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The Canucks' numbers from 2019 and the 2010s & Hughes' all-star campaign |
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One idea sports editors like to promote when setting themes for articles is "forward looking."
But on the last day of 2019, I'm going to take a quick look back at some Vancouver Canucks numbers from the last year and the last decade. Even through the rear-view mirror, the "Bright Future" the Canucks are touting in their 50th anniversary slogan is very much in view.
First — for the calendar year of 2019:
Most goals: Elias Pettersson (27)
Most assists: Brock Boeser (43)
Most points: (tie) Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser (68)
Most power-play goals: Elias Pettersson (11)
Most power-play points: Elias Pettersson (27)
Most shorthanded points: Tanner Pearson (3)
Most game-winning goals: Elias Pettersson (6)
Most first goals: (tie) Elias Pettersson and Bo Horvat (4)
Most overtime goals: Elias Pettersson (2)
Most empty-net goals: Tanner Pearson (3)
Most shots: Brock Boeser (244)
Most missed shots: (tie) Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser (84)
Most posts: Elias Pettersson (10)
Most crossbars: Elias Pettersson (4)
Best shooting percentage (20 games or more): Sven Baertschi (17.6%)
Best plus-minus by a forward: Antoine Roussel (plus-3)
Most games played by a forward: (tie) Bo Horvat and Brock Boeser (80)
Most total time on ice by a forward: Bo Horvat (1,646:13)
Most average ice time by a forward: Bo Horvat (20:35)
Most overtime ice time: Brock Boeser (42:02)
Most shootout goals: Elias Pettersson (5)
Best shootout percentage: Elias Pettersson (5-for-12 = 41.7%)
Most goals by a defenseman: Alex Edler (10)
Most assists by a defenseman: Quinn Hughes (28)
Most points by a defenseman: Alex Edler (36)
Most power-play goals by a defenseman: Alex Edler (3)
Most power-play points by a defenseman: Quinn Hughes (17)
Best plus-minus by a defenseman: Chris Tanev (plus-5)
Most games played by a defenseman: Troy Stecher (80)
Most total time on ice by a defenseman: Troy Stecher (1,495:15)
Most average ice time by a defenseman: Alex Edler (24:43)
Most hits: Tyler Motte (153)
Most blocked shots: Alex Edler (172)
Most giveaways: Alex Edler (45)
Most takeaways: Elias Pettersson (43)
Most penalty minutes: Alex Edler (58)
Most major penalties: Erik Gudbranson (2)
Primary goalie stats for 2019:
Jacob Markstrom: 58 GP, 25-24-9, .917 save percentage, 2.69 GAA, 2 shutouts
Thatcher Demko: 22 GP, 12-7-2, .909 save percentage, 2.88 GAA
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Now, let's look at those same numbers over the entire decade, from January 1, 2010 to the end of this season...
Most goals: Daniel Sedin (204)
Most assists: Henrik Sedin (445)
Most points: Henrik Sedin (557)
Most power-play goals: Daniel Sedin (68)
Most power-play points: Daniel Sedin (191)
Most shorthanded points: Alex Burrows (13)
Most game-winning goals: Daniel Sedin (46)
Most first goals: Daniel Sedin (40)
Most overtime goals: Daniel Sedin (9)
Most empty-net goals: Alex Burrows (12)
Most shots: Daniel Sedin (1,889)
Most missed shots: Daniel Sedin (651)
Most posts: Daniel Sedin (40)
Most crossbars: Jake Virtanen (6)
Best shooting percentage (20 games or more): Elias Pettersson (18.6%)
Best plus-minus by a forward: Alex Burrows (plus-61)
Most games played by a forward: Henrik Sedin (643)
Most total time on ice by a forward: Henrik Sedin (12,062.45)
Most average ice time by a forward: Ryan Kesler (20:32)
Most overtime ice time: Alex Edler (272:59)
Most shootout goals: Alex Burrows (15)
Best shootout percentage: Jared McCann (2-for-3 = 66.7%)
Most goals by a defenseman: Alex Edler (77)
Most assists by a defenseman: Alex Edler (227)
Most points by a defenseman: Alex Edler (304)
Most power-play goals by a defenseman: Alex Edler (36)
Most power-play points by a defenseman: Alex Edler (133)
Best plus-minus by a defenseman: Dan Hamhuis (plus-78)
Most games played by a defenseman: Alex Edler (632)
Most total time on ice by a defenseman: Alex Edler (15,205:50)
Most average ice time by a defenseman: Alex Edler (24:04)
Most hits: Alex Edler (1,094)
Most blocked shots: Alex Edler (1,338)
Most giveaways: Alex Edler (431)
Most takeaways: Alex Burrows (249)
Most penalty minutes: Alex Burrows (533)
Most major penalties: Derek Dorsett (35)
Primary goalie stats for the decade:
Roberto Luongo: 211 GP, 117-61-27, .918 save percentage, 2.40 GAA, 16 shutouts
Jacob Markstrom: 213 GP, 89-88-26, .913, 2.72 GAA, 4 shutouts
Ryan Miller: 150 GP, 64-68-15, .914, 2.68 GAA, 10 shutouts
Cory Schneider: 88 GP, 53-21-7, .931, 2.09 GAA, 9 shutouts
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The big takeaways?
