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Former Canucks on the playoff brink, OEL & Lammikko update from Worlds |
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With the playoff field narrowing and the Calgary Flames suddenly on the brink of elimination, this seems like a good time to survey the postseason landscape and see how former members of the Vancouver Canucks have fared in their new surroundings.
Let's start in Calgary, where Jacob Markstrom and Chris Tanev have been making steady headlines.
After finishing the season with a league-leading nine shutouts and being named a finalist for the Vezina Trophy for the first time in his career, Markstrom is struggling mightily against the Oilers.
He finished the regular season with a .922 save percentage, and was at .943 in Round 1 against the Dallas Stars. But against Edmonton, he's now at .850 and a 5.28 goals-against average through four games, and was pulled in favour of Dan Vladar for the third period of Game 3.
Spending most of his pro career in Vancouver and Calgary, Markstrom has faced the Oilers more than any other team. Over his career, his goals-against average is .912 and his GAA is 2.69 in the regular season. In 30 games against Edmonton, he's 15-13-2 with a .901 save percentage and 2.98 GAA — lower than his average, but nowhere near what's happening right now.
Markstrom started 63 games in the regular season this year, and finished fifth overall in minutes played. The only goalie who played more than him and is still alive in the playoffs is Andrei Vasilevskiy. But with Calgary's strong defensive structure, Markstrom had a relatively easy workload when he was in net. His 1,754 shots faced in the regular season exactly matches the amount of rubber that Darcy Kuemper saw with Colorado — and Kuemper played six fewer games.
Markstrom's 3,696 regular-seaon minutes this season are a new career high for him. He played 3,599 in Vancouver in 2018-19 and 3,414 the year before that, so his workload isn't way out of line. But after two years of shortened seasons — and now 11 games into the playoffs — maybe he has hit the wall?
This year is only his second-ever NHL playoff run. And as we all remember, his stint in the bubble in 2020 ended abruptly, with a mysterious injury, when the Canucks fell behind Vegas 3-1 in the second round — exactly where he is now.
I'm still reluctant to say that Markstrom can't be a big-game goalie, especially after he did manage to outduel the otherworldly Jake Oettinger in Round 1. But it's incredible to see that Edmonton GM Ken Holland could actually get out of this series smelling like a rose after the Flames outbid the Oilers for Markstrom's services when he hit unrestricted free agency two years ago.
Meanwhile, Canucks fans can rest easy for the moment, with the knowledge that Thatcher Demko has an extremely bright future ahead.
In his current series, Markstrom also has the misfortune of standing up against Connor McDavid and Evander Kane, who have undeniable chemistry together. History suggests that Kane's juggernaut performance will be unsustainable over the long term — he has burned bright and then flamed out before. But right now, both he and McDavid are seizing their opportunities to change the narratives about themselves.
The Flames also have the misfortune of dealing with their first Chris Tanev injury at the worst possible time. After suffering what appears to be a shoulder injury in Game 6 of Round 1 against Dallas, Tanev willed himself back into action on Tuesday in Edmonton — and played 19:24 despite being in obvious pain. That's actually above his average ice time of 19:12 in these playoffs, and he logged his first assist of the postseason. As hurt as he is, I imagine he'll be back out there again in Game 5 on Thursday.
Also with Calgary, Erik Gudbranson has appeared in all 11 playoff games so far. He also has one assist, and is averaging 18:21 per game. Meanwhile, short-term Canuck Tyler Toffoli has two goals and three assists in 11 games. He's averaging a relatively low 16:20 per game, and his minus-seven is second worst on the Flames, better than only Noah Hanifin (minus-8).
On the Edmonton side, one-time Canuck Zack Kassian is averaging only 8:04 of ice time per game. But he has dressed for all 11 playoff games, and has one goal and one assist so far.
On the other side of the Western Conference bracket, there are no ex-Canucks playing in the Colorado/St. Louis series.
Among the four eliminated Western teams:
• Both Alex Edler and Troy Stecher head into unrestricted free agency after raising their stock in the playoffs. They were the only two Los Angeles Kings defensemen — and the only players other than two-way genius Phillip Danault — to finish in the plus column after their series against Edmonton, both at plus-four. Edler played all seven games, averaging 18:01, and had two assists, while Stecher stepped in for the last four games and put up two goals and two assists while logging 16:58 per game.
• No former Canucks suited up for the Nashville Predators, Minnesota Wild or Dallas Stars.
Over in the Eastern Conference, Tyler Motte is the man to watch with the New York Rangers, now that they've levelled their series against the Carolina Hurricanes.
Motte returned to action in Game 6 against Pittsburgh after suffering a lower-body injury in early April. In his six playoff games to date with the Rangers, he is a plus-two while averaging 12:31 a game, and scored the empty-netter to seal the Rangers' 3-1 win in Game 3 against the Carolina Hurricanes.
No former Canucks have dressed for the Hurricanes or the Tampa Bay Lightning.
From the eliminated Eastern teams:
• Gustav Forsling finished with three assists in 10 games for the Florida Panthers. He tied Carter Vergaeghe with a team-leading plus-seven rating, and averaged 21:58 per game — second only to Aaron Ekblad and one second more than Aleksander Barkov.
Now 25, Forsling is signed for two more seasons at a bargain cap hit of $2.67 million per season, considering he has become a top-four regular with the Panthers. The only thing that makes his loss sting less is that the Chicago Blackhawks and the Hurricanes also cast him aside before he carved out a niche for himself in Florida.
• Nic Dowd has continued to be a useful bottom-six centre for the Washington Capitals. The 31-year-old just finished his fourth season in Washington, where he hit career highs with 10 goals, 24 points and 44 penalty minutes, averaging 14:16 per game. Dowd had a goal and an assist and was a minus-three in six playoff games. He signed a three-year contract extension that kicks in next season, at a cap hit of $1.3 million — a substantial raise for a player who has worked at or near the league minimum throughout his career.
No former Canucks suited up for the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pittsburgh Penguins or Boston Bruins.
And before I sign off today — a quick World Championship update, now that the preliminary round is complete.
Arturs Silovs did not quite get Latvia into the knockout games, but he did everything he could to make it happen. He did keep control of the net through Latvia's final games — delivering a 4-3 win over Great Britain and a 1-0 loss to the high-powered Swedes.
Despite not starting the tournament, he finished the round-robin ranked third with a 1.22 goals-against average and .952 save percentage in his four appearances. Latvia finished fifth in Group B, five points behind the fourth-place Americans — whose fortunes improved dramatically once Jeremy Swayman came on the scene.
Two Canucks players are moving on to the quarterfinals: Sweden's Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Juho Lammikko of Finland.
The Finns finished first in Group B with a 6-0-1-0 record, with their only loss coming in overtime to Sweden. They'll face Slovakia in their quarterfinal game, Thursday at 10:20 a.m. PT.
Sweden finished second in Group B with a record of 5-1-1-0, with their only loss coming in overtime against the United States. They'll face Canada in the early quarterfinal at Tampere's Nokia Arena, starting at 6:20 a.m. PT on Thursday.
The two quarterfinals in Helsinki will see Germany play Czechia at 6:20, while undefeated Switzerland takes on Team USA at 10:20.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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