This is a (somewhat) weekly feature that will seek to delve into a “take” from someone in the media involving the Vancouver Canucks. Today, we take on John Shannon’s view of Erik Gudbranson’s season thus far.

The Vancouver Canucks have had a surprisingly good season. Being very much in contention for the playoffs in the middle of February was not something most pundits thought was in the cards for the rebuilding club. (Even if the bottom half of the Western Conference is something of a tire fire.)

One thing that hasn’t been great for the Canucks? That would be the team’s defensive corps. While Troy Stecher and Ben Hutton have really come into their own as the team’s second (or first?) pairing, and Alex Edler has had another solid season, the rest of the team’s backend has been mostly, shall we say, rough.

The worst of them all has almost definitely been Erik Gudbranson. The veteran defender has had a horrific campaign, marked by giveaways and unnecessary icings. No one watching Gudbranson could reasonably contend that the “eye test” has portrayed him in anything but the most negative of lights. And, as you probably know or could guess, the stats (both basic and advanced) are not favourable.

(Though we will say that his thumping of Ryan Getzlaf in a recent contest against the Anaheim Ducks made us happy.)

According to Sportsnet’s John Shannon, however, Gudbranson has “had a better season than anyone anticipated.” Hm. Not what we’d go with, but alright John.

In fact, as the Courier’s Daniel Wagner pointed out, Gudbranson has pretty much been as bad as possible. No player who has played over 30 games and isn’t named Cody McLeod has a worse scoring percentage when on the ice than Gudbranson.

He has a slightly worse Corsi than last season, and has been on the ice for a higher rate of 5-on-5 goals than every defenceman in the NHL save for Edmonton’s Brandon Manning, who has been a scratch on a terrible Oilers team.

What was Shannon expecting? We’re not really sure. He did say this:

“I’m impressed with how loyal they’ve been to him. I suspect that they think in the next two to three years, as this team morphs into a contender—and I do believe it will morph into a contender—that Gudbranson can be part of that.”

If the Canucks can get something (anything, really) for Gudbranson at the trade deadline, they would be foolish not to pursue it. Sure, he’s “good in the room” and is a typical physical force on the blueline who can theoretically make opponents play for taking liberties with the Canucks’ younger players (though, as has been well documented, that hasn’t happened much).

Overall, he isn’t an effective player at the NHL level, or even close to it. It’s pretty clear at this point that extra defenceman Alex Biega (who went unclaimed on waivers earlier this year) moves the needle a lot more than Gudbranson when he’s on the ice.

So, yeah, sorry John, but we’re going to have to chalk this one up to “old hockey reporter is out of touch.”

Hotness of the take: Gudbranson’s hometown (Ottawa) at this time of year

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