Did the Canucks Improve This Season Compared '17-'18?

Tables of Stats

Registered User
Nov 1, 2011
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Vancouver, BC
Find below a breakdown of the two seasons for ease of comparison.

Your '17-'18 Vancouver Canucks:

Place: 26th | Record: 31 - 40 - 11 | 73 p | 31 ROW | 218 GF | 264 GA | -46 G. Diff
PP% 21.4 - 9th Overall - Power Play Goals For: 53 - Short Handed Goals Against: 5
PK% 78.3 - 21st Overall - Penalty Kill Goals Against: 60 - Short Handed Goals For: 7
Special Teams Goal Differential: -5

Forwards:
B. Boeser (62 gp | 29 g | 55p | -5)
D. Sedin (81 gp | 23 g | 55 p | -21)
H. Sedin (82 gp | 3 g | 50 p | -22)
-----
B. Horvat (64 gp | 22 g | 44 p | -1)
T. Vanek (61 gp | 17 g | 41 p | -12)
-----
S. Gagner (74 gp | 10 g | 31 p | -18)
-----
S. Baertschi (54 gp | 14 g | 29 p | +3)
B. Sutter (61 gp | 11 g | 26 p | +8)
L. Eriksson (50 gp | 10 g | 23 p | +0)
J. Virtanen (75 gp | 10 g | 20 p | -11)
------
N. Goldobin (38 gp | 8 g | 14 p | -14)
M. Granlund (53 gp | 8 g | 12 p | -10)
J. Jokinen (14 gp | 4 g | 10 p | +7)
-----
D. Dorsett (20 gp | 7 g | 9 p | -1)
D. Archibald (27 gp | 4 g | 9 p | -1)
B. Leipsic (14 gp | 3 g | 9 p | -3)
B. Gaunce (37 gp | 4 g | 6 p | +0)
A. Burmistrov (24 gp | 2 g | 6 p | -2)
R. Boucher (20 gp | 3 g | 5 p | -12)
N. Dowd (40 gp | 3 g | 3 p | -7)
T. Motte (15 gp | 2 g | 2 p | -1)
M. Chaput (9 gp | 0 g | 0 p | -4)
A. Gaudette (5 gp | 0 g | 0 p | +2)
J. Megna (1 gp | 0 g | 0 p |-2)

Defensemen:
A. Edler (70 gp | 6 g | 34 p | -18)
-----
M. Del Zotto (82 gp | 6 g | 22 p | -8)
D. Pouliot (71 gp | 3 g | 22 p | -22)
-----
C. Tanev (42 gp | 2 g | 11 p | +7)
T. Stetcher (68 gp | 1 g | 11 p | -7)
-----
A. Biega (44 gp | 1 g | 9 p | +3)
B. Hutton (61 gp | 0 g | 6 p | -9)
E. Gudbranson (52 gp | 2 g | 5 p | -7)
A. Sautner (5 gp | 0 g | 2 p | +4)
P. Holm (1 gp | 0 g | 0 p | -2)

Goalies:
J. Markstrom (57 gs | 23 W - 26 L | 2.71 GAA | .912 Sv%)
A. Nilsson (24 gs | 7 W - 14 L | 3.44 GAA | .901 Sv%)
T. Demko (1 gs | 1 W - 0 L | 3.93 GAA | .867 Sv%)

Free Agents In:
-S. Gagner for 3-years @ $3.15M AAV per season
-M. Del Zotto for 2-years @ $3M AAV per season
-P. Weircioch for 1-year @ $650k AAV per season
-A. Burmistrov for 1-year @ $900k AAV per season
-A. Nilsson for 2-years @ $2.5M AAV per season
-T. Vanek for 1-year @ $2M AAV per season

Players Out:
-C. Billens
-T. Nilsson
-R. Miller
-A. Grenier
-M. Zalewski
-B. Rendulic
-M. Garteig
-J. Skille
-J. Cramarossa
-A. Burmistrov
-A. Rodin
-D. Dorsett
-A. Pedan
-J. Subban
-P. Holm
-T. Vanek

