The Canucks are two different teams, depending on whether Quinn Hughes is on the ice or not
No team can survive without their best player for long. That’s hardly a shocking revelation.
Here are a few:
16
There’s a 16-point spread between how the Canucks have performed with Hughes on the ice vs. when he’s not.
When Hughes has been on the ice this season, the Canucks have taken 58 per cent of the total shot attempts.
When he’s not playing, the Canucks have taken just 42 per cent of shot attempts.
That’s a substantial and troubling drop. It’s no surprise that with Hughes out of the lineup, the Canucks look dismal.
3
Those three are Quinn Hughes, Florida’s Sasha Barkov and Buffalo’s Rasmus Dahlin.
These are the best of the best and it’s no surprise that Hughes is one of them.
75
In the two games that Hughes missed before Thursday’s game in Seattle, the Canucks generated just 75 shot attempts at five-on-five.
That’s brutal.
No team is going to survive that.
Either way … yikes.
47
According to the NHL’s Edge data tracking, Hughes has spent 47 per cent of his ice time in the offensive zone, putting him in the 97th percentile in the league.
That tracks with what we know about shot-attempt rates — that the more you shoot the puck, the more zone time you have.
Yes, Hughes is one of the NHL’s most dominant forces.
Nov. 23
According to MoneyPuck.com, the Canucks’ 10-game rolling average for expected goals hasn’t been positive since late November.
Expected goals is a metric that measures the probability of a particular shot becoming a goal. It’s a useful way to understand how teams are playing in a particular game.
And the fact the Canucks are struggling to control the quality of shots even with Hughes in the lineup is very concerning.
Now, it should not go unnoticed that this slump coincided with Miller going on leave and then Hronek injuring his shoulder.
The Canucks aren’t at full strength, and that matters. But it’s Hughes who has been keeping their heads at least near the surface.
The longer Hughes is out, the more the Canucks are going to struggle, and the more the Pettersson/Miller sideshow will be in the spotlight. In other words, if they find a way to win more, the chatter will subside.
Is Hughes coming back the real answer to ending all the noise about a fractious dressing room? If they start winning, yes.
But to start winning, do they have to be happy first? Is that even possible anymore, Hughes or not?