The Many Woes of the Vancouver Canucks

Elias Pettersson gets tangeled up with Norris Trophey winning defenseman Adam Fox (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Coming into the 2021-22 NHL season, many hockey analysts and experts had the Vancouver Canucks pinned as playoff team--and why wouldn't they be? They made a lot of moves in the offseason, such as trading their 2021 first-round pick along with Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, and Antoine Roussel to the Arizona Coyotes in exchange for defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson and forward Connor Garland--both of which have been having strong seasons for the Canucks. Another move the Canucks made that helped to shore up issues on the team was the acquisition of former Winnipeg Jets defenseman Tucker Poolman. Canucks general manager Jim Benning was given slack for this signing, but so far, Poolman is proving to be a decent signing to the team. To provide even more hope to Canucks fans, Jim Benning was able to resign Canucks free agents Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson to extensions--the team believed that this was going to be a good year.

However, this article wouldn't be written if this season was going the way it was supposed to. There are a number of reasons why the Vancouver Canucks are currently one of the worst teams in professional North American sports, so I'm going to list them off.

Scoring Woes and Poor Performances:

You can call me bias, but the Vancouver Canucks have created one of the best forward groups in the NHL. Anyone who watches hockey would shiver at the thought of an offense that featured Elias Pettersson, J.T Miller, Brock Boeser, Bo Horvat, Connor Garland, and Tanner Pearson. These top-six forwards alone are more than capable of scoring goals. To make things worse, they also have two young forwards in Nils Hoglander and Vaszily Podkolzin, who have been having solid seasons. Even on defense, Quinn Hughes and OEL are known for their offensive prowess. So, with all of the names I just listed, it wouldn't be too uncanny to believe that the Canucks would be on the top teams in the league in scoring--but they aren't. Where are all of the goals?

In Vancouver, J.T Miller and Connor Garland have been easily the two best forwards this season, but that isn't enough. As much as it pains me to say, Bo Horvat has not played his best game offensively. Sure, he's been able to score a couple of good-looking goals, but he's not doing it at a satisfying rate. Though Bo has been disappointing offensively, he's still doing a good job leading his team by example and showing why he was named captain--the same can't be said about Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser.

Pettersson and Boeser are supposed to be two of the premier young forwards in the NHL; thus, fans should expect a decent amount of goals and points amongst themselves--sadly, they can't be trusted to do that. Through 15 games this season, Boeser has four goals and four assists for 8 points. Granted, that's not terrible, but it's not the production wanted from a former first-round selection. What makes this more concerning is Brock led the Canucks in scoring last year with 49 points in 56 games--that's what is expected of him. What made last year even more impressive is that his linemates--Elias Pettersson and J.T Miller--were having off years. It was safe to assume that Brock was back to his dominant form, but this is a reminder that it is never safe to assume.

After Elias Pettersson got his new three-year contract worth $7.5 million a year, he stopped playing well--this is highly concerning. Pettersson was expected to have his best season yet in the NHL, but the young Swedish center has looked nothing but confused and out of place on the ice at all times. In 18 games played, Pettersson has registered only three goals and ten assists--not an ideal stat sheet. The goals he has scored have been lacking his signature confidence and attention to detail. Also, his overall awareness has been terrible. For example, in a game against the Colorado Avalanche, Pettersson was carelessly handling the puck in front of his net, which was stolen from him. Needless to say, that turnover resulted in a quick goal for the Avalanche. Pettersson rarely ever made mistakes like that, and now it's becoming a regular occurrence. Canucks announcer John Stackhouse commented on another game against the Avalanche that Pettersson was overthinking about what to do with the puck once he got it--and he's right. Pettersson is trying to make a great play, but he forgets to pay attention to his surroundings, so he's been turning the puck over a lot as well as going offsides. Pettersson still has a lot of time to turn his season around, but his play is troublesome to Canucks fans.

