The Vancouver Canucks have been led by a balanced offensive attack so far this season.
The team has a ridiculous seven skaters tied for the team-lead in goals. J.T. Miller, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Elias Pettersson, Pius Suter, and Kiefer Sherwood have all scored six goals.
NHL.com
While some of the players tied for the team-lead were expected to be there, such as Pettersson, Boeser, and Miller, there are a few names that have come as quite the surprise.
Garland and DeBrusk have stepped up as secondary scorers. Both players are now on pace to finish with just shy of 25 goals, making them strong contributors behind the team’s stars.
Sherwood and Suter have come out of nowhere to claim a share of the team lead. The former has been thriving on the team’s top line and is the only player who has scored all six of his goals at even-strength.
It’s been an impressive showing of depth throughout the club’s forward group. While no players are on pace to crack the 30-goal mark, they could have all seven reach the 20-goal milestone.
The Canucks rank 14th in the NHL in goals-per-game, putting them right around the league average. They’ve picked things up over the last month as they rank ninth in goals-per-game since November 1.
The organization will be hoping that their star players can elevate their games to another level as the season goes on, but the scoring from depth forwards has been encouraging to see.
This absurd stat is evidence that the Canucks have one of the deepest forward groups in the entire NHL. It’s a fact that should help them if they can make a playoff run. Having four forward lines that can score is invaluable when the games get tighter, and goals become harder to come by.