There’s one game remaining, but let’s be honest, this charmed Vancouver Canucks regular season is meaningfully in the books.
Sure, there’s some muted uncertainty about their first-round opponent. And they will fly to Winnipeg to play one more game later this week, although head coach Rick Tocchet heavily implied following the Canucks’ drubbing of the Calgary Flames that they would rest some key players.
So it isn’t over, but it’s also pretty clearly over, at least from the vantage point of us learning anything new or meaningful about this team.
Tuesday night’s game — a fun, confidence-building 4-1 win in which Thatcher Demko shone in his return to action and the Canucks mercilessly poured it on against an overmatched Flames team — reflected this reality. We’ve watched this team defend all season. We know what Tocchet hockey looks like. And it certainly doesn’t look that wide open, not when there are real stakes involved.
The good stuff lurks just around the corner — Stanley Cup playoff hockey in front of a Rogers Arena crowd for the first time in nine years — but as we wait, let’s take a look back at the season that was and the individual performances that made this one of the finest regular-season campaigns in franchise history.
We’ll start with the forward grades, then move on to the blue line and the goaltenders on Thursday.
Note: Grades are handed out relative to a player’s expectations. If Player X has a better grade than Player Y it doesn’t mean X has been more valuable than Y.
J.T. Miller: A+
2023-24 statistics: 81 GP, 37-66-103
Miller sits top 10 in NHL scoring with 103 points, has decisively won his two-way matchups despite logging the most difficult minutes of all Vancouver forwards, has won 56.5 percent of faceoffs and has been a physical force. He’s done everything in his power to will the Canucks to a higher level this year.
Miller’s elite playmaking has been critical to unlocking Brock Boeser’s bounce-back campaign. He’s the most important driver of the Canucks’ first-unit power play. And emotionally, his fiery, passionate style has been a source of energy. Compared to last year, Miller has substantially cut down on his turnovers and has shown a more consistent work rate away from the puck.
Flat out, he’s been one of the best centremen in the NHL this season and delivered considerable surplus value on his $8 million cap hit.
Elias Pettersson: A
2023-24 statistics: 81 GP, 34-55-89
There were times this season when Pettersson didn’t seem quite as dominant as he has in years past, but we have to avoid falling into the trap of judging his game solely on the exceptionally high standards he’s set.
With 89 points and one game remaining, only six full-time NHL centremen have produced more points outright than Pettersson this season: Nathan MacKinnon, Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, Leon Draisaitl, Miller and, incredibly, Sidney Crosby. Isolated to five-on-five situations, Pettersson finished just two points back of Miller, while shooting a couple percentage points south of his career average finishing clip.
Despite the criticism that has occasionally been directed at Pettersson down the stretch, he’s still successfully rounded out his game — including improving significantly in the faceoff circle — while putting together a campaign in which he grades out as one of the five most valuable players in the sport by goals above replacement, based on Evolving-Hockey’s GAR metric:
Ultimately, Pettersson probably performed somewhat closer to his floor level than his ceiling level throughout the regular season, but we shouldn’t forget his floor is incredibly high.
Brock Boeser: A
2023-24 statistics: 81 GP, 40-33-73
After personal tragedies, injuries and trade rumors, Boeser’s breakthrough 40-goal season is an incredibly heartwarming story.
His offensive outburst has largely been powered by increased opportunity and production on the man advantage. The 27-year-old ranks seventh in the NHL with 16 power-play goals, compared to just six last year. The evolution of his net-front skills has been striking as he’s become an expert at finding loose change around the net, setting screens and hunting soft ice near the inner slot.
The bounce back in Boeser’s defensive form is underrated, too. After posting the worst defensive metrics of his career in 2022-23, Boeser has re-emerged as a trustworthy two-way winger who can win wall battles, hold his own in a matchup role and be counted on during late shifts holding leads.
Conor Garland: A+
2023-24 statistics: 81 GP, 19-26-45
Garland finally shed the baggage attached to him — through absolutely no fault of his own as he was acquired as part of the disastrous Oliver Ekman-Larsson trade — and emerged as a fan favourite by the end of this season.
Beyond winning over the affection of fans, Garland put together his most impactful two-way season in a Canucks jersey. He was a pint-sized beast along the wall, a driver on the cycle and effective in transition all season long, to the point that every single Canucks skater with whom Garland shared the ice for at least 150 five-on-five minutes this season fared better with Garland by shot attempt differential than they did without him.
