior opponents in the West, as a team they will need to find that next step. Hansen provides that and then some; now if only his hands could catch up.