Who’s the 2023-2024 Unsung Hero?

[WetcoastOrca]

It’s a tough call. If by unsung you mean playing above expectations then I think it’s Hoglander followed by Joshua and then followed by Garland. I mean Hogs was getting scratched pretty regularly last year and playing very limited minutes to start the year. Joshua was in the doghouse to start the year. And Garland was untradeable it seems.
If it means doesn’t get enough recognition then I think it’s probably Garland. I probably would have picked Casey DeSmith before his recent struggles as I think he’s done a solid job of keeping the Canucks afloat and on the top of the Pacific in Demko’s absence and he’s done it without a lot of offensive support.

 

[HockeyWooot]

I went with Juulsen, since no Soucy option.

Juulsen has gone from AHL fodder to a steady unflashy #6. Whether that's unsung hero, or just unsung is a matter of debate.

The team has been significantly better with Soucy in the lineup, which isn't one of the first names you'd list for this teams turnaround this year. A long list to be honest before most would bring up Soucy.

 

[SiZ]

I went with Garland, because he's been such a driver of whatever line he's on, and by sheer dogged effort. But, I'm onboard with Hoggy, Joshua, and Juulsen, as well.

I know people say that we shouldn't overpay to keep Joshua, and saying players like him are "found money" that team's consistently need to take advantage of while they're cheap, but he's a guy they have to do everything they can to keep. This team would be middling without Garland and Joshua, they've been the decider in so many games.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

As much as Juulsen has been a nice surprise, he's been a bit overly sung at this point, IMO. People act like he's becoming a solid #4/5 defenseman or something, when he's only getting really reliable as a #6

First half of the season I would have said Blueger (Myers too), but now I'm not so sure.

Nobody has said he's anywhere near a #4-5 D man..He's been a reliable 3rd pairing D man.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

It’s a tough call. If by unsung you mean playing above expectations then I think it’s Hoglander followed by Joshua and then followed by Garland. I mean Hogs was getting scratched pretty regularly last year and playing very limited minutes to start the year. Joshua was in the doghouse to start the year. And Garland was untradeable it seems.
If it means doesn’t get enough recognition then I think it’s probably Garland. I probably would have picked Casey DeSmith before his recent struggles as I think he’s done a solid job of keeping the Canucks afloat and on the top of the Pacific in Demko’s absence and he’s done it without a lot of offensive support.

Hoglander and Joshua have been receiving accolades all year for their elevated play...Garland though, at $5M AAV is currently just meeting expectations imo...He's had no recognition because, up till now, he's under achieved relative to his salary.

I certainly agree that DeSmith is a prime candidate for this seasons unsung hero.

 

[geebster]

Hoglander and Joshua have been receiving accolades all year for their elevated play...Garland though, at $5M AAV is currently just meeting expectations imo...He's had no recognition because, up till now, he's under achieved relative to his salary.

I certainly agree that DeSmith is a prime candidate for this seasons unsung hero.

The thing is though, by the standard of his contract, Garland has been short of it until now. He's now such a strong play driver I would say he exceeds 5 million bucks most nights, though his production overall doesn't. He was never this good, and the huge turnaround is why I think he deserves recognition.

As I said before though, to me it's Juulsen. We've had injuries to at least one top 4 D man most of the year and he has slotted in perfectly. If you told me 10 games in that he wouldn't just be serviceable but would be a difference maker I'd have called you crazy.

I really think having Myers back and them rotating D constantly with no fixed pairs in the bottom 4 has hurt our defensive consistency. We really had it going in our own end in early March (that's not on topic tho)

 

[RobertKron]

I don’t think it’s him - because obviously the wheels fell off eventually - but I do think it’s worth at least mentioning that DiGiuseppe was a pretty significant contributor to the team coming out of the gates hot as hell, which really set them up for a successful season.

 

[Shareefruck]

Nobody has said he's anywhere near a #4-5 D man..He's been a reliable 3rd pairing D man.

I've seen some go pretty overboard with the praise, talking about how he should replace the minutes of some of our #4/5 guys when he's still pretty clearly a cut below everyone besides Friedman and possibly the version of Cole when he was at his lowest.

He's been solid for us, but he hasn't really outplayed Myers at any point in the season, in my estimation, yet I recall some painting his rapid improvement that way.

Regardless though, he's been heavily sung already, and at no point has he not gotten enough praise for what he's done, is my point.

 

[ChilliBilly]

went with Juulsen. It's been a very good year, and lots of people have exceeded expectations.

But I think Juulsen has exceeded expectations as much as any one.

At the start of the season people were writing him off as a depth D man in Abby, behind 6 - 7 other people. NIce to see an Abby doing well in Abby, let alone the NHL.

Edit - also meant to mention value for money. Myers has had a decent season, as has Garland. But neither has really previously earned their salary.

 

[mriswith]

Perception of Garlands first year here is pretty nuts. He had 50 ES points. Boeser's never done that, not even this season yet.

