We’re officially past the midway point of the NHL season.
The 4 Nations Face-Off and trade deadline await in the months ahead. It’s the time of year when, especially for a team that’s sagged over the past six weeks, the fate of striver-class teams is realized and the legacy of non-playoff teams is ultimately defined.
As the Vancouver Canucks enter their stretch run, we figured we’d best look back and hand out our midseason grades for each player. Every skater who has appeared in at least 10 contests has been assigned a grade, while we’ve lowered the bar for goaltenders to five appearances. Grades are handed relative to expectations, meaning a “B” for Brock Boeser is totally different than a “B” for Max Sasson.
We’ll look at Vancouver’s forwards today before poring over the blue line and goaltenders tomorrow.
36 GP, 10-19-29
The Canucks need a lot more from Elias Pettersson in the second half.
In the first season of a mammoth eight-year, $11.6 million AAV contract, Vancouver’s star Swede is producing at a pedestrian 22-goal, 66-point pace over 82 games. That’s a far cry from the 89 points he piled up last year and the career-high 102 points he scored in 2022-23.
Pettersson is firing shots on goal at the lowest rate of his career. He’s scored just four five-on-five goals this season, tying him with Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen. His skating has looked slower than usual for most of the season (although it’s been better since his recent return from injury), which has hindered his ability to lead dynamic puck rushes and contributed to his lack of game-breaking offensive moments. There are far too many nights in which he’s looked like a passenger rather than an elite, top-flight No. 1 centre.
It’s especially disappointing because Pettersson’s had better wingers to play with this season. Ilya Mikheyev, Nils Höglander, Boeser, Andrei Kuzmenko and Sam Lafferty were the five wingers who shared the most five-on-five minutes with Pettersson last season. Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Kiefer Sherwood, Boeser and Höglander are his five most common wingers this season.
There are a couple of silver linings to note. First, Pettersson’s defensive game has been sharp even when the offence has disappeared. He’s coming off a monster two-way performance against the Toronto Maple Leafs; could he consistently regain that form with better health?
Secondly, he’s been tasked to play in more of the club’s non-Quinn Hughes minutes than J.T. Miller, which is a significantly harder environment to produce in given the Canucks’ problematic bottom-four defence. The time-on-ice disparity isn’t massive — Pettersson has shared 43 percent of his five-on-five minutes with Hughes compared to Miller’s 49 percent — but it is notable.
J.T. Miller: C+
32 GP, 8-21-29
It’s been an up-and-down season for Miller.
Banged up during training camp, he battled through some evident discomfort in the early going and still got off to a solid start before his season was temporarily waylaid by a 10-game personal leave in mid-November. Since returning, Miller has been in the headlines for the wrong reasons and dogged by speculation about rifts with teammates and trade rumours from just about every credible insider covering hockey.
With the noise turned up to a fever pitch and his production down from the elite level he managed in 2023-24, it’s been easy to ignore that Miller has still played very well overall. Vancouver has outscored its opponents by a wide margin with him on the ice, and he’s managed the highest five-on-five scoring rate of every Canucks forward.
Now, there’s some usage context that should be unpacked here. Miller has regularly played a role in which he’s self-matched with Hughes, the Canucks’ key engine, with whom Miller has logged just under 50 percent of his five-on-five ice time this season. Much of Miller’s production and all of his positive on-ice goal differential is won during those minutes with Hughes, and Vancouver hasn’t fared as well with Miller away from the captain (the Canucks have, in fact, been outscored significantly in those minutes).
Miller also hasn’t appeared to be his usual elite driver on the power play this season, and his penalty-killing work has been extraordinarily permissive.
The vibes around Miller this season probably make it all feel somewhat worse than it has been. He’s remained a quality contributor and a credible top-of-the-lineup-level performer.
There are small areas, however, in which he is providing less value at the margins than last season and it’s probably fair to note he’s performed at a more complementary level as opposed to the sort of standalone driver we’ve seen previously during his Canucks tenure.
