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Major sports leagues all evolve over time, adding features to make the game more interesting. Analytics have also changed trends, look how often certain NFL teams use analytics now to go for it on fourth down.
What’s the hockey equivalent? Well even though it’s a more conservative sport coaches do seem more likely to pull the goalie these days. Keep your snickers to yourself please. Of course the primary factor here is are you behind? The Avalanche have played just three minutes this season with the extra attacker on. The Canucks? Well Patrick Johnston wrote about how they lead the league playing with their goalie pulled, by a wide, wide margin.
Indeed, no team has played more with an empty net than the Canucks … which is of course a troubling thing. You only pull the goalie because you’re chasing the game.
In total, the Canucks have used an extra skater for just over 34 minutes this season — averaging more than a minute per game (they have played 27 games this year).
Second-most isn’t even close — the New York Islanders have pulled the goalie for a total of 22 minutes, 21 seconds this season. They have also played 27 games this season.
And for the record, the Colorado Avalanche, who toyed with the Canucks on Tuesday in Denver, winning 3-1, have pulled the goalie the least, for just over three minutes in total this season.
It’s good that Foote has been so brave in pulling his goalie — but the problem is they’re doing it so much.
While everyone waits for a big Canucks move to happen, Quinn Hughes on the cataclysmic end but Kiefer Sherwood and Conor Garland on the more likely scale, Sportsnet took a look back at the moves the Canucks current front office has made ahead of the deadline.
The Canucks have repeatedly dismissed the notion of a tear-it-all-down rebuild, including recently when team president Jim Rutherford told Sportsnet it’s “not something that we’re going to look at doing,” even if Hughes were to leave, instead referring to the team as being “in transition.”
And while they may be averse to the idea of taking the time and patience required for a rebuild, Rutherford and general manager Patrik Allvin have shown they don’t shy away from making big moves when needed. Rutherford, in particular, has built a reputation over his 30-year career of jumping the market and completing blockbuster deals. That was reaffirmed last week when Elliotte Friedman reported the Canucks have made it known they are willing to listen to offers on veteran players, excluding Hughes, and that their goal is to get younger.
Sportsnet, who remember have an eye-watering amount of fees tied up in the NHL, examined the sorry state of Canadian teams. Starting the season there were lots of ‘experts’ who thought the Canucks were a playoff team. But there were also legitimate arguments to be made that Edmonton, Winnipeg and Toronto were in the conversation as Stanley Cup contenders. And Montreal got off to a red hot start and were near the top of the Eastern Conference for a while. Now? Only the Ottawa Senators (!) are in a playoff position.
The Canucks were the league’s number one “If they stay healthy, they could be a playoff team” team, as in, they had talent but their margin for error was tracing-paper thin, and the injury bug just destroyed them down the middle right out of the gate.
So, how many of these teams do we think will make playoffs?
The yes division:
Oilers: I’m sticking with yes. That roster is too good to be this bad.
Senators: Another yes. They’ve got good pieces at every position and they compete.
The maybe division:
Jets: I can’t believe they’re in here after they just won the Presidents’ Trophy, but a lot has gone wrong. There were the early injuries, but also Jonathan Toews hasn’t been quite who they’d hoped he’d be, and I’m sure he’d say the same about his own game. The pair of Luke Schenn and Logan Stanley has been truly awful for them, at least statistically. And they play in the Central, which is the Group of Death. They aren’t far out of it, but with Lowry and Samberg back they need to start playing better to buy time for Hellebuyck to return. I think they’ll get a wild-card spot in the West.
Leafs: I hate myself for this, but I do think they’ll make it (barring another run of bad injury luck). There’s too much talent there to not finish with a point total in the 90s even if they don’t add anything, and I also think they’d rather add at the deadline than just sit quietly on their hands and finish with 90 points.
Canadiens: I think they’ll make it. That defence corps skates as well as any in the league, and their goaltending isn’t this bad. And if they add, as rumoured, they should get back into the mid-90s in points pretty easily. Their fans should aggressively be rooting against Boston and Detroit the rest of the way, to go with their usual Leafs hatred.
The nope division:
Canucks: They’ve got some talented players and can win any game they’re in. But when you need everything to go right, and things start this bad, they snowball in the wrong direction. The outbound trades said to be looming will be the nail in the coffin here.
Flames: Nope, nor should they want to make the playoffs.
The Canucks are one point out of last place in the NHL. And the rumours persist of all sorts of trades without going through an absolute rebuild. If you want to know where most of the smoke is coming from, it’s Philadelphia where media and fans there think former Canuck coach Rick Tocchet can just go and pick out some of his favourites to bolster the Flyers.