Trades:
-A. Pedan & VAN 4th round pick 2018 to Pittsburg for D. Pouliot
-J. Subban to Los Angeles for Nick Dowd
-P. Holm to Vegas for B. Leipsic
-T. Vanek to Columbus for J. Jokinen and T. Motte
-VAN 6th round pick 2018 mto Washington for WAS 6th round pick 2018 & WAS 6th round pick 2019

2017–18 Vancouver Canucks season - Wikipedia

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Your '18-'19 Vancouver Canucks:

Place: 23rd | Record: 35 - 36 - 11 | 81 p | 29 ROW | 225 GF | 255 GA | -29 G. Diff
PP% 17.1 - 22nd Overall - Power Play Goals For: 43 - Short Handed Goals Against: 8
PK% 81.1 - 11th Overall - Penalty Kill Goals Against: 48 - Short Handed Goals For: 7
Special Teams Goal Differential: -6

Forwards:
E. Pettersson (71 gp | 27 g | 66p | +3) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 111/4] -ELC-
B. Horvat (82 gp | 27 g | 61 p | -4) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 82/3]
-----
B. Boeser (69 gp | 26 g | 56p | -2) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 33/2] -RFA-
-----
No 40 point range forwards
-----
A. Roussel (65 gp | 9 g | 31 p | +5) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 260/9]
-----
L. Eriksson (81 gp | 11 g | 29 p | -11) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 316/11]
N. Goldobin (63 gp | 7 g | 27 p | -10) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 386/13] -RFA-
J. Virtanen (70 gp | 15 g | 25 p | -4) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 314/11]
M. Granlund (77 gp | 12 g | 22 p | -4) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 335/11] -RFA-
-----
J. Lievo (49 gp | 10 g | 18 p | +4) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 179/6] -RFA-
T. Motte (74 gp | 9 g | 16 p | -12) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 384/13]
S. Baertschi (26 gp | 9 g | 14 p | -9) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 157/5]
J. Beagle (57 gp | 3 g | 13 p | -8) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 451/14]
A. Gaudette (56 gp | 5 g | 12 p | -8) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 421/14] -ELC-
T. Pearson (19 gp | 9 g | 12 p | +0) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 134/5]
T. Schaller (47 gp | 3 g | 10 p | -2) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 318/11]
-----
B. Sutter (26 gp | 2 g | 6 p | -12) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 307/10]
B. Leipsic (17 gp | 2 g | 5 p | -10) [Traded]
R. Spooner (11 gp | 0 g | 4 p | -1) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 402/13]
S. Gagner (7 gp | 1 g | 3 p | -3) [Traded]
B. Gaunce (3 gp | 1 g | 3 p | +3) [In the System] -RFA-
D. Archibald (9 gp | 1 g | 2p | -2) [Traded]
Z. MacEwen (4 gp | 0 g | 1 p | -4) [In the System] -ELC-
R. Boucher (1 gp | 0 g | 0 p | +0) [In the System] -RFA-

Defensemen:
A. Edler (56 gp | 10 g | 34 p | +3) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 36/2] -UFA-
-----
T. Stetcher (78 gp | 2 g | 23 p | +9) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 91/3]
B. Hutton (69 gp | 5 g | 20 p | -23) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 212/7] -RFA-
-----
A. Biega (41 gp | 2 g | 16 p | +0) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 171/6]
D. Pouliot (62 gp | 3 g | 12 p | -1) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 201/7] -RFA-
C. Tanev (55 gp | 2 g | 12 p | +3) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 157/6]
-----
E. Gudbranson (57 gp | 2 g | 8 p | -27) [Traded]
M. Del Zotto (23 gp | 1 g | 4 p | +3) [Traded]
Q. Hughes (5 gp | 0 g | 3 p | +0) [Unrated Rookie] -ELC-
L. Schenn (18 gp | 0 g | 2 p | -4) [Corsica Hockey Ranking/Tier: 251/8] -UFA-
A. Sautner (17 gp | 0 g | 1 p | -2) [Unrated Rookie] -ELC-
G. Brisebois (8 gp | 0 g | 0 p | -4) [Unrated Rookie] -ELC-
B. Rafferty (2 gp | 0 g | 0 p | -1) [Unrated Rookie] -RFA-
J. Teves (1 gp | 0 g | 0 p | -1) [Unrated Rookie] -RFA-

