By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter
October 7, 2023
Coaching Staff:
- Head Coach: Rick Tocchet
- Assistant Coaches: Adam Foote, Mike Yeo, and Sergei Gonchar
- Development Coaches: Daniel Sedin, Henrik Sedin, Mike Komisarek, Mikael Samuelsson, and Chris Higgins.
- Head Goaltending Coach: Ian Clark
- Video Coach: Dylan Crawford
Last season: 38-37-7=83 pts, 6th in Pacific Division, 11th Western Conference, 22nd in NHL; out of 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
2023.24 Vancouver Canucks Preview
Expectations:
- More physical play in all areas of the game from the defensive zone, through the neutral zone and especially the offensive zone.
- Better start to the opening period.
- Better job protecting 2 or more goal leads
- Improvement when short-handed, improving penalty kill rate to Top 8-10 in the NHL
- Improvement on the powerplay, with success from more players, improving the man advantage scoring rate to the Top 8-10 in the NHL
- More goal and points production from the defensemen, increasing both areas by considerable amount over last season.
- Improved rotation of the goaltenders, so there is proper rest for injuries that could fester with prolonged usage in games
- Improvement in secondary scoring from 3rd and 4th lines
- Improved face-off win percentage
- At least 65 percent of the roster at +5 or better in plus-minus stats
Goals and Objectives:
- Make 2024 NHL Playoffs
- Finish in higher spot in Pacific Division
- Win 25+ games at home, 20+ games on the road
- Win 60 percent of of 1-goal games
- Score the first goal in 40+ percent of their regular season games
- Win every week of the regular season against opponents
- To a player, leave it all on the ice and have no regrets about work ethic and effort
This season: 46-26-10=102 pts, 4th in Pacific Division, 7th Western Conference, 16th in NHL; in 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
411: Canucks Preview 2023.24 Season
Rick Tocchet took over as coach after Bruce Boudreau was fired Jan. 22, and set out to change the culture of the team.
In Tocchet’s second game behind the bench, Vancouver lost 6-1 at the Seattle Kraken and he called out his players, setting the tone for what lay ahead. “You hate to call your team soft, but it was soft tonight,” Tocchet said at the time.
The former NHL forward, who played 1,144 games, wants the Canucks to be a physical, hard-working team, similar to the way he played.
How receptive players are to Tocchet’s coaching style will be key to competing on a nightly basis in a tough Pacific Division.
@DerekVanDiest NHL.com Staff Writer
Offense
Scoring goals wasn’t one of the main concerns for the Canucks last season. Elias Petterson, J.T. Miller, Quinn Hughes, and Andrei Kuzmenko can all be relied upon to post at least 70+ points, but one guy who is going to need more of a boost this season is Brock Boeser.
Vancouver finished 13th in goals per game last season (3.29), but 19th in creating high-danger chances per 60 minutes.
Their power play was crucial and kept them in games, but there is still room to improve on their man-advantage.
Jonny Lazarus (VSiN.com)
Defense
The Canucks defense absolutely killed them last season and one of their main focuses this offseason was to make their blue line stronger.
They brought in some veteran presences on the backend like Ian Cole and Carson Soucy, so they are hopeful that will strengthen this team’s play in their own end.
The Canucks finished in the bottom 10 for goals against per game (3.61), and their penalty kill was last in the league, skating to a 71.6% success rate.
They need their man-down unit to step it up if they want to compete for a playoff spot.
Jonny Lazarus (VSiN.com)
Goaltending
Thatcher Demko is once again the go-to goalie and expected to get the majority of the work. Casey DeSmith is a well seasoned NHL goalie with an impressive track record and has a history of staying healthy. If Demko can be injury free, the Canucks goaltending tandem should be among the top 10-13 in the NHL all season, assuming their teammates play lights out in front of them.
Andrew Chernoff (CanucksBanter)