Even though Garland’s overall boxcar stats won’t jump off the back of his hockey card — depending on how the game unfolds in Winnipeg on Thursday, this could be his lowest-scoring Canucks season yet — he remained a top-50 NHL forward by total five-on-five points and a top-30 NHL forward by five-on-five points rate (minimum 500 minutes). Garland is a top-line-calibre forward who was tasked with driving a third line, and his success in that role has been a key engine in the Canucks’ ascension.
Nils Höglander: A-
2023-24 statistics: 79 GP, 24-12-36
Höglander, carrying a $1.1 million cap hit, has been one of the Canucks’ best bang-for-their-buck performers.
He’s scored all 24 of his goals at five-on-five, which ranks top 10 in the NHL, ahead of names like Crosby, Mikko Rantanen and Nikita Kucherov, among others. He’s scored in greasy ways through tips and rebounds but has also flashed slick hands on some gorgeous rush goals.
Höglander drives play with his speedy, relentless puck pursuit. He forechecks like he’s been shot out of a cannon and outmuscles way bigger defenders to win 50/50 battles. He gets under the opposition’s skin almost every game with his ferocious, pain-in-the-butt playing style. He’s also developed better puck management and defensive awareness, which is a major reason why he’s gained Tocchet’s trust and elevated into a consistent top-six role after starting the year on Vancouver’s fourth line.
Ilya Mikheyev: C+
2023-24 statistics: 77 GP, 11-20-31
We’ve seen two different versions of Mikheyev this season.
Since Jan. 1, he’s scored just one goal and 10 assists in 45 games. This version of Mikheyev is offensively anemic and constantly fumbles glorious scoring chances.
Mikheyev’s early season production, however, was surprisingly impressive. Before the calendar flipped to 2024, Mikheyev ranked top 25 among all NHL forwards with 10 five-on-five goals in 32 games, tied with the likes of Sam Reinhart, Robert Thomas, Brayden Point and Alex DeBrincat. His 19 five-on-five points were just one back of Pettersson and Miller for the lead among Canucks forwards. Mikheyev obviously wasn’t driving this offence on his own, but he was flourishing as a complementary top-six player.
By the eye, Mikheyev’s previously blazing speed has only been evident in spurts this season. He’ll have a short stretch of games where he’ll be disruptive on the forecheck, win battles and extend offensive zone possessions, but for large chunks of the season, his impact has been muted, even as he’s remained defensively responsible.
Overall, his play has been passable considering it’s his first season back from an ACL tear, but it’ll be disappointing if the Canucks get the second-half version of Mikheyev in the playoffs.
Sam Lafferty: B+
2023-24 statistics: 78 GP, 13-11-24
Acquired for a fifth-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs ahead of the season, Lafferty’s Canucks tenure was shot out of a cannon.
In the first half of the season, Lafferty scored nine goals and added nine assists for 18 points. He was elevated to the second power-play unit and spent some time flanking Pettersson in Vancouver’s top six.
In the second half, Lafferty’s production largely vanished and his role diminished for an extended stretch in February and March to the point he was a healthy scratch for a small handful of games.
Of late, Lafferty has re-established himself as a fixture in the lineup, and there’s little question that his speed and defensive reliability have been a crucial addition to Vancouver’s bottom six.
Dakota Joshua: A-
2023-24 statistics: 62 GP, 18-14-32
Joshua’s enjoyed a breakout season as a bona fide top-nine winger.
The 27-year-old’s package of size, physicality, net-front offensive touch, strong wall work and defensive/PK utility is a one-of-a-kind combination on this roster. Joshua’s skill set perfectly meshes with Tocchet’s system, which emphasizes a ferocious forecheck, two-way awareness and a greasy, workmanlike approach to creating offence around the blue paint.
Joshua and Garland have developed excellent chemistry, controlling a dominant 62 percent of expected goals and outscoring opponents by a whopping 30-13 margin as a pair. Together, they’ve formed one of the best third lines in the NHL this season. If it weren’t for the time he missed with injury, Joshua would have hit 20-goal and 40-point milestones. Vancouver’s third line took a substantial step back when Joshua was hurt, which proved he’s an indispensable part of the Canucks’ forward group.
Dakota Joshua’s skill set has been compatible with Canucks coach Rick Tocchet’s system. (Bob Frid / USA Today)
Pius Suter: A-
2023-24 statistics: 62 GP, 18-14-32
Suter was an effective glue guy for Vancouver this season, and then some.
