The Canucks found many different ways to be terrible last season, but one that didn’t get a lot of attention was the penalty kill. Like they were in most categories, the Canucks finished in the bottom of the league shorthanded: their 76.7% penalty kill was 28th in the NHL.
Two of the league’s best teams on the power play, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals, finished with a 23.1% success rate with the man advantage. The Canucks’ opponents scored on 23.3% of their power plays.
Part of that is personnel — the Canucks weren’t particularly deep last season — but even teams with mediocre players can put together a successful penalty kill with the right tactics. The penalty kill is all about positioning, winning puck battles, and clearing the puck down the ice: you don’t need a lot of puck skill to do those things.
That’s why the coaching change will likely have a bigger impact on the Canucks’ special teams than the changes in personnel, of which there are several.
In the two seasons prior to getting hired as the head coach of the Calgary Flames, Glen Gulutzan ran the penalty kill for the Canucks. In his first season in that role, the Canucks had one of the best penalty kills in the league, and in 2015-16 they were about league average. When he left, the penalty kill became a disaster.
Former Canucks defenceman Nolan Baumgartner will be taking charge of the penalty kill in the upcoming season. In his time as a player in the NHL, Baumgartner was known more for his offensive acumen than killing penalties, but he played in every situation in his nearly 1000 AHL games.
As for coaching, he’s spent the last four seasons as an assistant in Utica, and in that time, the Comets have had at least a league-average penalty kill. In 2014-15 and 2015-16, they had one of the best in the league, killing of 86.3% and 86.0% of their opponents’ power plays in those two seasons.
He’ll have some tough decisions to make, as several of last season’s penalty killers are gone and one of the mainstays on the penalty kill — Bo Horvat — seriously struggled in the role.
On defence, both Luca Sbisa and Nikita Tryamkin are out the door, but that might be addition by subtraction. While I enjoyed watching Tryamkin kill penalties with his long reach and strength in front of the net, he and Sbisa were the two worst defencemen on the Canucks in terms of allowing unblocked shot attempts on the penalty kill. Other than Alex Biega, of course. That’s almost a truism at this point: if a Canucks defenceman was bad at something, Biega was almost certainly worse.
The top three defencemen in shorthanded ice time per game on the Canucks are returning: Chris Tanev, Erik Gudbranson, and Alex Edler. Of returning defencemen, Ben Hutton might be the best bet for some additional time shorthanded: he had the lowest rate of unblocked shot attempts against of any Canucks defenceman on the penalty kill.
The Canucks incoming free agent defencemen are both solid options on the penalty kill as well: Patrick Wiercioch and Michael Del Zotto. Of defencemen who averaged at least a minute per game shorthanded, Del Zotto was 7th in the NHL in fewest unblocked shot attempts against per 60 minutes.
That gives Baumgartner six capable defencemen for the penalty kill. At forward, things get a bit more interesting.
Brandon Sutter was the Canucks’ best penalty-killing forward last season, with Markus Granlund not far behind. The two of them could anchor the top penalty killing unit, with the added bonus that Granlund can take faceoffs in a pinch. After those two, it gets a bit dicey.
The Canucks want Bo Horvat to be an all-situations type of centre, but the defensive side of his game is still not up to par. Horvat was one of the worst forwards in the entire NHL on the penalty kill, but he was second only to Brandon Sutter in shorthanded ice time on the Canucks.
Horvat’s struggles played a big role in the team’s overall struggles: he was on the ice for more power play goals against than any other Canuck.
The Canucks’ usual penalty kill formation didn’t help. They generally used a diamond-shape on the penalty kill, with the top of the diamond given a lot of responsibility to pressure the defencemen at the blue line and shut down shooting and passing lanes across the top of the faceoff circles. It’s a role that requires excellent defensive reads and near-perfect positioning and Horvat wasn’t up to the task.
In addition to figuring out Horvat’s role, Baumgartner will have to put together penalty kill personnel without two long-time components: Jannik Hansen and Alex Burrows.
The Canucks have a couple centres who could relieve Horvat of his penalty kill duties or replace Hansen and Burrows on the wing; Brendan Gaunce and Alexander Burmistrov. Gaunce was used sparingly on the penalty kill last season, but was effective when he got the chance, while Burmistrov has been a solid shot suppressor shorthanded in the past. Burmistrov and Gaunce could play together on a second unit or each centre their own if Baumgartner prefers three units, with Loui Eriksson, Derek Dorsett, and Sven Baertschi as options on the wing.
Alternately, the Canucks could truly commit to taking the Sedins off the first line and treat them more like depth players and use them on the penalty kill. They have been reasonably effective in that role in spot duty in the past. If they want to, the Canucks could avoid using Horvat on the penalty kill entirely.
Keeping Horvat on the bench on the penalty kill seems unlikely, however. If the Canucks want him to develop that side of his game, he needs to get on the ice in shorthanded situations, and he’s still one of their best options on faceoffs. It’s up to Baumgartner to figure out a way to play to Horvat’s strengths and develop his weaknesses on the penalty kill.
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