With all the talk about Alex Burrows needing a bounce back year, and Nick Bonino needing to back up his breakout season, veteran Chris Higgins may have flown under the radar.
For the past few seasons, Higgins has alternated between a third line role, and a place on the second line. While the Smithtown native never blew anyone away with his offensive totals, he was always a good bet to score around 40 points a year, always played a safe, low-key game, and never really hurt the hockey club. However, with the late season emergence of Zack Kassian last year, and dynamic prospects like Nicklas Jensen in the system, many questioned whether Higgins, a graduate of Yale University, deserved to play in a top six capacity. It’s safe to say that no one is questioning the decision now.
Through 18 games, Higgins has 11 points, a 61-point pace. While it’s unlikely he’ll keep this pace up (his career high being almost 10 points less, 52 in 07-08 with the Canadiens), if Higgins can put up even 50 points, I’d wager that the vast majority of Canucks fans won’t be complaining.
It’s also important to note that, as successful as Higgins has been offensively, he hasn’t abandoned what made him successful in the first place. The vintage Chris Higgins work ethic is still there, as is his penalty kill efficiency, averaging over two minutes per game shorthanded. In addition to this, no line faces tougher competition than Higgins’ line with Bonino and Burrows, and he also boasts the 4th highest team shot plus-minus of all forwards with 25, behind only the Sedin twins and Radim Vrbata.
Still not convinced? There’s also the fact that he’s scored one of two shootout goals for the Canucks (the game winner in a 5-4 win against the Edmonton Oilers), is tied for the team lead in penalties drawn with six, ranks third on the Canucks in terms of first assists with four (trailing only two guys who go by the names of Henrik and Daniel Sedin), AND leads all forwards in blocked shots with seven.
Sure, the great starts by Ryan Miller, Nick Bonino and the Sedins get more publicity, after all, they are the two flashy new guys and two former Art Ross champions respectively, but Higgins deserves a lot of credit for the way he has started the 2014-15 campaign, especially considering he had never played with Bonino before, and had only played limited minutes with Burrows,despite being teammates for three and a half seasons. If things keep going like they have, the 31-year-old, going into his fourth full season as a Canuck, may experience a career season.
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