Flyers fans will, of course, be interested in the team making a big splash and acquiring Quinn Hughes. The issue is that Hughes holds all the cards, and he’s expressed no desire to be traded. So, as of now, Hughes isn’t an option.
When looking at the Flyers’ needs, they need a centre in the worst way. They are getting decent play from Noah Cates and Sean Couturier, but they need more help, especially if they want to contend for a playoff spot. Luckily for the Flyers, the Canucks do have some centres that could fit the bill.
Yes, the most obvious player would be Elias Pettersson, but he doesn’t feel like much of a fit. Tocchet was the head coach as the relationship between Pettersson and J.T. Miller deteriorated. Pettersson also came off a bad season statistically in 2024-25, which Tocchet called out and said the center’s “preparation has to get better.” While Pettersson has become a point-a-game player this season, he doesn’t feel like much of a fit.
The Flyers also need some more scoring help. They average 2.83 goals per game, ninth lowest in the NHL. Kiefer Sherwood fits the Flyers mould due to his ability to dish out hits to opposing players, and he’s having a strong scoring season with 16 points (12 goals, four assists). Tocchet had Sherwood for just one season, where he recorded 19 goals and 21 assists in 78 games.
But if there is one player the Flyers should target, it’s Brock Boeser. Under Tocchet, Boeser had the best season of his career in 2023-24. In 81 games, Boeser scored 40 goals and recorded 33 assists for 73 points. His numbers were good enough for Boeser to earn his second all-star game nomination. This season, Boeser has recorded nine goals and seven assists in 24 games.
If the Flyers are to bring in some Canucks veterans, Boeser and Sherwood should be the priorities.
One of the more annoying things about perusing the trade rumour mill is the indignation of anyone with a blog subscription that the Canucks should expect anything in return for Hughes. Read this unintentional comedy out of New Jersey where they scoff at a trade proposal. Fair point on the Canucks disarray, but it’s still one of the best hockey markets in the NHL and Quinn Hughes is a generational talent, a top-2 defenceman in his prime. To be clear anyone, ANYONE on the Devils roster should be in consideration if they really want Hughes.
Is Canada some sort of fantasy land where people just say things and expect it to come to fruition?
Do Canadian NHL front offices, media, and fan bases think all of the teams, fan bases, and media of teams from ‘The States” or “Down South” were born yesterday? Or that they have no concept of value, or leverage, or anything else for that matter pertaining to trades.
When asked about the Canucks situation with them being willing to trade veteran players, David Amber suggested a trade involving Jesper Bratt and Simon Nemec to Vancouver for Quinn Hughes. The hosts replied that the Devils should also be giving two first round picks on top of that.
I mean, where do we even start here?
Jesper Bratt?
Let me stop you right there.
The Canucks are a dumpster fire of an organization right now. They’re doing everything that they can to avoid using the word “rebuild”, never mind actually committing to doing one. They made a bunch of short-sighted moves in an attempt to be competitive this season to try to show Quinn Hughes that they’re close to winning. Predictably, those moves haven’t worked, and they’re already looking to pivot by selling off veterans.
But again, what does that even mean when they have 7 guys with NMCs (not including Conor Garland and Thatcher Demko, whose NMCs kicks in next season when their extensions kick in). Yes, the Canucks should get what they can for guys like Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger, Kiefer Sherwood, and Derek Forbort, but none of those guys really moves the needle all that much.
Does anyone in their right mind think that Jesper Bratt, with his own NMC, sees what’s going on in Vancouver from afar and is saying to himself “You know what, that sounds great. I can’t wait to join a bad Canucks team that won’t have Quinn Hughes. Sign me up.”
There’s no chance that happens. It’s the type of dumb suggestion that appears on HFBoards trade proposals but aren’t based in reality. It’s the type of trade proposal that really shouldn’t even warrant a response, but at some point when you keep seeing suggestions like that haphazardly being thrown out there, eventually something needs to be said.
There’s also no chance that the Canucks, who just like every other team is looking for a Top Six centre, is getting Nico Hischier. Obviously, they’re not getting Jack or Luke Hughes either for obvious reasons.
That said, you don’t really have as much leverage as you seem to think. Especially when everyone seems to know where this is ultimately heading. The worst kept secret in the league is that Quinn wants to play with his brothers. His brothers are both signed long-term in New Jersey. Quinn hasn’t said publicly that he’s not going to re-sign in Vancouver, but let’s be real, he’s not re-signing in Vancouver.
You can’t put much stock in what Wayne Gretzky says these days, but in hindsight, maybe he was totally right in the 1980s when he created a firestorm by calling New Jersey a Mickey Mouse organization.
Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …