Last Word On Hockey brings our Team of the Decade series. We will dive into the best player at each position this decade for every organization. The biggest and best at each position, with the most memorable moments of the decade. Here is the Vancouver Canucks Team of the Decade lineup.
Vancouver Canucks Decade Team
The Vancouver Canucks decade of 2010-2019 was the best of times and the worst of times – in that order. They entered the decade with arguably their best team ever, including an all-time high 117 points in 2010-2011. The obvious choice would be to draw all six players from that season.
But it’s not about one year, is it?
In the last four years of the Vancouver Canucks’ decade, the team never broke .500 – and that’s including the “loser point”. Players from those early highs had peaked, leaving diminishing returns soon to follow. Or they only played with the Canucks a brief time, leaving a more average player to take their place. Brief glory or long term endurance: which has been “better” for a team?
Centre: Henrik Sedin
Okay, so there are two selections that are a bit more obvious than others. Henrik Sedin was named captain at the beginning of the 2010-2011 season and promptly led the team to the Stanley Cup Finals. He also had 75 assists that year, his second of three in a row leading the league. Henrik missed just 20 games to injury, leading the team with 643. He also finishes the decade as Vancouver’s leading scorer, getting 557 points before retiring in 2018.
Two first-team All-Star selections, an Art Ross Trophy, the Hart Trophy, and two King Clancy awards speak to just how highly regarded he was.
Honourable Mention
While Ryan Kesler played 120 fewer games than Bo Horvat, his impact when the team was great was integral to the team’s depth – and thus success. His 2011 Selke win in a 41-goal season was a personal highlight, but the playoffs were where he made his name. He not only provided depth scoring, but he also matched against the toughest opponents, skating over 22 minutes in 46 games. He also racked up over 350 hits and 126 shots in those games to go with 10 goals and 34 points.
The Next Decade’s Best
Another pretty obvious answer, and another player bumping Horvat down the list. Elias Pettersson has been everything the team hoped for thus far with 107 points in the 111 games he played before the calendar flipped. And he only looks to be getting better.
Left-Wing: Daniel Sedin
As the second-least surprising choice, Daniel Sedin is very different from his brother. He only has one King Clancy award and was named to the second-team All-Stars once. He also has a Ted Lindsay (formerly Pearson) award to go with his Art Ross.
Daniel played two fewer games than Henrik and finished with seven fewer points. He did, however, score 71 more goals in the decade – 204 of them total – than the second-place Alexandre Burrows.
Here is as good a time as any to mention the Sedins’ possession game. Slap-passes, no-look goals, high-slot tips, and controlling the puck for 45 seconds at a time weren’t a common feature of league offences until the Sedins perfected it. Even including those late-decade collapsing teams, Daniel had a 54.5% Corsi, Henrik a 54.2% over the Vancouver Canucks’ decade. Chasing either player was a waste of time, and chasing the puck, futile.
Ray Ferraro was asked if the Sedins were Hall of Fame players, and he came up with an interesting conditional: “Do opposing coaches change their game because of the player?” Opposing coaches knew what was coming, especially after the 2011 Stanley Cup run. They just couldn’t stop it.
Honourable Mention
It says volumes about the Vancouver Canucks’ decade when the runner-up is a second-line player, but Chris Higgins was a substantial part of the team for six seasons. Brought to the team for a third-round pick and Evan Oberg, Higgins brought good size and underappreciated possession play to the Canucks for 314 games. His 62 goals and 142 points may have been fine for his position, but the bigger impact on fans was when he cleared his visor during a game and started “Chris Higgins Abs” trending.
The Next Decade’s Best
There are another three years for J.T. Miller to show his stuff on his current contract. If he maintains anything like his current level of play – scoring, vocal leadership, mentoring other players – he’ll become an icon. For half a decade, at least.
Right Wing: Alexandre Burrows
The player nobody expected elevated to a play nobody predicted. Alexandre Burrows somehow became the perfect fit with the Sedins after years of searching. The do-anything Burrows picked up 533 minutes in penalties as the designated puck-retriever for the Canucks’ top line. His 133 goals in 493 games included 16 on the power play and nine while shorthanded. He spent his time knowing what he had to do to succeed with the twins: get the puck. Get to the net. Put your stick down.
Versatility remained his hallmark for his career, playing the game any way the coach wanted. Even his 15 playoff goals included two on the power play and one shorthanded.