Goalies:
J. Markstrom (60 gs | 28 W - 23 L | 2.77 GAA | .912 Sv%) [Corsica Hockey Ranking: 28 of 40]
T. Demko (8 gs | 4 W - 3 L | 2.81 GAA | .913 Sv%) [Unrated Rookie] -RFA-
A. Nilsson (12 gs | 3 W - 8 L | 3.09 GAA | .895 Sv%) [Traded]
M. Dipietro (1 gs | 0 W - 1 L | 7.00 GAA | .708 Sv%) [In the System]
R. Bachman (1 gs | 0 W - 1 L | 6.00 GAA | .793 Sv%) [In the System]

Free Agents In:
-J. Beagle for 4-years @ $3M AAV per season
-A. Roussel for 4-years @ $3M AAV per season
-M. Eliot for 3-years @ $822k AAV per season (ELC)
-M. Leighton for 1-year @ $650k AAV per season
-J. Teves for 1-year @ $925k AV per season (ELC)
-J. Keilly for 2-years @ $925k AV per season (ELC)
-B. Rafferty for 1-year @ $925k AV per season (ELC)

Players Out:
-M. Chaput
-M. Carcone
-D. Archibald
-A. Nilsson
-M. Del Zotto
-S. Ganger
-E. Gudbranson
-J. Dahlen

Expiring Contracts:
-B. Boeser (RFA)
-N. Goldobin (RFA)
-M. Granlund (RFA)
-J. Lievo (RFA)
-A. Edler (UFA)
-B. Hutton (RFA)
-B. Pouliot (RFA)
-L. Schenn (UFA)
-J. Teves (RFA)
-B. Rafferty (RFA)
-T. Demko (RFA)
-D. Dorsett (UFA)
-Y.P. Laplante (RFA)
-T. Pyatt (UFA)
-B. Gaunce( RFA)
-T. Kero (RFA)
-R. Boucher (RFA)
-E. McEneny (UFA)
-M. Mazanec (UFA)
-M. Leighton (UFA)

Trades:
-M. Chaput to Chicago for T. Kero
-M. Carcone to Toronto for J. Leivo
-D. Archibald & A. Nilsson to Ottawa for M. McKenna, T. Pyatt, & OTT 6th round pick 2019
-M. Del Zotto to Anaheim for L. Schenn & ANA 7th round pick 2020
-ANA 7th round pick 2020 to New York for M. Mazanec
-S. Gagner to Edmonton for R. Spooner
-E. Gudbranson to Pittsburgh for T. Pearson
-J. Dahlen to San Jose for Linus Karlsson

2018–19 Vancouver Canucks season - Wikipedia

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Thanks to Blue and Green's Corsica Hockey Ratings thread for allowing me to include that information in my year-end breakdown.

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With all 82 games played all that we have to wait for is where we'll be drafting and which dead weight we might cut ties with. Are we a few moves and some better-utilized cap space away from the playoffs next season or is signing a top six forward and one (or perhaps two) top four defenders a fool's errand?
 
Last edited:

maroon 6

Registered User
Dec 31, 2009
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British Columbia
I don't think the Canucks improved but prior to the season I thought this year's team would be worse and had a good chance to finish last. So relative to my expectations, they did improve.

I didn't think Pettersson was going to be a near ppg player and I had 0 belief in Markstrom.
 

VanillaCoke

Registered User
Oct 30, 2013
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Nice work compiling the data

I think its obvious that at best there's marginal improvement ,and its almost exclusively a few big performances by 3 or 4 players.
 

tantalum

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Nice work compiling the data

I think its obvious that at best there's marginal improvement ,and its almost exclusively a few big performances by 3 or 4 players.

Yep. And none of those performances were from players that Benning brought in for their performances. Except maybe Roussel but even that was a 3-4 week run more than anything.

