Vancouver Canucks look like a team of destiny

After missing the playoffs by 12 points last season, the Vancouver Canucks are off to the best start in franchise history (9-2-1) but how long can Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson and particularly goaltender Thatcher Demko keep the juggernaut rolling?

Video Transcript

NICK ASHBOURNE: In a season where it's fair to say that most Canadian NHL teams have been at least mildly disappointing, running in extreme contrast to that is your Vancouver Canucks who are off to a franchise best start. We're talking 9, 2, and 1, an insane goal differential. The best offense in the NHL by goal scoring. One of the best by goal suppression.

Like, if you look at it at the most basic level, you would say the Vancouver Canucks look like a juggernaut right now. I don't think you or I believe that's true. And we can dive into that. But where are you with the Canucks in terms of your level of belief of belief in this team? I don't know. Being a good team, being a playoff team potentially having a little more juice than that.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: So, I mean-- I mean, obviously, they have the exceptional record. And so that just catapults you into much more favorable territory. Like, you start off that hot, you give--

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, you banked it.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: Right, like, there's no getting around that. It's just you have that hot of a start. And you're in and around it. And destiny in this sentence means making the playoffs. But they do feel a little team of destiny-ish. Or like, there's more seasons than not, there's a team like this where you're just, like, like, they're not actually that good. Seattle was that team last--

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, I was going to-- the Kraken are a perfect example of that.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: Right? Like, you just watched them. You're, like, ah, team of destiny. You're-- they're not actually that good. But they're-- but the one thing I'll say for the Canucks in comparison to even that Seattle team is, the Canucks do have legitimate horses at--

NICK ASHBOURNE: For sure.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: --all three positions. Like, Demko is a horse. Like, he is a stud. At least, like, Pettersson is a 1C. Hughes is a 1D. So whereas Seattle had kind of everything go right, a bunch of guys blacked out. They survived their goaltending, this, that, whatever. You look at Vancouver, and you go, well, if the other guys just do just enough around a core, that's actually pretty good. Like, they're a competitive team. That's the reality.

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, I think also, people forget that last year, there's not too much would have had to go differently for this team to make the playoffs with that core. Like, they-- Rick Tocchet came on. They performed really well after he became the coach. The goaltending, you know, especially Spencer Martin was an absolute train wreck. Demko was not the guy he's traditionally been.

And so there's sort of a world where they made the playoffs last year. And this feels like a great start but a little less surprising. Now, there's a lot going on right now that's not going to continue, right? Like, Demko has been crazy. Like, he's been, like, absolutely ridiculous. And this is a guy who has consistently been good, I would say, but has rarely been unbelievable. Like, his top, Vezina finish is seventh in his career.

Again, that's-- like, that's a good result. He's been sort of a .915 save percentage guy. That's a good NHL goaltender. I don't mean to diminish him. But he has not really been a superstar. Maybe he's going to reach that level. But even the level he's at now, just been, like, it's not going to happen over a long period of time. It's just we haven't seen that. And Pettersson and Hughes--

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: I think he's Vezina-caliber though to be-- like, I think he's a Vezina. Like, he wouldn't-- if you told me he wins the Vezina at some point in his career, I wouldn't-- I'd be, like, Yeah, I could see it.

NICK ASHBOURNE: Like, yeah, I mean, people have always been very high on his talent. And that's understandable. And I wouldn't push back on that too hard. It's just we haven't seen it from him yet. And we're a few years into his career, like, Pettersson and Hughes, I think there's interesting things going on with Hughes.

Like, he's never been a dangerous goal scorer. He's never been someone who looked for a shot that much. He's been more of a distributor. And he's scoring some goals. He's taking a lot more shots this year. He's looking like a more complete, offensive threat, which is interesting.

Pettersson looks great. We kind of saw him last year take that next level. But those guys are both at the very top of the points leaderboard as well. Like, JT Miller's also been way up there. Like, even though those guys are really, really good, they've still been better than it's fair to expect them to be going forward.

You look at all the kind of possession numbers of this team, like, expected goals that I think they're 44.02% as we record it even at five on five. Like, that's not great. They're shooting like 13.3% at even strength as a team, like, like, say percentage is around 95%. Like, it's all wacky stuff that can't really continue to an extent.