Honourable Mention
The player who briefly took over for Burrows: Jannik Hansen. Another “player from nowhere” who worked too hard to be ignored, the 287th pick of the 2004 draft forced his way onto the Canucks as a regular by 2008-09. Hansen’s 485 games with Vancouver included a lot of injury time due to his cannonball playing style. He managed just 95 goals for the team in the 2010s, but given he was a middle-six player for most of that, it’s not a bad total. The team knew what they had: his ice time always increased when the playoffs rolled around.
The Next Decade’s Best
I’m sure there are some votes for Shotgun Jake Virtanen here, but no. The future at right-wing rests on the very capable shoulders of Brock Boeser, he of the hard-luck and harder shot.
Left Defence: Alexander Edler
Another obvious pick, perhaps. Or is he under the radar? Alexander Edler defines the player who is Always There, Occasionally Noticed. The only player to have lasted the entire decade with the Canucks, Edler played 632 games, scoring 77 goals and 304 points. While never quite reaching the highs that were predicted of him, he was the team’s top defenceman for the decade. He never averaged below 21 minutes in a season, averaging over 24 minutes in the 2010s. While his offence was never great, he still put over 1500 shots on net, scoring 36 power-play goals to go with 40 at even strength.
He also plays a surprisingly physical game and is a very solid hitter if challenged on his side.
Honourable Mention
BC-native Dan Hamhuis was signed as a free agent in 2010 to provide stability to the defence, and that he did. He stayed with the team for 389 games as a top-four defender, frequently tasked with shutting down opponents. Even in that role, he scored 142 points with little special teams time.
The Next Decade’s Best
Not to ruin the suspense or anything, but it’s Quinn Hughes. The future is unpredictable and all that, but come on. He’s going to be Vancouver’s third Calder nominee in a row, and possibly their second winner.
Right Defence: Kevin Bieksa
Kevin Bieksa wasn’t all Superman punches and great sound bites, strong though those were. Bieksa anchored a shut-down pair for much of his stay with Vancouver, often with Hamhuis when their careers overlapped. Known mostly for his leadership qualities, the two-way defender also scored 122 points in his 331 games. His physical play wore on him, and eventually, the team decided to make room for younger, cheaper players.
That he and Kesler are now doing a podcast together surprises exactly no one.
Honourable Mention
Bieksa had this to say about rookie Chris Tanev during an appearance in the 2011 playoffs: “He could have played the game with a cigarette in his mouth. He’s so calm and cool out there.” Tanev has kept his cool through his career, often sacrificing his body to make an exit pass. Rarely makes mistakes, but never plays a full season, either.
The Next Decade’s Best
Despite the years left on Tyler Myers‘ contract, it’s likely the challenger to claim this spot has yet to play for the team. All-Name throwback player Jett Woo could lay claim. Or Brogan Rafferty could prove his eye-popping AHL numbers are transferrable to the NHL. But so far this is one of the few spots without an obvious successor.
Goalie: Roberto Luongo
Easily the best goaltender the Canucks have ever had, Roberto Luongo‘s Canucks career is neatly bisected by the 2009-2010 cutoff. Still, in the 211 regular season games we’re counting, he had 117 wins, a .918 SV% and sixteen shutouts. Those are some hard numbers to top. Those numbers alone have him fourth in career wins and second in shutouts. The disastrous end to his time in Vancouver mars his legacy slightly, but there’s no doubting his skill.
Honourable Mention
With only 88 games played, it might be a bit of a surprise to pick Cory Schneider, but it shouldn’t be. Strong arguments could be made for Ryan Miller and Jacob Markstrom both, certainly. Miller kept the team afloat as they slid down the standings, often being the cause of more victories than they should have had. Markstrom has been excellent of late but was very good at the end of the decade, too. Schneider, on the other hand, had a real chance to usurp Luongo as the team starter, and that can’t be ignored. Before inner team conflict led to his trade, Schneider had 53 wins, a .931 SV% and nine shutouts. His 2.09 goals-against average is better than any Canucks goaltender with more than 20 games played.
The Next Decade’s Best
Right now, the title is Thatcher Demko‘s to lose. With expansion coming and Michael DiPietro gaining experience in Utica, we’ll see how long that holds true.
Main Photo:
Embed from Getty Images
