THE Vancouver Canucks started the 2024-25 season with a 5-2-3 record after 10 games, two wins fewer than last season. But, thanks to two overtime/shootout defeats, they are only two points away from where they were on November 4, 2023, with 13 points instead of 15. In total, although they are close to the same numbers in terms of records as last November, their game is not as strong or as impressive. Since 10 is a good number, here are some thoughts on their first 10 games of the season.

That of Elias Pettersson this season’s slow start has been well documented. He’s now in the first year of the $11.6 million average annual value (AAV) contract he signed last season, and so far he hasn’t lived up to it . Yes, it’s only been 10 games, but with just one goal and four points, he’s well behind the pace he had last year. On November 4, 2023, he already had five goals and 19 points, 15 more than he currently has. He has yet to play in a multi-point game, although he had seven before November 4 last season. If he continues this trend, he’ll end up with a career-high eight goals and 33 points, a sign of a third line, not the top-six dynamo he’s paid to be.

Power Play struggles to find its rhythm

With the amount of talent the Canucks have in their first unit (and their second unit for that matter), they should have – at the very least – a good power play. But that was far from the case at first. Honestly, it was difficult to watch. They have trouble gaining the zone and settling in, and when they do, they circulate it too much, resulting in a turnover and clearing on the ice most of the time. The infamous drop pass is still part of the festivities, a holdover from the power plays of the past led by Jason King and Newell Brown, something that should already be old news now that Quinn Hughes is part of the team.

Hughes should be asked to skate the puck into the zone or make one of his patented early crisp passes to a rushing forward instead of stopping at center ice and letting it fall back to a forward. This should be the play 95 percent of the time, with the drop pass very rarely raising its head.

In addition to changing how they enter the zone, the Canucks should take a cue from the Detroit Red Wings of the 2000s and adopt the two-pass, then-shoot mentality. No matter where you are in the zone, if you are the player receiving the second pass, a shot is the only option. Stop the pass and shoot on goal. As Wayne Gretzky once said, you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.

The penalty has improved

The Canucks’ special teams resemble Batman villain Two-Face. The power play looked terrible while the penalty kill was a positive. With the team losing Ian Cole, Nikita Zadorov and Ilya Mikheyev to free agency and trade, and Dakota Joshua yet to play a game, there was concern that it would return to the league’s basement this season. But that hasn’t been the case so far, with Kiefer Sherwood and Danton Heinen excelling as new additions and Pius Suter taking on a bigger role. Suter and Teddy Blueger were the first duo to lead the way with 2:29 and 2:05 of average ice time on the penalty kill, respectively, with Sherwood and Heinen taking over with 1:17 and 1:08.

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On defense, although technically Derek Forbort and Noah Juulsen have the highest average shorthanded ice time, it is Carson Soucy (26:59), Filip Hronek (22:32) and Tyler Myers (21:01) who do the heavy lifting. Forbort and Juulsen haven’t been regulars on the blue line, playing four and three games respectively, so their averages are inflated.

And we must not forget the goalkeeper, Kevin Lankinenwhich also contributed to the good start of the penalty. He allowed just three power play goals on 26 shots for a .885 save percentage (SV%). As a unit, they led the Canucks to an 83.3 percent success rate, which is good for 10th in the league. For reference, they finished last season 17th with 79.1 percent.

Kevin Lankinen, first Canucks MVP

There were legitimate concerns about the goaltender entering training camp with Demko on the shelf due to the unique injury he suffered against the Nashville Predators in Game 1 of the 2024 playoffs and Arturs Silovs and Jiri Patera should be the tandem for opening night. But then, general manager Patrik Allvin convinced Lankinen to sign a one-year, $887,000 contract on September 21. He was not a proven starter, but much more experienced in the NHL than Silovs and Patera.

