The Go-To Guy’s All-Star break player grades for the Vancouver Canucks

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Hey! It’s the All-Star break and the Canucks are 1st place in the NHL.

Nothing makes sense anymore and we are all living a lie.

It may feel that way, at least; but it is reality. The Canucks are piling up the wins and putting together one of the best season’s the franchise has seen over its 54-year span.

There’s just a different energy in the city when the Canucks are doing well. I have had countless interactions with people saying how genuinely excited they are about the team, even if they weren’t previously a fan.

That’s what this is all about. Don’t try to gatekeep your fandom and push those “fair-weather fans” away, embrace them, let them be excited about the Canucks.

If you’re a new fan, I welcome you with open arms.

The Canucks have amassed a 33-11-5 record (71 points) over 49 games so far this season. They had 83 points all of last season. If you look up the saying “what a difference a year makes” you will find a photo of the 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks roster.

Oh yeah, the roster. There are a ton of new faces in this year’s iteration of the Canucks, and pretty much all of them have been great. Genuinely.

The old, the new, the really, really new, everyone is getting their midterm grades today. I’m going to rank each player into tiers going from “A+” to “F”.

So let’s start off with the worse of the regulars.

F Tier:

Nobody 

Bah god! That’s Mitski‘s music!

The Canucks are first place in the NHL. How could I possibly give anyone an ‘F’.

Next!

D Tier:

Andrei Kuzmenko

This genuinely hurts.

I remember saying prior to the season how I wouldn’t be too surprised if Kuzmenko leveled up into a 90+ point, superstar caliber winger; or regressed to a 50-60 point, second line winger.

What I didn’t expect was Kuzmenko regressing into a middle-six-type producer.

It’s been pretty rough sledding for the Russian winger this season. He’s been in Rick Tocchet’s doghouse at times, hasn’t produced even remotely close to the rate he was expected to, and looks completely lost at times. His confidence is clearly shot, and it’s unfortunate to see.

Not much else to say. It seems likely that he’ll moved out in relatively short order.

C Tier:

Phil Di Giuseppe, Ilya Mikheyev

Phil Di Giuseppe hasn’t been a consistent fixture in the lineup over the past month or so (mainly due to injuries), but his play was steadily declining long before his latest injury. His forechecking ability is his best asset… but that’s also his only asset. He hasn’t found a consistent spot in the lineup, but I think he’s still a useful player.

As for Mikheyev, his mark has been bumped down ’cause of a pretty forgettable month of January, with just 3 assists in 13 games. I was debating putting him in the D tier with Kuzmenko, but his defensive impact has remained a net-positive for the squad.

C+ Tier:

Nils Aman, Noah Juulsen, Tyler Myers, Nikita Zadorov

It’s genuinely remarkable how much Noah Juulsen has re-formed his season in rather short order. He was pretty much unusable whenever called upon, but is now one of the key cogs in the Canucks’ PK. That five-minute kill vs the Blue Jackets on Saturday night was a great example of that.

Pretty much the same goes for Nils Aman. He won’t provide any offence, but his defensive play and penalty killing have provided at least some value for this team.

Tyler Myers being this high makes me happy. Last season was a disaster and probably his worst as a Canuck. This year, Myers has been pretty steady in Rick Tocchet’s system, which is all I asked from him at the start of the season. He still takes *way* too many penalties, but that’s just never going to change.

Zadorov is just a better, more disciplined, and less productive version of Myers. He’s been pretty much as advertised since arriving in Vancouver.

B Tier:

Ian Cole, Sam Lafferty, Casey DeSmith

Ian Cole has provided a level of stability to the backend that this city hasn’t seen since Chris Tanev. The defensive metrics speak for themselves, and while he doesn’t provide much offence, he doesn’t need to. A defensive specialist and one of the best signings from last off-season.

Sam Lafferty has become the typical fan-favourite 4th line player that this city loves. The speed, physicality, and occasional offensive production has been great; and he’s a pretty fun player to watch when he’s clicking.

Casey DeSmith is the best backup goaltender the Canucks have had in a very, very long time. I just wish the coaching staff would utilize him more to manage Thatcher Demko’s workload. I have nothing outwardly bad to say about DeSmith’s performance thus far. He’s typically rock-solid whenever called upon.

B+ Tier:

Nils Höglander, Carson Soucy

One-half of The Höglem Globetrotterssons has given the Canucks’ bottom-six an extra gear. With 14 goals and 20 points (14-6-20) so far, Höglander’s trajectory is going up after a couple of down seasons, and I have no doubt that he’ll hit 20 goals by season’s end.

Not bad for a fourth liner.

I don’t think Carson Soucy has gotten enough love from the Vancouver market. While he’s been in and out of the lineup due to injuries, Soucy has been maybe this team’s best defender not named Quinn Hughes or Filip Hronek. What sets him apart from a guy like Ian Cole is that while he’s been steady, he’s also been able to produce at a solid rate to boot. Another great signing from Allvin and co.

A- Tier:

The third line, Pius Suter, Filip Hronek

When talking about the best 5v5 lines in the league, the Canucks’ third line of Dakota Joshua, Teddy Blueger, and Conor Garland are frequently brought up. They’ve been this team’s engine at 5v5, especially Garland. Blueger’s production has been a pleasant surprise, and Joshua has leveled-up from last season.

Pius Suter was, in my mind, the best off-season acquisition that the Canucks made. With a cap-hit of $1.6 Million, Suter has provided surplus value and then some. He’s the catalyst of the penalty kill, a solid 5v5 play-driver, and one of the smartest defensive forwards the team has had since the likes of Jannik Hansen and Manny Malholtra.

Oh, and he’s signed ’til the end of next season. Score.

I was skeptical of the Filip Hronek trade when it initially happened, but he’s proven to be an incredible sidekick for Quinn Hughes. His underlying numbers have been less than spectacular, but 36 points through 49 games is too good to overlook.

For an organization that hasn’t had a whole lot of high-end defenceman, having two top-pair caliber ones on the same team is pretty remarkable.

A Tier:

Brock Boeser, J.T. Miller, Thatcher Demko, Elias Pettersson

Brock Boeser a 30 goal-scorer for the first time in his NHL career and we’re only 49 games into the season. Enough said.

As for the other three All-Stars in the A tier, they’re all having the best season’s of their respective career’s. J.T. Miller is fourth in NHL scoring (21-46-67) at the time I’m writing this piece, Elias Pettersson scored 14 goals in the month of January (27-37-64 on the season), and Thatcher Demko has been a world beater between the pipes, manning a .920 save percentage and 5 shutouts through 35 games.

There’s just one player who has been, in my mind, the best player on the Canucks.

A+ Tier:

Quinn Hughes 

I mean, duh.

The frontrunner for the Norris Trophy has amassed 12 goals and 50 assists (12-50-62) in 49 games, averaging just over an assist-per-game rate so far this season.

Bonkers.

Hughes is set to destroy Canucks records that HE had set in years prior, chugging along at a 104 point pace. This is Bobby Orr-level stuff from Hughes this season, and it’s been incredible to watch.

Whether he’s breaking the opposition’s ankles or ripping shots bar-down, Quinn Hughes has been one of the league’s best players this season, and it’s difficult to process the sheer level of dominance that he’s showcased so far.

That’s how you lead.

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