Even though the Vancouver Canucks have been a .500 hockey team over the last 10 games, they still sit only three points back of the Vegas Golden Knights for the top spot in the NHL standings. That’s pretty good considering their brutal schedule in November that had them play 15 games in 30 nights.
In the latest edition of Canucks’ 3 Up, 3 Down, we’ll look at some trades, more from the Mighty Quinn, Brock Boeser‘s rise to the top of the NHL, and much more. Let’s dive in.
Plus One: Beauvillier Traded To Blackhawks & Zadorov Acquired From Flames
Just before Tuesday’s game against the Anaheim Ducks, the Canucks traded Anthony Beauvillier to the Chicago Blackhawks for a conditional 2024 fifth-round pick. General manager Patrik Allvin has been trying to create cap flexibility since the end of last season and he finally got it with Beauvillier’s $4.5 million off the books. It didn’t take long for him to use the extra space as he quickly made a deal with the Flames on Thursday (Nov. 30) to bring 6-foot-6 defenceman Nikita Zadorov into the fold. Using the fifth-round pick he acquired from the Blackhawks and a third-round pick in 2026, he fleeced new GM Craig Conroy and avoided giving up high picks, prospects, or roster players.
The Canucks have struggled since Carson Soucy got injured, which has forced Tyler Myers and Noah Juulsen into elevated roles. With the addition of Zadorov, Myers will return to his sweet spot of 17-18 minutes and Juulsen either to the press box or the American Hockey League (AHL). When everyone is healthy, the blue line should be a handful to play against as Soucy, Cole and Zadorov all bring physicality, snarl and size to the table. Zadorov in particular has built himself a reputation of being a fierce hitter with a propensity for throwing Richter scale open ice hits. He has also showcased some offensive talent with a career-high 14 goals last season. All in all, he makes the defence core much deeper and playoff-ready.
Minus One: Schedule in November
The NHL’s schedule makers must not like the Canucks. As of this writing, Vancouver has played 24 games. In November, they played 15 of those games – nearly a quarter of the season…in one month. If someone told me they weren’t suffering the effects of fatigue, I would suspect they were robots. So, maybe it’s not a surprise that they are sporting a 5-5-0 record over their last 10 games.
Related: Canucks’ Zadorov Trade Addresses Defence for Minimal Cost
Fortunately, December promises some reprieve as they play only 12 games, spread out with zero back-to-backs and seven games at Rogers Arena where they are an impressive 8-2-1.
Plus Two: Quinn Hughes
What else can you say about the Mighty Quinn that hasn’t been said already? He just continues to pile up the points – and the franchise records – as he posted his 32nd of the season on Saturday (Nov. 25) to surpass Dennis Kearns for the most points in a month by a defenceman. He also tied Filip Hronek, Kearns, and Jiri Bubula’s franchise-record 11-game point streak, but couldn’t become the sole leader as the Anaheim Ducks kept him off the scoresheet on Tuesday (Nov. 28).
At this point, it’s hard to argue against Hughes being the frontrunner for the Norris Trophy. Cale Makar is without a doubt his biggest competitor, but if he keeps this pace up, he might become the first Canucks defenceman to hit the century mark in points.
Minus Two: Penalty Killing
The Canucks are nowhere near the doldrums of 2021-22 and 2022-23 when they were 31st and 32nd respectively, but their penalty killing still leaves much to be desired. They are currently 22nd in the league at 76.4 percent and have allowed a power play goal in four of their last five games. They still struggle with defending the cross-seam pass and in the Ducks game specifically, allowed a 17th-ranked power play to control the puck for almost the entire two minutes.
For the Canucks to be successful the rest of the season and into the playoffs, the penalty kill has to become a strength sooner rather than later. Ideally, they will be closer to the top 10 by the end of the season. The recently-acquired Zadorov should help with that as he is another big body to get into shooting lanes and his reach should help disrupt some of those problematic cross-seam passes.
Plus Three: Brock Boeser Leading the NHL in Goals
There’s no way I can finish this edition of 3 Up, 3 Down without mentioning Brock Boeser and his 17 goals. The Brockstar currently leads the NHL in that category – two up on Nikita Kucherov – and is on pace for over 60 goals. His career-high is 29 set in his rookie season back in 2017-18 and he is only 13 away from breaking that and setting a new mark. He probably won’t hit the vaunted 60-goal plateau, but 40 is definitely in his wheelhouse.
Boeser has gone from trade bait to possibly the Canucks’ co-MVP alongside Hughes and Miller. What a turnaround for a guy no one wanted unless a sweetener was thrown in. I think it’s safe to say he’s returned to his rightful place amongst the core group of Hughes, Miller, Elias Pettersson, and Thatcher Demko.
Minus Three: Tyler Myers & Minor Penalties
When Soucy was in the lineup, Myers was averaging 17:54 of ice time and was playing some of his best hockey as a Canuck. He rarely made glaring mistakes and only had 10 minutes of penalties in 14 games. Since Soucy has been sidelined, Myers has seen his average ice time increase to 20:12 and with it, more trips to the penalty box. In 11 games, he has 16 minutes of penalties and four of those were of the double-minor variety when he high-sticked two players at the same time against the Seattle Kraken on Nov. 24, one of which was his teammate JT Miller.
The bottom line is, that Myers plays better when his ice time is around 17-18 minutes, not 20. Unfortunately, with the Canucks’ lack of depth on the back end, he is the best option to move up the lineup to fill in for injuries. Hence the increase in responsibility since Soucy has been out. Luckily, Allvin has addressed this problem with the addition of Zadorov, but he will still need to rein in the penalties soon because with the Canucks’ struggles on the penalty kill, his time in the sin bin will most likely cost his team points in the standings.
What’s Next For the Canucks?
The 15-game gauntlet that was November is finally over. The Canucks finished the month with a 9-6-0 record, which is pretty good considering the travel and number of back-to-backs they had to endure. All in all, they will enter December boasting a 15-8-1 record; a far cry from the 9-12-3 they had at this time last season. Their first test will come against Zadorov’s former team the Calgary Flames on Dec. 2, their only road game before a five-game stay in the comforts of Rogers Arena.
