Did you know that the 2023-24 Vancouver Canucks are on pace to be the greatest team in franchise history?

No, you’re not living in a dream, this Canucks team is legit. The front office knows it, too. You don’t go out and get Elias Lindholm unless you’re ready to go for it.

It’s an exciting time to be a Vancouver hockey fan. There’s just a level of buzz that hasn’t been seen here since 2011…

Oh yeah. 2011. That was certainly a year that happened in history!

The Canucks were the best team in hockey throughout the 2010-11 season, and it’s not hard to see why if you look at their roster. High-end talent at forward, loads of quality defencemen, and one of the greatest goalies of all time in Roberto Luongo. 

I thought it would be a fun exercise to compare the 2011 roster to today’s iteration of the Canucks. If I ultimately decide that the current Canucks roster is better, they’re winning the Stanley Cup this year.

I don’t make the rules (I do).

I’ll be comparing what I think are the best possible lineups for each team, assuming both would be fully healthy.

Let’s get right into it, starting with…

Goaltending + Special Teams

I’m lumping these categories together.

Why?

Easy: The 2011 team wipes both.

Both teams feature world beater-caliber netminder’s as starters, but comparing Casey DeSmith to Cory Schneider seems unfair. DeSmith is a high-end backup, but Schneider was a high-end goalie who just-so-happened to be playing behind one of the ten greatest goalies the sport has ever seen.

Also, while incredible, Demko needs to put in a few more seasons like this one before we can even have that conversation. 

The Canucks’ current power play is an absolute weapon, especially after adding Elias Lindholm to that first unit. With that said, there are few players who dominated the power play like the Sedins did.

And the penalty kill that 2011 team had…

No notes.

An early 2-0 lead for 2011.

The Bottom 6 and Bottom Pair D

2011:
Torres-Malholtra-Hansen
Glass-Lapierre-Tambellini/Hodgson

Ballard-Salo

2024:

Joshua-Blueger-Garland
Höglander-Aman-Lafferty/Di Giuseppe
Soucy-Myers

Uh oh, I think there’s a hot take brewing in the distance.

The 2011 Canucks had depth in spades: The third line was especially a key part of their success in the regular season. While Manny Malholtra may have been injured for the majority of the playoffs (eventually returning in the Stanley Cup Finals), he was still a rock-solid, faceoff ace at 3C.

Jannik Hansen and Raffi Torres were lightning bolts for the bottom six, with Hansen in particular being a key penalty killer and defensive driver. It also helps that they each scored big goals during their playoff run that year.

Lappiere was a pure pest, but an effective player in his own right. I will say though, I’m not as high on Glass, Tambellini, or Cody Hodgson.

Defensively, Keith Ballard was a gaffe-prone, physical defenceman, and Sami Salo was a warrior with a cannon of a slap shot. Both were good enough to play bigger minutes (in a pinch) if injuries mounted.

Fast-forwarding to today: Joshua-Blueger-Garland is one of the best third line’s in the entire NHL by just about every metric, and the fourth line has two players with over 10 goals. On defence, while Tyler Myers can be prone to gaffe’s like Ballard, he’s calmed his game down a lot this season, and Carson Soucy has been a great value find for this front office.

I’m sorry, just can’t look past how good the current bottom six is.

Conor Garland can drive a third line with anyone, but both Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua have leveled-up offensively as well. If you told me before the season that Joshua and Blueger had finished the season with their current totals, I wouldn’t have batted an eye, yet we’re just 49 games into the season.

Keeping Nils Höglander a fourth-line role also earns this team some bonus points. Having a guy on pace for ~20 goals on your fourth line is crazy.

Yes, he’s on a shooting percentage heater right now, but I still think he’s a third-line player at minimum.

2-1 2011.

Top 4 Defencemen

2011:
Edler-Ehrhoff
Hamhuis-Bieksa

2024:
Hughes-Hronek
Cole-Zadorov

Let’s just get this out of the way: 2024’s team has a massive advantage solely because of Quinn Hughes.

Even still, man, that 2011 group is real good.

Alex Edler and Christian Ehrhoff were both capable offensive-minded defenders, whilst Dan Hamhuis and Kevin Bieksa were typically deployed as the shutdown pair with Ryan Kesler’s line.

I’d say this team was smart in separating their two best defenceman. Dan Hamhuis was a shutdown specialist, who was actually a decent-enough offensive driver; he just wasn’t a point producer. Christian Ehrhoff was a monster: A play-driver at both ends of the ice, with offensive production to boot.

Bieksa and Edler were no slouches, either. Both played in all situations and were fan-favourites for many years.

Ian Cole and Nikita Zadorov aren’t nearly as good as Bieksa or Edler, and they certainly aren’t a better second pair than Hamhuis-Bieksa…

Hughes-Hronek is the best top pair this team has ever seen.

I look at Filip Hronek similarly to Christian Ehrhoff: A great puck mover with a bomb of a shot. He profiles as a ‘meat and potatoes’ offensive defenceman: Not great at any-one thing, but good enough to produce at a high level.

Some analytics models don’t love Hronek. Some suggest that his his success is solely due to playing with Quinn Hughes; which I think is unfair, at least to a certain degree. Hughes was great before, but is a superstar now; and I think we have to give Hronek his fair shake in that regard.

I still have to give the edge to the 2011 group solely based on the amount of quality they add. If this year’s Canucks can add a player of Chris Tanev’s quality, they’ll surpass them.

3-1 2011.

The Top 6

2011:
D. Sedin-H. Sedin-Burrows
Higgins-Kesler-Raymond

2024:
Mikheyev-Pettersson-Lindholm
Suter-Miller-Boeser

The 2024 team is playing for pride at this point, but I think this one is still close.

The Sedins were two-of-a-kind: The best players this city has ever seen (so far). Alex Burrows, meanwhile, was one of the smartest complementary forwards I’ve ever seen. The speed, defensive ability, scoring touch, penalty killing; I can keep going.

Chris Higgins and Mason Raymond were fine players, Raymond in particular was an underrated play-driver, but Ryan Kesler was a capable 1C playing 2C minutes. The two-way force scored 41 goals AND took home the Selke Trophy in 2010-11. 

Today’s top six is also formidable. Ilya Mikheyev hasn’t been the speed demon, PK’ing force that was expected (an ACL injury will do that), but he’s still an effective two-way winger who has fit with Pettersson in the past.

Assuming he’s a career-Canuck, Elias Pettersson will be the best player in the team’s history, and giving him an off-puck attacker in Elias Lindholm should be a seamless fit; as Pettersson can control play with anyone.

Suter-Miller-Boeser is the real wild card. While Suter is an incredibly intelligent defensive forward, he’s typically played in a bottom six role. Miller and Boeser don’t typically control play all-that well at 5v5, but they still find ways to get on the scoresheet more times than not.

If we’re solely looking at it on paper, the current top six might actually look more appealing. I still have to give the 2011 squad the *slightest* edge, simply because there’s some uncertainty about the current group (Lindholm, Mikheyev, Suter).

4-1 win for 2011.

While it’s a three-point gap, I think these teams are closer than the score indicates. Maybe we’ll see this team do what the former couldn’t…

Bring the cup home!