The team did not improve. Again. And if you said Horvat was going to get 60+ points, Pettersson was going to get ~70, Boeser was going to be at the same pace, Stecher was going to play like a true #4, and Markstrom was going to be a top 5 WAR type goaltender (not sure what he is now but that is what he was not so long ago) you SHOULD demand improvement from the overall team. It didn't happen.

Can't for the life of me understand how the front office has any fans at this point.
 

Mr. Canucklehead

Kitimat Canuck
Dec 14, 2002
39,961
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Kitimat, BC
Nice work compiling the data

I think its obvious that at best there's marginal improvement ,and its almost exclusively a few big performances by 3 or 4 players.

This is fair.

Pettersson and Markstrom were the two biggest factors for the improvement, while development in some guys like Horvat and Stecher (and Boeser in a big way post all star break) had an impact as well.

I think our defense as a whole improved via addition by subtraction - trading Gudbranson and finally benching Pouliot has made the team better, but both were obvious choices that should have been made ages ago. Unsurprisingly, our team D has been better without them.

The special teams inversion year over year is interesting. Nice work on compiling that information.
 

timw33

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Yep. And none of those performances were from players that Benning brought in for their performances. Except maybe Roussel but even that was a 3-4 week run more than anything.

The team did not improve. Again. And if you said Horvat was going to get 60+ points, Pettersson was going to get ~70, Boeser was going to be at the same pace, Stecher was going to play like a true #4, and Markstrom was going to be a top 5 WAR type goaltender (not sure what he is now but that is what he was not so long ago) you SHOULD demand improvement from the overall team. It didn't happen.

Can't for the life of me understand how the front office has any fans at this point.

We're also watching a season where a team with 2 100+ point players (EDM) and another team with a 100+ and 80+ point player (CHI) won't even make the playoffs.

These high end performances don't mean jack **** if you don't surround them with depth at every position.
 

tradervik

Hear no evil, see no evil, complain about it
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Jun 25, 2007
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Pettersson, Horvat, Stecher, Boeser and Markstrom have all taken steps forward to varying degrees. Edler had a good year (when he wasn't injured). Roussel did way better than I thought he would (when he wasn't injured). Other than that, it was a whole lot of meh intermixed with awful. Overall, the team is marginally better than last year but still nowhere close to being a contender.
 

xtra

Registered User
May 19, 2002
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Can we ask what the goal we are judging this team towards?

Is the goal to be a marginal playoff team for the long run? Someone in the last 2 wildcard positions or a Stanley cup contender?
 
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Hollywood Burrows

Registered User
Jan 23, 2009
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So by the stats they're still garbage and as bad as last year. To me, in eye test terms, there is some marginal improvement in some areas, driven by some nice individual performances. But no sane person could call this season a breakout year or a significant leap forward. They're still splashing around in the Jim Benning sewer.
 

Wall of Wonder

Registered User
Jul 2, 2006
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Last years team had the Sedin twins for the whole season and Vanek for most of the season.
It is hard to replace two all star players even though they were slowing down.
This years team had Elias Pettersson who is a rookie.
 

BeardyCanuck03

@BeardyCanuck03
Jun 19, 2006
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Did the team improve over last year? No
But the team has developed better over last season and the Canucks are in a drastically better place this spring than last spring.
 
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Pip

Registered User
Feb 2, 2012
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The team still sucks after our 3 young players have played/produced as much as could be expected and Markstrom having a career year. The support sucks and there are some rough contacts there. The backend is a mess built around 2 injury prone players that were holdovers from the previous regime. The team is younger sure, but that was bound to happen regardless with the Sedins leaving and the team getting a bunch of high picks from being terrible over a number of years. And even though we’ve hit on some picks the team is still brutal which highlights Jimbo’s inability to build a decent team.
 
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Orr4Norris

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Mar 2, 2018
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I think the goal differential should answer the question of whether or not they are a better team this year than last. So yes they are a better team than last year.

They are also a much better team in terms of where they are going. Last year two of their top scorers were in the twilight of the careers. This year our top scores are at or near the beginning of their careers.

The biggest questions going into this season were:

1. How do we replace the Sedins’ production?

2. Goaltending

3. Defence

I would say two of those questions have been answered for the beginning of next season.

