Working through a myriad of key absences, the Vancouver Canucks still managed to close out their second month of the 2024-25 campaign in a better spot than they were in at the end of October.
Since the calendar flipped to November, Vancouver has amassed an impressive 9-5-1 record and has more than survived protracted absences from Brock Boeser, Thatcher Demko, J.T. Miller and Filip Hronek.
A lot of high-level individual performances have permitted the short-handed Canucks to maintain their standing in the Pacific Division over the past several weeks, with some standout performances along the blue line and in goal standing out as key drivers of their early-season success. Let’s spotlight what we’re seeing from Vancouver’s defenders and netminders, following up on our forward report cards.
(Note: These grades include the Canucks’ most recent two games, played in December.)
Quinn Hughes: A+
15 GP, 4-17-21
What else is there to say about Quinn Hughes at this point?
Since Nov. 1, only five NHL players — yes, including all NHL forwards — have recorded more points than Vancouver’s captain has. He’s playing nearly 25 minutes a night and is the club’s singular most important and effective five-on-five engine. He’s remained an exceptionally dangerous power-play threat, even in the absence of one of the league’s best five-on-four playmakers.
What’s perhaps most incredible is that Hughes has accomplished all of this despite being pretty unlucky at five-on-five. Hughes’ on-ice shooting percentage sits south of 10 percent and his on-ice save percentage is in the .880 range. With bounces like that, the Canucks have had to thoroughly dominate play in Hughes’ minutes not to get outscored at five-on-five, but of course, he’d permitted them to do exactly that.
Just think about all of this in context. Hughes managed 21 points in 15 games and began to rewrite the club’s record books while facing the toughest competition, logging huge minutes and carrying a short-handed team to an exceptional record — and he did all of that in a month in which he was unlucky. Imagine what it’ll look like when the bounces start going his way again.
Filip Hronek: A-
12 GP, 1-6-7
The Canucks are 2-0-1 since Hronek got hurt at the end of the Pittsburgh Penguins game, but they’re still noticeably feeling his absence.
Just look at Hughes’ numbers without Hronek: The Canucks have been outshot (26-22), outchanced (25-16) and outscored (3-1) during Hughes’ five-on-five shifts over the last three games. Hughes has still piled up points, and three games is a tiny sample, but how many three-game stretches do the Canucks lose in their captain’s five-on-five minutes?
Compare that to the Canucks controlling a dominant 61 percent of scoring chances and outscoring opponents 16-8 with Hronek on the ice at five-on-five since Nov. 1. Everybody knows Hughes is the main engine of the top pair, but Hronek is the perfect fit as a running mate. Hronek’s offensive production ticked back up after a slow October too, with seven points in 12 games before his injury.
Hronek was excellent as a top-unit penalty killer. He also had a monster performance during the club’s win over the Ottawa Senators in which Hughes was kicked out of the game early, logging nearly 28 minutes and decisively winning his two-way matchups.
It won’t be easy for this blue line to weather the storm of Hronek’s eight-week expected absence.
Tyler Myers: B-
15 GP, 1-2-3
Myers’ performance hasn’t always been pretty, but let’s keep workload and context in mind:
• He’s handling the toughest matchups of all Vancouver defenders over the last 15 games according to colleague Dom Luszczyszyn’s quality of competition data.
• He’s back to averaging over 20 minutes per game since Nov. 1 despite ideally being a 17-18 minute player at this stage in his career. He’s being asked to do too much (although you can’t blame the coaching staff because they lack viable alternative options).
• Carson Soucy, his main defence partner up until recently, has had a nightmare season. Myers also played a role in the pairing’s struggles, but Soucy was unquestionably worse and making more egregious mistakes. It’s hard to look good when your partner is significantly underperforming.
The Canucks have been giving up more shots and scoring chances than they generate with Myers on the ice at five-on-five, but it’s not by a huge deficit. Vancouver is minus-2 during his five-on-five shifts over the last 15 games, which isn’t ideal but is an acceptable margin of defeat considering how heavy and hard his minutes and matchups are. He’s also been a key part of Vancouver’s mostly solid penalty kill.
Myers isn’t performing as consistently as last season, but he’s held the fort down reasonably well considering his daunting usage, and he and Soucy have looked better since being split up.
Carson Soucy: C+
15 GP, 0-3-3
Soucy hasn’t had a smooth beginning to the 2024-25 campaign, but quietly, after a somewhat dismal run of form through October, his form stabilized somewhat. It wasn’t always consistent — Soucy was excellent on Vancouver’s perfect California road swing in early November, struggled during the homestand in the middle of the month, and found his game again on the road over the past two weeks — but at the very least he has stemmed some of the early-season bleeding.
The Canucks are still being outchanced, out-attempted and outshot in Soucy’s minutes at five-on-five, but over the past 15 games, they are back to outscoring their opponents again in his minutes and are generally playing low-event hockey when he’s on the ice.
