Team will face many of league's best power plays in first month of schedule
Rick Tocchet and his Vancouver Canucks coaching staff will have their hands full right off the bat next season. With the release of the team's 2023-24 National Hockey League schedule on Tuesday, it was revealed that the Canucks league-worst penalty kill from last season will face many of the best power plays in the NHL right out of the gate.
Not only do the Canucks open with a pair of games against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and an Edmonton power play that operated at an astonishing -- and historic -- 32.4% last season. They also face the Oilers again in their 12th game of the season.
In their first 14 outings, the Canucks will see opponents that registered top 10 power plays league-wide last season on nine separate occasions. That includes the second ranked Toronto Maple Leafs (26%) and the Tampa Lightning which had the third best power play in the league last season (25.4%). On top of that, the Canucks will also line-up against Dallas (5th), the New York Rangers (7th), Ottawa (8th) and the Stanley Cup finalist Florida Panthers (10th).
Now, there will surely be year over year variance in power play efficiency, so just because a team ran red-hot last year doesn't guarantee a repeat performance. But the component parts on most of those teams remain in place. The Canucks will have to hope that it may take some of those teams and their top talents a little time in the early going to find their form and hit top gear while working with the man-advantage.
Of course, the next week will provide a better indication of what the Canucks do to improve their penalty killing personnel. Whether through trade or free agency, it feels like any significant roster moves have to involve players that can help while short-handed.
The addition of Filip Hronek should add some stability on the blueline and a healthy Ilya Mikheyev should help as well. Although it may take the Russian winger some time to find his legs and his skating stride after undergoing season-ending ACL surgery in February. If Thatcher Demko can start next season the way he finished down the stretch, that would go along way too to keeping pucks out of the net while down a man.
Also helping the Canucks cause is the fact that training camp is longer than usual, the preseason is shorter than in past seasons and the Canucks have just one set of back to back games in the first month of the season. That will allow Tocchet and his coaching staff plenty of practice time and certainly some of that will be devoted to working out the kinks on a penalty kill that has struggled under three head coaches over the past two seasons. Last season, the Canucks finished dead last in the league at 71.6% and were slightly better in the 36-games under Tocchet at 78.4% which was 21st in the league over that span.
The penalty kill was already going to be under the microscope heading into next season. Now that the Canucks know they're going to face top power plays early in the schedule the stakes have risen significantly.