On April 8th, the winners of the fan-voted Vancouver Canucks awards will be announced. They’re also announcing the non-fan-voted ones, but since we can’t rig those elections we’ll leave them to the team. After all, management always makes the right choice!*
Vancouver Canucks Fan Awards & Storylines
Look, we all know this season hasn’t gone exactly as planned. An easily-anticipated rough start snowballed into a disaster. That set off the avalanche that led to a coaching change that brought us here.
“Here” of course is the easiest part of the Canucks schedule. It’s coming just in time to destroy any actual hope of getting a high draft pick. Enjoying the wins when they happen is pretty much a Vancouver tradition by now.
Still, there are a few fun storylines to follow out on the ice. Elias Pettersson‘s chase for 100 points is a great one, as is Quinn Hughes breaking defenceman records every game.
Thatcher Demko‘s post-absence return compared to his pre-absence play was as emphatic a difference as throwing a cannonball into the air. Not much going away, came back with an emphatic impact.
Seeing Nils Åman respond to being sent down to the AHL by forming a great forward pair with Dakota Joshua has breathed life into hopes for a solid – and cheap, and productive – fourth line in 2023-24.
Heck, the AHL guys as a whole have been a pleasant surprise! From the goal to the forwards, the call-ups have been worth their pay almost all the way through. They aren’t the backbone of the team, maybe, but it’s still good to have them. The kidneys, maybe: add them when you need them.
Fine stories, all, but they aren’t what we’re here for. Let’s jam that Vancouver Canucks awards ballot box, baby!
Cyclone Taylor Trophy (MVP)
Probably Going To Win: Elias Pettersson
Should Win: Elias Pettersson
Our Pick: Yeah
A case can absolutely be made for other players here, which is a pleasant surprise. But really it’s a competition for who is coming in second. If the next award didn’t exist, Quinn Hughes would be a valid contender. If Demko played all season like he is now, he’d be right in there.
But it’s the guy chasing a century who is the runaway winner. When your top scorer has a 20+ point lead on second, and second is at a point-per-game, then it’s a given.
Pettersson scored in 14 of 15 games through March, getting eight goals and 20 points. He’s played – and produced – on both special teams, making Vancouver an actual threat shorthanded.
Walter “Babe” Pratt Trophy (Best Defenceman)
Probably Going To Win: Quinn Hughes
Should Win: Quinn Hughes
Our Pick: C’mon
No question here, either. Hughes reached 70 points by April 1st, breaking his own team record. An astounding consistency has perhaps been Hughes’ greatest virtue, having gone three games without a point just once this season. He’s also scored three points in a game just twice.
Complaints about his defence are – or should be – gone by now. He doesn’t hit people through the boards or clear the net particularly well, but he stops the puck and pushes it up the ice. That counts for a whole lot more.
Look over who the Vancouver Canucks awards for best defenceman have gone to in the past. Sami Salo doesn’t make the list because of his injury history, but mostly these are solid, reliable guys.
Ed Jovonovski is probably the guy Tyler Myers should be watching tape of, and Jyrki Lumme was always an adventure! But Alexander Edler, Matthais Öhlund, Doug Lidster?
Fine players, but they might rename this trophy when Hughes retires.
Pavel Bure Award (Most Exciting Player)
Probably Going To Win: Andrei Kuzmenko
Probably Should Win: Elias Pettersson
Our Pick: Thatcher Demko
We were going to go the snarky route and suggest no one causes more excitement for the Canucks than Myers, but that seems cruel. Funny, sure, but cruel.
Andrei Kuzmenko has been absolutely eye-opening this season, no doubt. Yes, there was a bidding war for his services, but there is always some risk getting a great player from a different league.
The KHL playing style is different, the coaching styles are different, and the treatment of stars is different. Solid numbers don’t always translate, especially in such a late arrival. Those doubts, needless to say, are gone.
But his ability to score lies in getting to the right spot at the right time. It’s a fantastic skill to have, and his celebrations are brilliant, but tips and tap-ins aren’t actually all that exciting.
Pettersson is the new “out of your seats” guy, dangerous every time he enters the offensive zone. He works his magic getting the puck to Kuzmenko – or he simply goes bar down himself.
But for pure excitement? Demko at his best is heart-stopping. Watching opposing forwards follow the replays with their mouths open is always good fun, but the roar when the cause happens is even better.
Fred J. Hume Award (Unsung Hero)
Probably Going To Win: Dakota Joshua
Probably Should Win: All the Callups
Our Pick: Ethan Bear
Of all of the Vancouver Canucks awards, this one is the hardest to predict. Sometimes it’s a young guy who is coming up (Garry Valk) or a newly arrived veteran (Steve Bernier?!?). Other times, it’s a fourth-line grinder who’s having a breakout season (Alexandre Burrows).
But then it suddenly goes to a star player like Cliff Ronning. Ronning was the team’s second-highest scorer the previous year and was again when he won the award. What he wasn’t was “unsung.”
Jannik Hansen won the award three times, which you’d think would also remove him from the running by its own definition. And that somewhat ambiguous definition is what we’re trying to go by, here.
None of the callups have played enough games to get the win, fine. But Phillip Di Giuseppe might be the best among the forwards. A nod can go to Kyle Burroughs for the physical element he brought, especially after Luke Schenn‘s trade.
But for truly underappreciated players this year, we’re nominating defenceman Ethan Bear. Bear came to a team in absolute shambles – for dirt cheap – and helped stabilize it. It took a while to happen, but remember Bruce Boudreau‘s improvisation-heavy systems aren’t the most inviting to new players.
The results have been fine. He was the second-best partner for Oliver Ekman-Larsson – after Hughes, obviously. For skaters who have played more than 20 games with Vancouver, Bear’s Corsi is fourth best. Given he’s spent most of his time with Hughes, that might be no surprise.
So what if we told you that – according to Money Puck – of all the pairs of defencemen the Canucks have tried? The best combination for expected goals was Ethan Bear and Tyler Myers. Third highest is Bear with Burroughs.
Anyone who can pull that off is nothing short of a miracle worker.
*April Fools! Are we doing this right?
Main Photo: Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports
