In the modern NHL, speed is king. Every general manager in the league is looking for the next Quinn Hughes, Cale Makar, or Adam Fox. Not only can these players skate, but they can also move the puck with authority. After locking up Filip Hronek to a long-term extension, Patrik Allvin set his sights on rounding out the Canucks defence. He could have acquired puck-movers like Tyson Barrie or Justin Schultz, but he decided to sign Derek Forbort and Vincent Desharnais. This defence has size and snarl, but upon closer inspection, it lacks speed.
In today’s video, I compare the Canucks speed on defence with the three top contenders in the West! If you enjoyed this video, please like, comment, and subscribe!
18 Comments
Just to be clear, this is the average of the Canucks top 6's max skating speed. It is a very basic calculation that does not take into account TOI. So if Quinn Hughes is playing 30 minutes a night, the Canucks average speed will increase.
Size over speed, says any girl ever😂
Not worried at all actually, size and physicality wins cups.
The top pairing is top 3 in the league and have shown they can shut down the best players.
Im sorry but the avs d is gonna get slaughtered when the top pair isn't on the ice.
I'm cautiously optomistic.
that top speed is a horrible metric
My theory is Desharnais reached his top speed when he caught McDavid's draft. 😂
Canucks might want to make a deadline acquisition for a solid middle pair dman. Someone like Ferraro on the Sharks could be nice for them, although as a Sharks fan please don't take him he's all we have 🙏
Strong team defence trumps pure footspeed. Speed helps, but so does size and reach. Canucks went the size/reach route, but I think what they really aimed for, was making the PK stronger. They were a strong 5v5 team defensively, but just average on the PK. Both Desharnais and Forbort had elite PK results last year, 98 percentile IIRC. As divisional rivals, they are likely going to have to get past the Oilers for the foreseeable future, who have the best PP in the league. If you stop that PP: you stop the Oilers. I much prefer Desharnais/Forbort PKing vs Mcdrai, over something like Brannstrom/Kylington.
Yes we are too slow. I have no idea what we are doing. Foot speed and in puck moving and puck retrieval speed.
Most important is team & transition defense, not getting caught & being responsible. Canucks also have a Norris winner & Vezina caliber G.
Imo we def need another top 4 puck moving dman
JT miller can contain mcjesus
It's hockey. Size and strength will always be a factor. Nobody makes it to the NHL level without skating ability.
Honestly I don’t see this as a big problem. The way that they play is to bring the puck up and do a long stretch pass to the forwards
McDavid can't score when he's scared to touch the puck
Chill bb chill, hughes has best edgework in the league, who tf cares about being the fastest.
i am not worried about speed. i am more worried about getting the puck out from the back. also you should be comparing our defense to the other teams forwards speed.
THe best way of containing your opponent's forward's is to play in their end. Zadorov is one of the slower playing defensemen , yet he had one of the biggest impacts in the Canucks defence last season. Stats dont tell a story.