The Canucks are careening between the win-and-loss columns this year. Is their Jekyll-and-Hyde act going to prevent them from being a playoff team?
This is supposed to be the Vancouver Canucks' bounce-back season.
We even invested in the idea of the Canucks being a top-three squad in the Pacific Division in our pre-season predictions.
So far, we might have buyer’s remorse.
The Canucks have been one of the biggest Jekyll-and-Hyde teams in the league this year, and their 7-8-0 record does not give us confidence that they’ll even be a Stanley Cup playoff team.
Their 5-2 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Wednesday night has them sixth in the Pacific with a .467 points percentage, putting Vancouver slightly out of the playoff picture. But when you break down the Canucks’ record, you see a crystal-clear mediocre team.
For instance, Vancouver had a three-game win streak early in the year that gave them a 4-2-0 record. They took down strong teams in Dallas and Washington and won the game they were expected to win against Chicago.
But immediately after, the Canucks gave back all those wins with a three-game losing streak. And since then, Vancouver has been unable to string together even a two-game win streak.
The real killer for Vancouver so far this year is the fact that all seven of their losses have come in regulation. A lack of “loser points” from games extended to overtime or shootouts could easily be the difference between the Canucks making or missing the playoffs altogether.
The Canucks also have the sixth-fewest goals-for per game in the league and the ninth-most goals against per game. Their leading scorer is Conor Garland with 11 points in 12 games, and nobody on the squad is averaging at least a point per game. Center Elias Pettersson has shown nice two-way play but hasn't bounced back in terms of scoring, with 10 points in 15 games.
Their problems are many, but we still believe there’s enough bedrock talent in Vancouver for them to be a playoff team. Whether it’s Quinn Hughes, Thatcher Demko or Pettersson, there are stars on this team that can contribute meaningfully on a playoff-bound team.
But as it stands this year, there are more than a few passengers as well. Highly paid wingers Evander Kane and Jake DeBrusk have combined for only 13 points.
Injuries have obviously factored into their results as well. Filip Chytil, Nils Hoglander, Teddy Blueger, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Derek Forbort and Victor Mancini are among the players they're missing right now. Hughes missed some time in October as well.
That being said, dropping games to Chicago, Nashville and St. Louis, as well as a blowout 5-1 loss to Pittsburgh on Oct. 21, can't be written off due to injuries. There are still enough good players in the lineup at all positions to handle these matchups.
If you believe you are what your record says you are, the Canucks are a ho-hum squad. Vancouver can’t keep on losing a game, then winning a game, or vice-versa, and expect to be anything other than a “mushy middle” team, finishing just out of a playoff spot without being a favorite to win the draft lottery.
So the Canucks have to change this pattern they’re currently in by winning a slew of games. The only way they’re going to get on that track to the post-season is by shaking off the Jekyll-and-Hyde act and consistently putting themselves in the ‘W’ column far more often than not.
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