Brock Boeser: B
35 GP, 15-12-27
Boeser’s 2024-25 campaign may not be as perfect and dream-like as last year’s 40-goal, 73-point breakout, but he’s having another solid season.
The 27-year-old pending unrestricted free agent got off to a flyer with six goals in his first 11 games. Unfortunately, that hot start was interrupted by Tanner Jeannot’s headshot on Nov. 7 which caused Boeser to miss seven games with a concussion.
It took Boeser a while to get back up to speed as he only notched two goals in his first 13 games once he returned, which also included a significant decline in his shot and scoring chance generation rate. Miller, Boeser’s most common centre over the last two seasons, was also out of the lineup for a large chunk of that stretch. Boeser’s more of a finisher than a puck-dominant driver, so you can understand why his production slowed down between his return from injury and not having his usual No. 1 centre to set up scoring chances for him. He’s since rediscovered his game, scoring seven goals in his last 10 games.
Boeser’s power-play production is down this season (just five power-play goals so far compared to 16 last year), but he’s scoring frequently at even strength and his two-way play remains sturdy and reliable. He’s setting himself up for a nice payday with another strong season.
Jake DeBrusk has so far been a solid complementary top-six piece in his first Canucks season. (Sergei Belski / Imagn Images)
Jake DeBrusk: B+
42 GP, 17-12-29
DeBrusk is on pace to smash his career highs in goals scored and total points in his first Canucks season.
That he’s been productive, honestly, is a bit shocking. Statistically speaking, DeBrusk is performing at a higher level than he’s ever previously managed in the NHL, and yet it often feels quiet around the skilled winger unless he’s putting pucks into the net.
Perhaps we shouldn’t confuse “quiet” with lacking impact, however.
Sure, DeBrusk can seem to slip through the cracks when he’s not scoring, especially because his physical game is the only occasional feature of his play style. The key unrestricted free-agent acquisition, however, has still found a way to fit into the lineup ably and his underlying form has been sturdy in a top-six role.
A lot of DeBrusk’s value has been tied to his timely finishing, which has kept Vancouver afloat in the absence of so many star players in the first half. That inflates his grade a bit given how we should weigh the value of goal scoring, especially on a team that’s struggled to manufacture offence, but he’s been a solid complementary top-six piece overall.
Conor Garland: B+
42 GP, 11-19-30
Garland has transformed from a luxury middle-six piece to an indispensable all-situations workhorse for coach Rick Tocchet this season. He’s catapulted from No. 7 among Canucks forwards in average ice time last year (14:32) to No. 1 this season (19:29). A big chunk of that includes increased special teams responsibilities, both on the penalty kill and the first-unit power play.
Garland’s increased power-play production — he’s scored four goals and 10 points on the man advantage compared to just one goal and five points all of last year — explains why he’s on pace for a career-high 58 points. He isn’t scoring even-strength points at his ordinarily elite clip, but that’s justified considering Dakota Joshua, who Garland had so much success with last season, has been out of the lineup for chunks of the season and has needed time to get back to his usual performance level.
The feisty pint-sized forward is still driving high-end two-way numbers because of his knack for winning puck battles, transporting play up the ice and controlling possession down low in the offensive zone.
Dakota Joshua: Incomplete
24 GP, 2-2-4
Joshua missed all of Canucks training camp and several key weeks of training as a result of offseason surgery following a testicular cancer diagnosis. On returning to the lineup, Joshua was evidently and understandably shaking off rust and wasn’t quite as productive or menacing as he’d been in his first two seasons.
Then, just as Joshua’s game was appearing to hit its stride, the big veteran forward sustained another week-to-week injury. Hopefully it won’t represent a significant setback in Joshua’s progress, as his two-way game and physical edge appeared to be returning before he got hurt.
Given what Joshua has gone through and how crucial that context is in explaining his performance this season, we’ll give him an incomplete grade for his work in the first half. The Canucks are clearly going to need more from one of their most subtly important X-factor contributors if they’re going to hit their ceiling in the second half.
