[CanuckJohnny]

CANUCKS at the deadline




February 25th, 2018 -

Record: 32-25-5, 69 points (nice), 3rd in the Pacific

Key Storylines:

• Tyler Bertuzzi claimed a first line spot out of training camp and never looked back. Currently he leads the team in goals (29) and points (58) and is on pace for the highest point totals for a Canuck in a season since Henrik had 81 in 11-12 (six years ago)
• Speaking of Henrik, he has had a resurgence playing alongside Bertuzzi this year, even with his brother Daniel down most of the season with a concussion. His 36 assists lead the team and he is on pace for his best season since the lockout shortened 12-13 year.
• Nico Hischier, after barely making the team on the fourth line, has earned his way into a steady top six role and leads all NHL rookies in scoring. His 16 goals are third on Vancouver and he leads all Canuck forwards in blocked shots with 46.
• Bo Horvat again leads his team in faceoff percentage and after a slow start offensively this year he has stepped up to score 19 goals already, second on the team, in his first year as an assistant captain. "Bowie" also leads all Vancouver forwards in takeaways with 27.
• Jared McCann also started poorly, being demoted to the fourth line to begin the season after being pencilled in on the first line, but he has picked it up and now has 12 goals and 33 points while playing alongside Horvat on the second line and is also tied with Horvat for the team lead in plus minus with +10.
• Derrick Pouliot leads all Canuck defensemen with 12 goals and leads all Vancouver skaters with a 72 overall game rating. He has established himself as a reliable and dangerous top four defenseman in the NHL this year.
• Mikhail Sergachev made the team and on the first pairing at that, another training camp surprise. He hasn't looked back and leads the time in ATOI while being tied with Pouliot for the most points for Canuck defensemen.
• Nikita Filatov had a terrible start to the season and was eventually demoted out of the top six but after finding his game a bit on the fourth line he was moved onto the checking line with Brandon Tanev and Cole Cassels and, surprisingly for such an offensive player, he really shone in that role and reinvented his game a bit and the offense has been coming along with that. After starting the season with only twelve points through 37 games he has since scored 13 points in the last 25 games and seems to have found a home on that third line for now.
• Chris Tanev leads all Vancouver defensemen in plus minus at +7 while taking on all the most difficult matchups and also leads the league in blocked shots and leads the Canucks in takeaways.
• Jacob Markstrom has bounced back from his rough start to the season and now leads the league in GSAA and is on fire, a huge part of Vancouver being back in the playoffs.
• Casey DeSmith has looked much better since coming back up from the AHL in December and he now has two shutouts on the season.

Deadline Activity:

Things are fairly quiet on Vancouver's front, Linden isn't keen to mess with the team chemistry in the midst of this hot streak and although his cupboard of draft picks is a bit bare it's unlikely he'd be willing to jettison either of veterans Mikko Koivu or Patrick Sharp, both of whom have been reliable contributors to the team this year and a big part of their current success. This team is overperforming however and isn't a contender at this point in their arc. It would be foolish to sell the (future) farm to make a run this year. It's unlikely Linden and his team make any moves unless they are relatively minor.