I think if Pettersson had been able to be more effective going down the stretch drive and the PP had been decent, they could have stayed in the playoff race longer. Last off-season they focussed on the PK, this off-season they need to focus on the PP. A RH dman with a good shot perhaps.
 

Jyrki21

2021-12-05
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The team did not improve. Again. And if you said Horvat was going to get 60+ points, Pettersson was going to get ~70, Boeser was going to be at the same pace, Stecher was going to play like a true #4, and Markstrom was going to be a top 5 WAR type goaltender (not sure what he is now but that is what he was not so long ago) you SHOULD demand improvement from the overall team. It didn't happen.

Can't for the life of me understand how the front office has any fans at this point.
Hearing about Benning and Weisbrod strutting around at the All-Star break as though they had turned the team around – essentially because the team had collected enough OT points to not be completely out of a Western Conference turtle derby halfway into the year – has to be one of the funniest things to come out of the season. Just no perspective whatsoever.
 

yvrtojfk

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Aug 13, 2016
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5v517-18 rank17-1818-19 rank 18-19
CF% 2547.72 24 48.03
Fen%2447.69 23 48.15
Shots for28 28
Shots against22 20
Shots F/A %25 47.9227 47.43
Goals F/A %27 45.70 25 45.89
Scoring chances %3145.75 31 45.75
SH % 26 7.17 17 7.91
High danger chances % 27 46.97 27 45.76
[TBODY] [/TBODY]

This is amazing. Will be sharing this to any of my friends who says otherwise.
 

TruGr1t

Proper Villain
Jun 26, 2003
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I believe it's pretty much even offensively, which is obviously good since the Sedins retired. As noted, this is largely due to Pettersson.

Defensively I haven't seen anything (stats or otherwise) that indicates there's been absolutely any improvement outside of Markstrom. That's obviously good from a goaltending perspective, but very discouraging otherwise.

By and large, you'd think the results this season have to be viewed as a massive disappointment to management and ownership after blowing an insane amount of money in free agency attempting to make the playoffs.

You could have saved a lot of dollars in free agent contracts and generated a similar result.
 

Bojack Horvatman

IAMGROOT
Jun 15, 2016
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Literally 90% of the statistical metrics showed improvement, and the utmost haters still go, "no, the team did not improve". The stats are not lying to you lmao

90% of the team stats show improvement but the improvements are marginal. Some players have taken huge steps this year but improvement of the team has been minimal.
 
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M2Beezy

Objective and Neutral Hockey Commentator
May 25, 2014
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If this is meant to be positive were in trouble. Improvement is minimal. If Hughes and his brother or whoever we draft this year make a big diffy next year we could see some actual improvement. Betting on in certainities probably isnt the best idea tho

Perhaps the most positive thing to go on is like that mod said, addition by subtraction: Gudbranson traded and Poop benched and MAGIC the team d is better, even tho there not replaced with top 6 dmen in Biega and Schenn. Just replaced with two capable #6/7 guys who work hard and are honest
 

F A N

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Aug 12, 2005
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I think the games were a lot more exciting this year but I think the impact of the Sedins retiring after last season kind of skews the numbers a bit good and bad.
 

Fatass

Registered User
Apr 17, 2017
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Literally 90% of the statistical metrics showed improvement, and the utmost haters still go, "no, the team did not improve". The stats are not lying to you lmao

Considering the goal (and only goal IMO) is to win a Cup, I think seeing elite talent emerge is what's most important. We have Pettersson, Boeser, Hughes, and that's it to me. The rest (yes, even Bo) are just interchangeable parts. We got Hughes and Pettersson this season, so (to me) that's a big improvement towards the only goal - winning a Cup. However, I think Benning MUST GO. We should have had more of these elite players already.
 

tantalum

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Which stats are these

I'm guessing someone is putting a ton of stock into half percent improvements or something. Because the stats clearly suggest no improvement or very minimal improvement at best. Take the average ranking in thos e9 categories and it's 26th vs 25th...oooooo improvement! They moved from one pile of shit to a very very very very slightly smaller pile of shit! And that slight decrease in the pile size was mainly due to Markstrom.
 

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