Danton Heinen: C
42 GP, 5-11-16
After signing a series of cheap one-year deals with other clubs, Danton Heinen was finally rewarded with a two-year, $2.25 million AAV contract from the Canucks. Mediocre would be the best word to sum up Heinen’s tenure in Vancouver so far: He hasn’t hurt the team in any way, but he isn’t doing enough to move the needle either.
The veteran left winger failed to make an impact during his early top-line audition with Miller and Boeser. He’s been a bottom-six staple rather than the versatile Swiss Army knife who can effectively move up the lineup when necessary he was in Boston. Heinen’s 16 points in 42 games are reasonable on the surface, but he’s only scored five goals despite nearly hitting 20 last year. His two-way numbers have slipped compared to last season, too, falling into below-average territory.
Heinen’s been a quality contributor to the Canucks’ 12th-ranked penalty kill and is reliable in the sense that he avoids making costly mistakes, but his overall impact has been underwhelming.
Teddy Blueger: B-
42 GP, 5-12-17
Teddy Blueger is a bit of a fascinating player to grade.
When you watch Blueger play, it always looks like he’s working hard and making winning plays. When you check the underlying data after the fact, however, the Canucks are often outscored in his minutes and most of his regular linemates tend to perform better away from Blueger than they do alongside him.
There are probably some usage effects there, but in truth, due to prolonged absences the club has dealt with down the middle of its forward group from Miller and Pettersson, the Canucks have probably had to rely on Blueger more than is optimal. He’s a solid depth player but is probably a high-end fourth-line centre as opposed to a more robust bottom-six option and the seams have shown on occasion when he’s been more heavily utilized.
On the positive side, Blueger has found ways to produce offence at a solid clip at five-on-five and his penalty-killing work has stood out — he’s clearly Vancouver’s stingiest four-on-five forward option and has been a driver of stabilized penalty-killing form since arriving on the West Coast.
41 GP, 11-8-19
Pius Suter has been hot and cold this season, but on the balance, he’s decisively exceeding expectations.
The undersized but intelligent two-way forward is scoring at a 22-goal clip, which is impressive considering nearly all of his damage has come at even strength. During Suter’s five-on-five shifts, the Canucks have controlled 52 percent of expected goals and own a plus-five goal differential. Suter deserves major props for winning his shifts because he’s spent chunks of the year playing difficult matchups as the club’s de facto second-line centre. He also leads Vancouver forwards in penalty-killing minutes.
Suter has struggled lately — he hasn’t scored in 17 games and has only registered three assists in that span — but his defensive numbers are still stellar in that timeframe (1.11 goals against per 60 rate at five-on-five). The Canucks need him to snap out of his offensive dry spell, but there’s no doubt he’s been an essential middle-six contributor overall this season.
Kiefer Sherwood has been one of Vancouver’s most consistent and impactful forwards. (John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
Kiefer Sherwood: A+
42 GP, 13-8-21
Sherwood’s first Canucks season has been a revelation.
Acquired as a one-for-one upgrade on Sam Lafferty, Sherwood has contributed a lot more than that. He’s performing at the level of a second-line player with some potential to drive, especially given every forward he’s spent at least 100 minutes with has won their minutes to a greater degree alongside Sherwood than they have when playing without him.
Sherwood’s hard, accurate wrist shot has also become a secondary scoring weapon. The veteran forward has already set a career high in goals and should easily finish the year with 20-plus goals. While an elevated shooting percentage is perhaps boosting Sherwood’s production somewhat, he’s never had a role like the one he’s earned in Vancouver — both in terms of regularity and the skill level of his linemates. Maybe he doesn’t maintain his current goal-scoring pace, but he should still be a productive player with significant two-way value for Vancouver down the stretch.
When you factor in the goal scoring and two-way play and then throw in the historic hit rate that Sherwood has racked up, it’s clear Sherwood has been one of Vancouver’s most consistent and impactful skaters in the first half.
Nils Höglander: F
39 GP, 2-6-8
Höglander is trudging through a nightmare season. Fresh off signing a three-year, $3 million AAV extension, he’s slumped to just two goals and eight points in 39 games and has landed in the trade rumour mill. He’s in the middle of a 35-game goalless drought despite being one of the NHL’s five-on-five goal-scoring leaders last season.