He didn’t quite score enough to cement himself as a top-six fixture all season long, and his lack of a goal-scoring bottom line seemed to result in his being a healthy scratch late in the year. Still, he produced five-on-five offence at a second-line clip and appears to have found a home on the top line entering the postseason.
Regardless of the goal totals, Suter is skilled enough to support the attack when he shares the ice with skilled players and versatile enough to help drive play at both centre and on the wing. For the most part, Suter improved every line he was placed on.
Suter’s defensive impact this season was measured by Dom Luszczyszyn’s Net Rating model to rank in the 95th percentile among NHL forwards. Put simply: Teams win with players who can impact the game like that in all three zones and complement skilled players without taking too much off of the table offensively.
Teddy Blueger: A-
2023-24 statistics: 67 GP, 6-22-28
Blueger has been a subtle driver of Vancouver’s massive year-over-year defensive improvement.
The 29-year-old pivot has played nearly 15 minutes a game this season and led all Canucks forwards in short-handed time on ice by nearly 20 total minutes despite missing 15 games with injury. He matched his career high in points while holding down a third-line role for much of the season and centring Vancouver’s best possession line between Garland and Joshua. He was excellent in the faceoff circle, winning nearly 50 percent of his short-handed draws and 52 percent of his draws in the defensive zone. And his overall defensive impact was enormous.
Vancouver doesn’t get to within shouting distance of league average on the penalty kill this season or become as difficult to break down without Blueger’s contributions.
Phil Di Giuseppe: C+
2023-24 statistics: 50 GP, 5-5-10
After several consecutive Canucks training camps at which he looked like a clear NHL-level player, Di Giuseppe finally broke camp with the team, set a new career high in NHL games played and stuck on the roster all season. That’s an enormously successful campaign for a professional player with 300 career AHL games on his resume and a two-way contract, no matter how you slice it. Di Giuseppe has produced like a fourth-liner at five-on-five, but was a solid contributor on the penalty kill.
Nils Åman: C
2023-24 statistics: 66 GP, 14-15-29
On one hand, Åman has only scored seven points in 42 games, won 45 percent of his faceoffs and is one of Vancouver’s only forwards with a shot attempt differential well below 50 percent and a negative on-ice goal differential. He also lacks the type of physicality or energy you’d typically like from a depth forward.
On the other hand, he’s responsible defensively at the NHL level and never actively hurts the Canucks, which is valuable for a 13th/14th forward. It’s hard to think of times he missed a defensive assignment, dangerously turned a puck over or failed to clear the defensive zone in a key moment. He’s a safe, mistake-free player and can kill penalties, too.
Åman is a serviceable extra forward, but he needs to find a distinct specialty to carve out a more impactful role moving forward.
Elias Lindholm: Incomplete
2023-24 statistics: 25 GP, 5-6-11
Lindholm hasn’t punched up Vancouver’s top-six forward group and hasn’t become a fixture on the first power-play unit, but his overall five-on-five contributions have been fine, he’s been great in the faceoff circle and his penalty killing has been useful.
Lindholm’s Canucks tenure hasn’t got off to a running start, but there’s some crucial usage context (he was bumped around the lineup a fair bit on initially joining the team, and spent a few weeks on a depth line with Mikheyev and a rotating cast of young wingers, including Vasily Podkolzin and Arshdeep Bains) and injury context that needs to be factored in, which is why an incomplete grade is fairest for now.
After all, entering the postseason as the pivot on a crucial third line with Garland and Joshua, nothing Lindholm has done so far in Canucks blue really matters anyway. It’s all about what comes next.
Vasily Podkolzin: C
2023-24 statistics: 18 GP, 0-2-2
The good news is that Podkolzin has looked disruptive, physical and dependable on both ends of the ice since being recalled in March. He’s comfortable handling the puck and doesn’t appear to be overthinking on the ice anymore. Podkolzin has ostensibly leapfrogged Åman and Di Giuseppe on the depth chart, which seemed unlikely after his rough training camp and extended stint in Abbotsford.
It’s a decent late recovery, but ultimately, if you told Canucks fans before the season started that Podkolzin wouldn’t crack the NHL roster until March and would have zero goals and just two assists in 18 games, it’d be labelled a disappointing year.
(Top photo of Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and J.T. Miller: Bob Frid / USA Today)