Fast forward to November 4, and if you didn’t know any better, you’d think the Canucks weren’t missing Demko. Lankinen has done a phenomenal job filling his skates, currently posting a 5-0-2 record with a 2.25 goals against average (GAA), 0.919 SV% and one shutout. Although his stats don’t compare to Demko’s Vezina Trophy-like start last season (5-2-0, 1.79 GAA, .940 SV%, two shutouts), he played like a starting goaltender, posting better stats than Demko’s in 2023. 24 full season work with a 2.45 GAA and 0.918% SV. Overall, he’s arguably been the team’s most valuable player thus far, as I don’t think fans want to think about what the Canucks record would be like if he wasn’t in the precinct given Silovs’ 5.00 GAA and .797 SV% in his three starts.

Despite perceived struggles defensively, the Canucks are elite at preventing scoring chances and high-danger chances

Much ink has been spilled about how the Canucks have defended so far this season. There have been outages and coverage issues, but according to advanced statistics from Natural Stat Trickthey are elite at limiting scoring chances and high-danger chances at five-on-five. As of this writing, they are second to the Minnesota Wild in high-danger chances allowed with 80 and second to the Carolina Hurricanes in total scoring chances with 195. They have, however, gained lagging behind in their goal differential, as they currently sit at a minus-3 while finishing at a ridiculous plus-56 last season.

If the Canucks correct their little mistakes defensively and their stars can get back on track offensively, the five-on-five defense so far is a good sign that they will eventually return to the elite two-way team that They were in 2023-2024. .

Conor Garland and Pius Suter make noise offensively

While Pettersson struggles to find his game, Conor Garland and Pius Suter help pick up the slack. Garland has been a beast all season long, bringing his edge work, toughness and work ethic to every shift he jumps over the boards for. He’s more than earned his spot in the top six alongside the aforementioned Pettersson, and currently has three goals and nine points in 10 games. He’s also usurped Jake DeBrusk on the top power play unit and is enjoying a career-high 18:07 of average ice time – the most he’s seen since 2020-21, when he recorded 17:07: 55 in Arizona.

Suter also made its presence known recently with four goals in his last five matches. While the offense is just getting underway, he has played a key role in improving the penalty kill since the start of the season and could make a case for taking Arshdeep Bains’ place alongside Pettersson and Garland in a near future. He had time with them against the Sharks On Saturday (November 2) and in 2:57 at five-on-five, Suter scored a goal and the trio generated three scoring chances and controlled the game to the tune of 87.5% of the CF. While this is a very small sample size, I think it’s enough to justify trying the combo for at least a game or two.

Brock Boeser picks up where he left off

Brock Boeser is a Canucks star who is not struggling at the moment. After reaching a career-high 40 goals in 2023-24, he is on track for 41 goals with five goals and nine points in 10 games so far. The blood clot that kept him out of Game 7 against the Edmonton Oilers last season doesn’t appear to be a problem, as it appears he’s taken a step forward in his development as a goal scorer. Although it’s still early, he’s gearing up for a huge payday when the Canucks eventually re-sign him to a long-term contract.

What will the next 10 games bring?

The Canucks’ next 10 games will be a mix of playoff contenders and rebuilding teams. Here is their schedule:

• @Anaheim Ducks (November 5)
• @Los Angeles Kings (November 7)
• vs. Edmonton Oilers (November 9)
• against the Calgary Flames (November 12)
• vs. New York Islanders (November 14)
• vs. Chicago Blackhawks (November 16)
• vs. Nashville Predators (November 17)
• vs. New York Rangers (November 19)
• @Ottawa Senators (November 23)
• @Boston Bruins (November 26)

A six-game homestand will headline the festivities as the Canucks take residence at Rogers Arena from November 9-19. Connor Bédard will make his very first visit to Vancouver on November 16 since he was injured last season during Chicago’s visit to his hometown on January 22. The home stay could also see the debut of Demko after his long recovery from injury. Could we see him back to back against the Blackhawks or Predators? Wouldn’t that be something, his return coming against the team he last saw when he led the Canucks to a 4-2 victory thanks to 22 saves.