The 24-year-old Swede started in a top-six role but very quickly found himself back in Tocchet’s doghouse. He’s averaged just 11:35 per game because of turnovers, undisciplined penalties and an early-season stretch in which he was on the ice for many goals against.
Höglander hasn’t used his speed and disruptiveness consistently enough to win battles and create havoc on the forecheck the way he did last year. He isn’t holding onto pucks down low in the offensive zone with his usual level of confidence and elusiveness. Höglander’s play-driving metrics, which were really strong in 2023-24, have fallen off significantly and are slightly negative. He still has the raw tools (speed, motor, hands) to be an effective top-nine player but the odds of it consistently happening under Tocchet are a long shot right now.
Max Sasson: B
19 GP, 2-4-6
Sasson has a decent level of speed and hockey IQ, which has permitted him to carve out an everyday role in the Vancouver lineup in the first half of the season. He’s also brought a high motor and work rate on an every-night basis, which has permitted him to edge out the likes of Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Räty as a bottom-six fixture going into the second half.
Earning that sort of role and trust matters a lot; it’s the primary job of any NHL hopeful. On that score, Sasson has knocked his rookie year out of the park. That said, his production and goal differential are clearly overheated by a favourable distribution of bounces, and we’d expect that to cool off significantly as the sample expands.
In the meantime, Sasson isn’t exactly helping the Canucks control play in the bottom six and will probably need to improve his two-way impact to maintain the sort of role he carved out in the first half over what remains of the regular season.
Aatu Räty: C+
20 GP, 2-2-4
Räty turned heads with his outstanding training camp and preseason. He parlayed that into an early opportunity with the big club but failed to make a consistent impact and is now firmly behind Sasson on the depth chart.
Räty was excellent in the faceoff dot (56.3 percent) and has the size to bring some heaviness to a fourth line, but he couldn’t establish a clear enough identity. He didn’t score enough (four points in 20 games), lacks the speed and motor to be an “energy” guy, and doesn’t have the penalty-killing utility and off-puck trust to carve out a role as a defensive specialist. Räty’s two-way results were fine, but he was heavily sheltered, playing just 9:31 per game.
Räty can survive at the NHL level, but the next step is finding a way to level up to be an actual difference-maker in the bottom six.
Phil Di Giuseppe: B
11 GP, 0-3-3
Phil Di Giuseppe had to wait as the Canucks auditioned a variety of young, organizational pieces in the first 30 games of the season before getting another shot.
A mainstay for the Canucks last season, Di Giuseppe has largely picked up where he left off. With his combination of speed, size and defensive reliability, he’s probably an NHL-level bottom-six winger and has performed to that standard since returning to the lineup.
Arshdeep Bains: C
11 GP, 1-0-1
Tocchet’s staff has time for Bains’ hockey IQ and work rate, but there hasn’t been a bottom-line impact.
Bains’ first career goal was a tremendous story but that’s the only point he’s registered in 19 games for the Canucks between this season and last. And while he’s reliable defensively, it’s not as if he kills penalties, drives play or has the physical tools (size, speed, physicality) to warrant keeping him in the lineup as a full-time NHL player.
9 GP, 2-1-3
Jonathan Lekkerimäki has been a sensation at the AHL level in his first full North American professional season and has shown flashes in his nine NHL games of the elite speed and finishing ability that has made him Vancouver’s most promising, highest-upside prospect.
There’s a certain precocious maturity in Lekkerimäki’s game, too, in terms of attentiveness to the defensive side of the puck and a willingness to play along the wall and engage physically. To reach his ceiling, he’ll likely need to add a bit of mass and core strength and work on his edges so he’s able to execute the sort of cutbacks that are a staple of Garland’s and Höglander’s games and will permit him to protect the puck at a higher level against larger players.
The young forward has shown a lot of promise and, perhaps, an ability to help this team win games down the stretch.
(Top photo of Elias Pettersson: John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