Inability to Play in the Offensive Zone:

Jets forward Mark Scheifele scores a goal on Thatcher Demko (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Rich Lam)

I watch a lot of Canucks hockey--which I shouldn't because their home games end at 1:00 am, but I'm a dedicated fan. From the games that I've had the privilege of watching, it's become evident that this team struggles to move the puck out of the defensive zone. It's hard to get shots on goal and pressure the opposing goaltender if you're spending half of the game playing on the opposite end of the ice. They struggle to break up the other team's offensive shifts, but when they do, they get the puck out to center ice and get a fresh set of skaters on the ice--that's it. They can't make an offensive push because the players have already been on the ice for a minute, and they have no energy to attempt a shot on goal. Once they get to the offensive zone, however, they lose possession almost instantly. Poor Thatcher Demko and Jaroslav Halak have to be on their toes the entire game because their skaters can't minimize the opponent's shots--this is not a recipe for success.

Jim Benning and the Aquilini Family:

In sports, you can have the most dominant team filled with award-winning players at all positions. You could also have a decorated head coach that is seen as a brilliant mind in the execution of the sport. But, if management and ownership of that team is poor, then the team will always come short of expectations. The Canucks may not be the most stacked team in the NHL on paper, but they have a roster that is more than capable of playing well while also having a competent head coach that the players respect. Another man issue is Jim Benning--the general manager-- and the Aquilini Family--the owners of the Canucks.

For eight years, Jim Benning has been the Canucks GM, and he has done some good things for the team. His draft record is phenomenal, with favorite fan players like Thatcher Demko, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Quinn Hughes, Nils Hoglander, and Vaszily Podkolzin. But, outside of his drafting, he makes outrageous trades, signs mediocre free agents to contracts worth substantially more than they should, and has failed to retain talent on the team. There are so many examples of this that I can write an entire book, so I'll spare you of all of the horrid detail. Benning has proven that he cannot be the GM of an NHL team, yet one man still seems to have blind faith in his abilities.

Canucks fans are becoming fed pu with Bennings’s antics. On the left is a sign that says ‘Fire Benning’. On the right is a fan with jersey with all of the players that Jim Benning failed to resign or gave horrible contracts to. (photo curtesy of @owenhope/@smolsamplesize :Twitter)

Francesco Aquilini is a member of the Aquilini family that is most involved with the Canucks. Recently, in light of the Canucks recent blunders, Francesco asked that all media in Vancouver to stop portraying the Canucks in a bad light--excuse me? If a team is playing poorly, the media's job is to report that to the fans. To me, it seems that Aquilini is scared that he messed up royally--and he knows that. He's trying to hide his mistakes by asking the media not to do their job--what an absurd request.

Another thing that Aquilini did that upset a lot of Canucks fans was he sat down with Benning, and they discussed why the team wasn't performing the way it's supposed to--and that was it. There seemed to be no responsibility taken by either side, which means neither sees the problem at hand here--themselves. Remember, Jim Benning was supposed to be fired in the summer along with Tarvis Green. Instead of doing the right thing and moving on, Aquilini resigned Jim Benning and gave him one last chance to make a playoff team, and it seems that Benning has failed. Usually, when people make a habit of falling at their jobs, they're fired--but not Benning. No, Aquilini saw no problem in the hollow promises that Benning has been feeding him and insists that he remains the team's GM. Sitting down with Benning and not firing him due to his consistent failures makes Aqualini look like a horrible owner who should sell the team to the highest bidder.

Despite the Canucks poor play this year, Roger's Arena has been packed almost every night. The Canucks are currently fifth in the NHL in average home attendance--which is a beautiful thing to see considering they’re currently 7th in the Pacific with a 6-10-2 record. Fans still have hope in their team, but they are already calling for management to be fired and the Aquilini's selling the team. Yes, Benning has made some good moves that have developed a decent team on paper, but they aren't producing. It's a mixture of their best players having down years as well as coaching and management. The issue has encompassed the team, and it may be too late for them to make a positive season with this unit. I was shocked that Benning was fired after he met with Aquilini, but I don't think he survives into next season. Travis Green may be gone too because of players like Elias Pettersson, who has been massively underperforming. The Canucks are a mess right now, and at the end of the day, the evidence to reason why leads to Francesco Aquilani. But he'll never admit to it. Once the pieces of this eight-year rebuild are gone, he'll bring in someone else to do Benning's job, and the cycle of pain and ineptitude will continue. The problems trickle down from the top, and I don't think that will change anytime soon.