But as you said, the horses are there, which I think gives them this nice floor. And I like, making the playoffs is not going to be difficult based on the start. Like, once you bank this amount of points, you really don't have to be a good team from here on out to make the playoffs.

And we touched on it when we talked about the Oilers early in the show, like, the bar for the Pacific division for the Western Conference doesn't seem to be scary high by any means. Like, I still-- I don't think of the Canucks as a team on a level with the Golden Knights, the Avalanche, the Stars. Like, I don't think that they're in that bracket by any stretch of the imagination.

This is so much fun. Like, I'm very happy for Canucks fans right now. Like, watching this team pour in 4 and 1/2 goals a night and Demko do all the stuff. He's doing, like-- being a Canucks fan right now must be unbelievably fun. And it's going to be a delight. And I know that some parts of Canada don't love Canucks fans in particular.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: What parts are those, Nick?

NICK ASHBOURNE: A lot of them. I'm willing to feel happy-- I'm willing to feel happy for them. But it's-- even if they decline-- like, they're just so much room for them to decline and still be basically fine, which is, yeah, which is great news for a team that has made the playoffs extremely infrequently in recent seasons.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: The West is just not deep. Like, the top half of the West is incredible. Colorado, Vegas, Dallas is, like, you wish there was one more of that caliber. I mean, maybe LA. I think if LA--

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, I think--

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: --like that-- once they get the goaltend-- the goalie, I think LA's right there too. Like, that's an unbelievable Final Four. But the rest of it is, is very much-- it's there's nothing special to it. So to your point, Vancouver getting off to the hot start. And then, like, they just-- they don't have to play that well the rest of the way here. But, like, is Pettersson going to average nearly 2 points a game all season? Probably not, right?

Like, you go down the line, and, again, like, there's so much error. Like, there's so much that you look back and say, like, that's not real. And it's going to come back to reality. And that'll be the interesting thing. Like, I think this is something we'll circle back on at some point in the season.

Like, they're going to get-- like, obviously, all the stuff is going to stop at some point. Like, not everything's going to go in. You're not going to be playing Edmonton. You're getting outshot 19 to 7, and you're up 3-1 because you just, like, every time you touch the puck, it's a goal.

So what I think is eventually what we'll have to circle back on is they're going to get hit in the mouth. Like, this is going to regress, and they're going to go on some mini losing streak potentially. Let's say 3, 4, or five games. And can they work their way out of it and get things back on track when everything cools right down? And that there will be that-- that moment will happen at some point this year. Like, it's not going to be the Cinderella, like, they just tear the league apart for 82.

So whenever that happens, however they respond to that to me will just kind of dictate whether they make the playoffs. Either, like, it'll be the Brian Burke 18 wheeler off a cliff, or they work themselves out of it and straighten the ship. And they make the playoffs and probably lose pretty quickly.

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, I don't think either of us are going to predict some deep playoff run for this team, although, you never know what can happen if Demko has that Vezina-caliber season, stays extremely hot. One thing I'll be watching with them is the power play because power play has been really, really good so far this season, over 30%. And when you have those horses, that top-end talent, and they are clicking, and Hughes in particular seems to be clicking it kind of a different level, maybe they can use that to help keep them afloat a little bit more.

Like, they had a pretty good power play last year. But if they are really at the top of the league with this group, which based on some of the talent they have, like, Pettersson shot is a menace. And he's an incredible distributor. Like, there just is the talent there to--

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: That's a legit unit.

NICK ASHBOURNE: Yeah, to have that unit really help carry them, that can help them navigate some of those choppy waters-- navigate some of those games where they aren't reliably carrying the play, which has been the pattern so far. I don't see-- yeah, I don't see this 18 wheeler going off a cliff. I also don't see this team winning, like, 60 games and hoisting the Stanley Cup with a goal differential of like, 300.

ANTHONY PETRIELLI: They're coming up for Boston. They're coming after Boston.

NICK ASHBOURNE: There's plenty of room in between. And I think, again, if you're a Canucks fan right now, this is absolutely fantastic. And from here on out, there's a really good chance that this team makes the playoffs, which is what you wanted. Coming into the year, if you're a Canucks fan, if you're the franchise, the step you wanted this team to take was make the postseason. And there's an extremely good chance they do that.

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