Looking back at the Vancouver Canucks’ tumultuous 2022-23 season, several glaring problems emerge that must be addressed if the team is to have a much improved 2023-24 campaign.
Four Big Issues Helped Ruin the Canucks’ 2022-23 Season
To get right to the point, I believe there are four significant issues that need fixing if this Canucks team is going to get over the hump and into the 2023-24 postseason.
Problem One: The Canucks Had a Horrible 2022-23 Season Start
The Canucks’ 2022-23 season got off to a disastrous start with a seven-game losing streak. By mid-November, they had a dismal record of 4-9-3. That’s enough to put any team in a deep hole, and the Canucks succumbed. The climb out was exhausting and the team was not up to the challenge.
This inconsistent performance in the early stages of the season set the tone for what turned out to be a rollercoaster year. To achieve success in 2023-24, the team must work to establish a more consistent and competitive presence right from the beginning.
Problem Two: The Canucks Were a Slow Team
Vancouver lacked speed throughout the season. That became particularly evident when Ilya Mikheyev, their fastest player, was sidelined with an injury. The team struggled against faster opponents. It affected their ability to win puck battles, draw penalties, and recover from on-ice mistakes. Addressing this issue by adding faster players could significantly enhance the Canucks’ competitiveness.
Problem Three: The Canucks Had Huge Defensive Issues
While Quinn Hughes had a remarkable season and solidified himself as one of the best defencemen in Canucks history, the overall team’s defence struggled. The lack of a reliable defensive system also led to inconsistencies in their performance. The Canucks must improve their defensive strategy and execution to become a more well-rounded team in the coming season.
Problem Four: The Canucks Had Horrible Mismanagement Issues
Off-ice issues and management decisions plagued the Canucks in 2022-23. This included trading Bo Horvat, the way that J.T. Miller‘s contract was handled, and then making contradictory moves at the trade deadline. To move forward successfully, the Canucks need better communication, consistency, and a clear vision both on and off the ice. [Let’s assume this area has been taken care of. Although it remains to be seen, the team’s management is smart enough to look back and be determined not to make similar gaffs.]
How Do the Canucks Move Ahead in 2023-24?
As the Canucks gear up for the 2023-24 NHL season, there are hopes that significant improvements can be made to improve the issues that eroded the team’s success last season. There’s no doubt that 2022-23 was a challenge. Going into the upcoming regular season, several key areas must be addressed. In this post, I’m going to focus on three of the biggest.
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What do the Canucks have to do to have a better showing this season?
Key Need for Improvement One: The Canucks Need Better Offensive Production
One of the most glaring issues for the Canucks last season was their lack of offence. The team struggled to score goals consistently, which (obviously) hindered its ability to win games. To address this problem, head coach Rick Tocchet has been emphasizing the need to get more pucks to the net. He’s also encouraging his players to drive to the net and look for scoring chances. That habit needs to be executed game in and game out.
In the preseason, the Canucks showed some signs of improvement in this area. In the team’s final preseason game (a 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames), I thought they played well. They need to carry that scoring and defensive consistency into the regular season. Players like J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, and Elias Pettersson will need to step up and provide the offensive firepower the team desperately needs.
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It would also be a positive if Andrei Kuzmenko and Ilya Mikheyev (who practiced on Sunday for the first time) could give the team secondary scoring. In total, the Canucks need to generate more scoring chances and convert them into goals. In the simplest way to understand the game, the team with the most goals wins.
Key Improvement Two: The Canucks Need Better Team Defence
The Canucks struggled defensively last season. They allowed too many shots on goal, which translated into too many goals against. However, in the preseason, they quietly showed a significant improvement in their team defence. Over the last five games of the exhibition period, the Canucks allowed an average of only 24 shots; and, in their final preseason game against the Flames, they limited Calgary to just 18 shots.
This improved defensive play is an encouraging sign and suggests that the team has been working on its defensive systems during the preseason. A strong team commitment to defence not only reduces the number of scoring chances for opponents but also provides better support for the goalies. The recent addition of Sam Lafferty from the Toronto Maple Leafs adds a player who can be a really helpful addition to the defensive system. He plays hard and fast, is an energy bug, and has a defence-first mentality.
If the Canucks can maintain this same level of defensive play throughout the regular season as they’ve shown in preseason, they will win more games.
Key Improvement Three: The Canucks Need a Better Penalty Kill
Little more needs to be said other than the Canucks ranked last in the NHL in penalty-kill success. Having Mikheyev back sometime this season and playing Lafferty there will help. And these two players were not even present during the preseason when the Canucks showed significant improvement in their penalty-killing.
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Again, over the last five preseason games leading to the regular season, the Canucks allowed just one power-play goal. The team has made strides in shoring up their penalty-killing unit and system. Obviously, an effective penalty kill can often be the difference in tight games. If the Canucks can limit their opponents’ power-play chances, that would be a huge step forward.
The Bottom Line
The first step the Canucks have made under coach Tocchet has been to identify the problems. The second was to adapt by creating systems that help the team make progress in addressing the issues from last season during the preseason. The third is to stress good execution – ways of playing that lead to success. Those three things seem to have happened or are in the process of happening.
The preseason did show some improvements, particularly in team defence and penalty killing. Now the scoring has to pick up. Given the team’s horrid start last season, beginning the season on a roll would also be a good start. If that can happen, the team could begin to pick up wins, then momentum, and finally confidence.
Although preseason performance is a positive sign, the real test comes during the regular season as they face competitive opponents. If they can continue to improve into the regular season and maintain consistency, there’s reason to believe the Canucks can’t turn things and have a better season in 2023-24.
