Jake DeBrusk had just two power play goals last season.
Nils Höglander had none.
But the Vancouver Canucks are banking on both breaking out with the man advantage this season.
Tocchet on DeBrusk: “He’s got that shot — he’s a goalscorer”
With the Boston Bruins last season, DeBrusk bounced between their first and second unit, primarily playing as the net-front presence in a system that didn’t give him many opportunities with the puck. DeBrusk had just 23 shots on the power play, seventh on the Bruins.
That’s likely to change significantly this season with the Canucks, as he’s starting the season in a prime position on their first power play unit.
The first unit has stayed much the same in recent years, with Quinn Hughes quarterbacking at the point, J.T. Miller and Elias Pettersson on the flanks, and Brock Boeser adapting to a net-front role. What they’ve lacked since Bo Horvat was traded was a left-handed shot in the bumper to take advantage of J.T. Miller’s playmaking from the left half-wall.
Theoretically, that should lead to a lot more shots and scoring chances for DeBrusk this season.
“It’s a lucky position to be in and it’s something I’m not taking for granted. I just want to do it right,” said DeBrusk about playing in the bumper. “It’s a position that I don’t want to lose and I’ll do whatever I can to make it go smooth.”
Both Miller and Pettersson seemed excited to have DeBrusk in that role, praising his ability to get his shot off quickly and on target.
“He makes plays, he can shoot the puck, he can score,” said Pettersson. “Maybe it will take some time to get used to [each other] and find our looks but everyone in the unit can make plays, so we just need to play free.”
Miller, meanwhile, particularly likes that DeBrusk is a left-handed shot.
“When a righty’s in the middle, [the left side] is not really an attractive spot for me to play,” said Miller. “Having that threat to shoot in the middle like we used to with Horvat, it’s nice.”
DeBrusk noted that with Miller’s ability to thread passes through traffic and over sticks, he’s often more open than he realizes, making it imperative that he’s ready to shoot at any moment.
“There’s so many good players out there, I’m just trying not to overthink where I’m supposed to go and just keep my stick on the ice and bury the chances that I get,” said DeBrusk.
The benefit of once again having a true scoring threat in the middle of the ice is that it won’t just create opportunities for DeBrusk but for the rest of the team as well.
“I think if you give him the puck in the middle, he’s got that shot — he’s a goalscorer,” said Tocchet. “That’s going to make teams collapse a little bit more and protect the middle and that means more shots for Petey, maybe even Hughes at the top.”
Tocchet on Höglander: “He’s a buzzsaw around the net”
While DeBrusk primarily played on the second power play unit last season, Höglander barely played on the power play at all. He averaged just 32 seconds per game on the power play and finished the season with just seven power play shots.
It’s no wonder Höglander didn’t get a single power play goal last season, with all 24 of his goals coming at 5-on-5.
This season, however, Höglander is getting his shot on a second unit that should have more skill and offensive firepower.
“That was a big thing for us in the summer,” said Tocchet. “We had to strengthen that second unit.”
The new look has Filip Hronek quarterbacking from the point, Daniel Sprong and Conor Garland on the flanks, Danton Heinen in the bumper, and Höglander at the net front. It’s a role that Tocchet thinks Höglander was born to play.
“I like [Höglander] around the net and he’s a retrieval guy,” said Tocchet. “If you look at his goals last year, most of the goals were his hands around the net. That’s why I like him there. He’s not a half-wall guy who’s going to play like [Nikita] Kucherov or anything, he’s not that type. He’s a buzzsaw around the net.”
As much as it’s a natural fit for Höglander’s skillset, he had to agree that there’s a steep learning curve to playing the net front.
“Yeah, it is,” said Höglander. “I’ll see what role I can fit in best. I think down low is a pretty good look for me.”
Fortunately for Höglander, he’s got a mentor on the ice who’s very familiar with the position. At Tuesday’s practice, Garland had some extensive conversations with Höglander about his role on the power play.
“I played that position for three years in Arizona, the net front,” said Garland. “It's a little different now with more diamonds, so he's actually gonna get more touches, more time with the puck, especially with us having a shot throughout this year on the other half with Spronger.
“So, it’s just helping him. He's a big part of [the power play]. Sometimes net-front guys think they're just there to get rebounds and open-netters but that's not the case anymore with the diamond. So he's gonna be a big part of it. We’ll run a lot of stuff through him, so it’s just talking through it.”
The diamond penalty kill is the most common counter to the umbrella power play and is designed to keep the puck on the outskirts of the defensive zone, away from the slot. The tradeoff is that the diamond has just one defenceman down low, which leaves more space for a net-front player to open up for passes below the goal line.
For Höglander, that means he won’t just be looking for tips and rebounds but will be expected to make plays, whether he’s setting up Heinen in the bumper or looking for Sprong at the backdoor.
At the very least, if Höglander sticks on the second power play unit, he ought to be able to add a few power play tallies to his goal total this season.
"Yogi's come in with some really good ideas"
There’s another new addition to the power play this season, as the Canucks will have a dedicated power play coach in Yogi Svejkovský, who is stepping behind an NHL bench for the first time this season. Well, mostly new. As the team’s skills coach in recent years, Svejkovský had some previous input on the power play.
“He helped out a lot last year, so I wouldn’t call him a full new coach in that aspect,” said Pettersson. “With Yogi, we watch a lot of video and it helps out. He has a lot of ideas, so it’s good to bounce off some ideas with him.”
Svejkovský primarily worked with the first unit on the ice at practice on Tuesday but his influence will be felt on both units. His previous work as a skills coach has also endeared him to the team, providing some extra motivation.
“Yogi’s come in with some really good ideas,” said Tocchet. “Also, the guys love him, so right away I can feel there’s a connection and they don’t want to disappoint him. That’s a big part of it; they want to do well for him.”
According to Tocchet, Svejkovský’s influence won’t be about set plays or complex x’s and o’s. Instead, what the power play really needs is a shift in mindset.
“I sat with Yogi a lot this summer and a lot of our philosophies are the same,” said Tocchet. “It’s the mindset, the connection — that’s what this power play needs. They’ve got to be connected and they’ve got to understand that it’s not always about setting up a play, it’s more that when you get a puck off chaos, can we score off that?
“That’s most of the time when you score anyway. Teams like Edmonton, when they get the puck and the other team’s vulnerable, they’re really good at attacking; we weren’t last year. That’s what we have to change: the mindset.”
In other words, the purpose of the power play is to create chaos for the opposing team and then to capitalize on that chaos.
If the Canucks’ power play can create a little more chaos this season with more movement, rotation, and players in unexpected places — the focus of much of their special teams work at practice on Tuesday — then they should open up more passing and shooting lanes to exploit.
As a result, they should be able to treat that chaos as a ladder and climb up the power play ranks from 11th in the NHL last season to somewhere closer to the top.
