2023-24 Vancouver Canucks Player Review: Pius Suter
A deep dive into the 2023-24 season of Vancouver Canucks forward Pius Suter.
Photo by Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports - 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks Player Review: Pius SuterWelcome to the 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks player review series. Over the summer, we will be taking a look at Canucks players performances from the 2023-24 season. Today's player is Pius Suter, who had 14 goals and 29 points in 67 games.
Suter provided Vancouver with plenty of value during his first season with the organization. He was able to develop some chemistry with Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller while also playing a role on special teams. Suter also scored a memorable postseason goal against the Nashville Predators, as it stood up as the series winner and sent the Canucks to the second round.
One of the reasons Suter played in the top six for a large part of the season is that he is reliable at both ends of the ice. At even strength, Vancouver outscored their opponents 42-21 when he was on the ice while giving up just 25.16 shots per 60 minutes. Suter also finished seventh in shots per 60 among forwards who played at least 25 games at 6.02, while his 5.66 individual high-danger chances per 60 ranked second only behind Nils Höglander.
The best way to show how strong Suter is at generating high-danger chances is to look at NHL EDGE. According to their data, almost 50% (53 of 105) of Suter's shots this season were classified as high-danger chances. For perspective, his 53 high-danger shots ranked in the 75th percentile, while his 11 goals ranked in the 77th percentile. In short, Suter understands where he needs to be on the ice, can get to that area and, more often than not, generate a scoring chance.
Maybe the most impressive part of Suter's season was that he was one of the best high-danger chance generators in the playoffs. His 7.27 even-strength shots per 60 ranked second behind Conor Garland, while he was the only Canucks player who played at least three games to generate more than 4.5 individual high-danger per 60 minutes chances, finishing at 7.62. While he only finished with three points over the 13 games, he was one of Vancouver's most consistent forwards throughout the postseason run.
Suter's consistency has made him one of the more valuable players in the lineup. He can be moved around the lineup and is a player Rick Tocchet has a lot of trust in. The player equivalency of a Swiss army knife, Suter's versatility will be a massive asset, especially early on in the season as the team tries to build chemistry.
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