The Vancouver Canucks had no trouble getting shots on goals last season. Getting them into the goal, though? Yeah, they had trouble there.
The Canucks converted on just 7.56 percent of their shots in 2013-14. Only the NHL’s worst team, the Buffalo Sabres, converted at a lower rate (6.96%).
And so changes were made. A new coach, Willie Desjardins, was hired, and a new general manager, Jim Benning, acquired forwards Nick Bonino and Linden Vey in trades, before signing free-agent winger Radim Vrbata to skate with the Sedins.
The early returns have been promising, to say the least. Vancouver’s won nine of its first 13 and trails only Pittsburgh and Tampa Bay in goals per game.
As you can see, the new additions have figured prominently:
Bonino scored twice in last night’s 5-2 comeback win in Denver, showing off his finishing ability on the insurance marker:
While it’s not realistic to assume that Bonino and Vey will continue to convert at such a high rate, the Canucks as a team aren’t scoring on an absurdly high percentage of their shots. Currently, they rank seventh in the NHL, at 10.02 percent (and five of their goals have been scored into an empty net).
Vancouver continues it’s “good test” of a road trip Thursday in San Jose.