• Daniel Sedin was an absolute machine. He dominated in most of his categories.
• For all the games he missed with injury, Alex Edler has been the connective tissue that binds the Presidents' Trophy Canucks to the new guard that's currently making the team their own.
• The Core 4 are the real deal — Horvat, Pettersson, Boeser and Hughes are now running the show.
• In just half a season, Hughes has established himself as the Canucks' best offensive defenseman in decades. He's currently on pace for 58 points. The only Vancouver blueliners ever to beat that number were Doug Lidster in 1986-87 (63 points) and Dennis Kearns in 1976-77 (60 points). And by the way, Lidster was 26 when he hit that career high and Kearns was 31. Quinn turned 20 in October.
• Even though Roberto Luongo was traded in 2014, it's amazing to see that Jacob Markstrom played the most games in a Canucks uniform in this decade. Luongo had six more starts (208 vs. 202) and 120 minutes more ice time, but those numbers are a lot more even than I would have guessed. It's also interesting to see how close Markstrom's performance numbers are to what Ryan Miller delivered in his three years with the team. And yes, Mike Gillis really did "sell high" on Cory Schneider...
• Derek Dorsett's numbers are incredible. Tom Sestito had him beat in penalty minutes per game, but Dorsett finished third in total penalty minutes by a Canuck in the decade (459) despite playing only 184 games in a Vancouver uniform. He really wasn't very far behind Alex Burrows, who led the category with 533 PIMs in 493 games. I hope he's doing all right now that he's officially in retirement.
As I'm sure you heard by now, Elias Pettersson was selected to play in his second-straight All-Star Game on Monday. The NHL is doing a last-man-standing vote to fill out each division's rosters, and Quinn Hughes is the nominee for the Canucks.
I've seen that there's some concern that if Quinn gets in, he'll trigger another bonus clause in his contract, which will make the Canucks' cap situation that much more difficult next season.
The way I see it, he won't need an All-Star appearance to max out his bonuses.
He has already hit 25 assists, and is third in average ice time on the entire team and producing at a rate of 0.79 points per game. He should easily hit 40 points and as one of the favourites for the Calder Trophy, a spot on the All-Rookie team is virtually assured. That's five categories he's on track to check off, before the All-Star Game is even factored in. He can't earn bonuses for more than four.
So, vote away. The voting window opens Wednesday morning — and the Pacific currently has just one defenseman on its roster, Mark Giordano. They need Quinn for maximum 3-on-3 enjoyment!
As an extra bonus — a couple of weeks ago, who would have thought that Travis Green might have the inside track on coaching the Pacific Division All-Stars in St. Louis next month?
Here's how the Canucks rolled their lines at practice on Wednesday:
No word yet on whether there's anything to worry about with Tanev and Petey's absences from the main group. The fact that Zack MacEwen and Manny Malhotra (!) were slotted directly into Petey and Tanev's lineup spots leads me to believe that Travis Green doesn't think he'll need to make any roster adjustments before Thursday.
With two days till the Canucks' next game, I'm not going to assume anything negative until we hear otherwise...
I'll leave it there for today. Be safe tonight, have a Happy New Year, and here's to a great 2020! 🎈🎉🎈
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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