Even Miller and Pettersson had only done that once in their careers prior to this season.

 

[BenningHurtsMySoul]

Gotta be Garland. The others have had their time being showered with praise.

Perception of Garlands first year here is pretty nuts. He had 50 ES points. Boeser's never done that, not even this season yet.

Even Miller and Pettersson had only done that once in their careers prior to this season.

He was excellent that season.

 

[Pastor Of Muppetz]

I've seen some go pretty overboard with the praise, talking about how he should replace the minutes of some of our #4/5 guys when he's still pretty clearly a cut below everyone besides Friedman and possibly the version of Cole when he was at his lowest.

He's been solid for us, but he hasn't really outplayed Myers at any point in the season, in my estimation, yet I recall some painting his rapid improvement that way.

Regardless though, he's been heavily sung already, and at no point has he not gotten enough praise for what he's done, is my point.

The praise he got later, was fraction of the criticism he got when he first started the season (and struggled)....It was just a massive win for him to even get a roster spot..Tocchet consistently speaks of his value to the roster.. I didnt read anybody saying he should play anywhere near a top 4 role.

He is basically the definition of an unsung hero, when you consider the long odds of him even making the team

 

[Shareefruck]

The praise he got later, was fraction of the criticism he got when he first started the season (and struggled)....It was just a massive win for him to even get a roster spot..Tocchet consistently speaks of his value to the roster.. I didnt read anybody saying he should play anywhere near a top 4 role.

He is basically the definition of an unsung hero, when you consider the long odds of him even making the team

That seems irrelevant to me, considering that his play early on warranted that criticism.

Personally, I don't think unsung hero refers to someone merely playing above expectations for their role/salary and being great value (I agree that he totally qualifies for that, on balance). By definition it refers to someone who hasn't been acknowledged for what they've done. Someone who's contribution has gone somewhat unnoticed and flown under the radar.

Juulsen's contribution has been fully acknowledged, and he got a little bit extra praise that was maybe a bit hyperbolic/not quite earned on top of that. Nothing he's done has actually flown under the radar.

To me unsung would be someone like Blueger in the first half of the year, who was critical to the team's success and was the best at playing a certain role but barely anyone gave a crap/everyone else got praised instead. Or maybe someone like Myers who was playing great but nobody really wanted to acknowledge it because of what we're used to from him and how often having any sort of hope in him turning a corner has ended up burning us. There was much more positivity surrounding Zadorov/Soucey/Juulsen and maybe even Cole earlier in the year, despite the fact that he's arguably been around as good as the best of those guys for most of the year.

Unfortunately, nobody who was legitimately unsung has really kept it up into the second half of the year.

I could see your argument if you were suggesting that the point of the actual award itself has little to do with the literal definition though, and that in practice, it's just to acknowledge value (similar to when MVP sometimes just goes to the best player rather than the literal most important one to their team).

 

[Shareefruck]

Personally, I'd be pretty happy with any one of Myers, Blueger, Joshua, Soucey, Garland, or Desmith getting it.

Even though some of those guys obviously have gotten praise heaped onto them, I think there's an argument that they've been even better than that praise, or that some people still show some skepticism/downplaying of them that feels unwarranted to me.

 

[lawrence]

where's Soucy? I think hes an unsung hero.

reason?

we are a non playoff team without him if you add the games he's missed for us and calculate it into a 82-game season. We will pace out of a playoff position.

Soucy for unsung hero if you ask me.

Myers

we were 4-0 without him in the lineup. during that time we allowed 3 goals.

now i'm not saying hes a bad player, or anything, as I only gave a 4 game sample size. Him and Juulsen massively improved their game. but Unsung hero? no f in way.

 

[Shareefruck]

where's Soucy? I think hes an unsung hero.

reason?

we are a non playoff team without him if you add the games he's missed for us and calculate it into a 82-game season. We will pace out of a playoff position.

Soucy for unsung hero if you ask me.



we were 4-0 without him in the lineup. during that time we allowed 3 goals.

now i'm not saying hes a bad player, or anything, as I only gave a 4 game sample size. Him and Juulsen massively improved their game. but Unsung hero? no f in way.

For context, I suggested earlier that I think it's difficult to answer because nobody has really consistently been an unsung hero this year (I might agree that Soucey could be closest). Some are highly-sung but deserve every bit of it (Garland, Joshua, to some extent Soucey), some were legitimately unsung but only for about half a season, and were underwhelming in the second half (Myers, Blueger), and some are somewhere in the middle between those two extremes (DeSmith). I'm suggesting that Myers is in a conversation where there are no real contenders that truly embody the award, mainly on the strength of him being one of the few really solid guys who have barely been praised at all.

That said, on top of it being a small sample size (during the bad half of his season), I think there's more to Myers' contributions this year than simply defensive play. As someone who absolutely despise's the guy's overall body of work and still doesn't trust him going forward, I've been very impressed by his two way game, and how he's been in transition.