The last couple of games, since Hronek left the lineup with injury, have been among Soucy’s best of the season. His performance in Minnesota, for example, looked like the version of Soucy we saw more regularly last season. The Canucks will need to see it more consistently to maintain their run of solid results in December.
Erik Brännström: B-
15 GP, 3-3-6
Brännström saw his minutes tick up somewhat in November. That’s a reflection of how valuable he’s been since becoming a mainstay on the Vancouver blue line midway through the season, although it’s worth noting that in an elevated role, Brännström has dealt with somewhat mixed results.
When he’s been deployed in a sheltered third-pair role, most often with Vincent Desharnais on his right side, Brännström has been exceptional and Vancouver has easily won his minutes. While Brännström’s puck moving and offensive contributions leap off of the ice when you’re watching him play, what’s been most impactful about his game has been how his abilities in transition have served to limit how much time the Canucks spend defending, thus suppressing the volume of shots they surrender.
On the recent road trip, however, Brännström began to play a more significant role. He was bumped into the top four for several games with Myers and has seen his opportunity and role gradually expand. With more minutes, however, comes more difficult matchups, and the seams have shown on occasion.
There’s still a lot to like about where Brännström’s game is trending. He managed a clutch game-tying goal to force overtime against the Detroit Red Wings, and in general, has brought a crucial puck-moving element to the back end.
Even if it hasn’t been a smash success right off of the bat, given the second pair’s struggles and how dynamic Brännström has looked on occasion, the Canucks should continue to give him looks and a fair bit of runway in heavier minutes in Hronek’s absence to gauge how he holds up in an expanded sample.
Noah Juulsen: C+
13 GP, 0-0-0
The contrast between Juulsen’s performance at even strength and his penalty-killing contributions is night and day.
Juulsen is indispensable on the penalty kill. He’s averaging the second-most short-handed minutes per game on Vancouver’s blue line since Nov. 1 and has surrendered just 4.9 goals against per 60, the best mark among Canucks penalty killers who’ve played at least 10 games. He’s a fearless shot blocker and effective at defending zone entries.
His five-on-five play, on the other hand, has looked shaky at times. He has a penchant for bad giveaways and doesn’t drive great two-way results, and it’s reflected on the scoreboard: Vancouver has been outscored 7-3 with Juulsen on the ice at five-on-five over the last 15 games.
Overall, however, his contributions on the penalty kill have overshadowed his even-strength struggles.
Vincent Desharnais: C
8 GP, 0-0-0
Desharnais has intermittently formed a strong, if heavily sheltered third pair with Brännström in his first two months with the Canucks, but of late, it appears he’s slipping down the depth chart behind Juulsen.
Desharnais’ size and the simplicity of his game have helped the Canucks limit shots against effectively, especially when he’s operated in concert with Brännström. He’s been somewhat mistake-prone, however, and remains something of a work in progress.
Vancouver always viewed Desharnais as an experimental addition, a player with untapped upside given his unique profile and relative inexperience. There have been moments where you can see the vision and moments where Desharnais’ difficulty moving the puck has served to exacerbate one of this team’s remaining Achilles’ heels.
Kevin Lankinen: B+
8-3-1, .899 SV%
It was surprising to see that Lankinen’s save percentage has been sub .900 since Nov. 1, especially in light of how brilliant he was on this road trip. A four-game mini-slump during the mid-November homestand during which he lost three of four games and owned an .852 save percentage would explain that.
Lankinen has been red-hot since then, however. He didn’t lose a single game in regulation and pitched a .917 save percentage while starting five of the team’s six games on the road. He was lights out against Boston, one of their best players against Buffalo and solid against Detroit and Minnesota.
If we were grading Lankinen’s season as a whole, he’d obviously be in “A” territory, but this is only looking at the past few weeks, and his performance has been a bit more up-and-down despite his excellent recent form. There’s still no doubt Lankinen’s contributions have been essential in permitting the Canucks to weather Demko’s early-season absence.
Artūrs Šilovs: D
1-2-0, 888 SV%
Šilovs continued to struggle in November and it speaks volumes that the Canucks rode Lankinen hard over the past month — Lankinen has started 12 of the last 15 games.
While Šilovs picked up his first win of the season in mid-November and put together a quality start against the Chicago Blackhawks, he was ventilated early and often in his other two starts as Vancouver dropped points to the New York Rangers and Penguins. In those games, Šilovs didn’t stop enough shots to give his team a realistic chance of victory.
Šilovs is still very young and exceptionally talented, but it certainly seems as if he’s lost his confidence and the confidence of the Canucks coaching staff. There’s still a path for Šilovs to be an important contributor in Vancouver this season, but at this juncture, he’d probably be best served with a stint in the AHL to find his game once Demko returns.
(Top photo of Quinn Hughes celebrating with the Canucks bench: Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)
