Has the Vancouver Canucks Depth at Forward Been Exposed?
The Hottest Line in Hockey
Written by: Larry “The Nucks IceMan” Johnson
It seems since the 2006-07 season the Vancouver Canucks have been making do with one line, especially in the play-offs. That one line was and still is the Sedin line with Alex Burrows or someone else as the third member.
It looked like all of that would change last season when Ryan Kesler, Mikael Samuelsson, Alex Burrows, Mason Raymond and the Sedins all had career years. When the playoffs did arrive Samuelsson kept his pace going, but with Burrows and Kesler injured and Raymond a non-factor, the same one-line team was again knocked out in the second round by the Chicago Blackhawks. The one-line Canucks were no match for the Hawks, who had all four lines mostly healthy and rolling.
Canucks GM Mike Gillis realized all this and went about in the off season adding some grit in Manny Malhotra and Raffi Torres in expectation that this would be the nucleus of a third line that could also score. When you look at Torres and Malhotra’s past five year career stats, that was not unrealistic.
Malhotra had averaged 31 points with 11 goals in 72 games and Torres 28 points, 16 goals in 64 games. Whoever was going to play on that line, such as Samuelsson or Raymond, was just going to add to the line’s offensive totals.
Jeff Tambellini was added also, but he seemed slated for the fourth line not the second or third. What Tambellini did do was work his way up from the fourth line with his unexpected goal production, but he too is in a goal-less period.
Canucks - Ryan Kesler celebrating with Tambellini and Samuelsson
The second line would be Kesler with Raymond or Samuelsson plus another winger to solidify the secondary scoring. No one expected Kesler to top last season’s totals of 75 points but 5-10 points close to that career year would be expected.
Mason Raymond was supposed to continue his growth and 20 goals and 40-45 points was at least a realistic target, with hopes of even surpassing his career year 53 points. Looking at Samuelsson’s average from his four seasons with Detroit, I figured 17 goals would be about right and he’s on pace for that. The 30 goals that he had for a career year, was not going to happen again.
After hearing about Burrows and his off season shoulder operation and the expectation of missing the first 10 games of this season, I figured 20–25 goals would be a good contribution. He’s on pace for 18-19.
What I did not expect is the goal-less droughts of Malhotra, Torres, Raymond, Samuelsson, Burrows and Tambellini to happen at the same time. Without any production from his wingers, Kesler and his line have been relegated to collecting points from the power-play. Five on five scoring was only going to come from Kesler and even that has subsided.
So here we are back to just the Sedin line generating any production. Even the lowly New Jersey Devils and New York Islanders could shut down a one-line team and beat them, never mind any of the teams that the Canucks will meet in the playoffs.
Just how many games does Canucks management wait for this non-scoring group to turn it around? It’s already been 10-12 for some, and counting. Do they wait till the 15-20 mark? Do they try and shake them up with a trade, moving either Samuelsson, Torres or Raymond?
The Canucks are in the midst of a four game losing streak albeit only one in regulation time. But here are the upcoming games: Dallas, Nashville, Dallas, Phoenix, Chicago, Ottawa and Anaheim. The way the Canucks are playing, without any secondary scoring they may win one of those (Ottawa).
Only one of those teams (Ottawa) is outside the Western Conference, so that could mean a huge slide in the standings, like down to eighth or ninth. I know that Gillis will not let that happen, but trying to work Sami Salo’s salary in and another scoring winger would be difficult.
Cody Hodgson
Down on the farm in Manitoba, there is no one waiting in the wings at this time. Jordan Schroeder, Cody Hodgson, Bill Sweatt and Sergei Shirokov just don’t look ready enough to be thrown into a second or third line combination. Management was hoping Shirokov would add something, but after scoring a goal in his first game he was invisible in his second game and was glued to the bench for the third period.
Canucks will get no help from any teams still in the playoff hunt so that leaves talking to the likes of the Devils, Islanders, Ottawa, Toronto or Edmonton. Those teams will want a draft choice or two for the type of player the Canucks would need.
I see the next three Canuck games as being the measuring stick. If they are still without a win or points then Gillis will be forced into a move. It never gets dull here in the ‘Nucks Nation.
To catch all the news, updates and new articles as they occur, along with the Canucks farm team, the Manitoba Moose, you can follow me @twitter.com/nucksiceman.com (I love this tweeting because it’s like small 140 character type articles).
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