Canucks have found their SECRET Weapon...

The Vancouver Canucks have found their secret weapon after coming off a huge win against the hottest team in the NHL, and this is exactly what Canucks fans want to hear with the massive implications heading into the last bit of the season. We have a lot to break down, including these players, Rick Tocchet's comments, and a lot more that you're not going to want to miss out on. Before we get into that, if you're enjoying this content and you want to stay up to date on the Vancouver Canucks, go ahead and hit that free subscribe button. We'll keep you up to date on everything to do around the team. For the rest of this season. But with that, let's just hop straight into the first topic today. And that's on Niels Hoeglander, who has been absolutely dominating for the Vancouver Canucks since he had his promotion to the top line. Now we can see. From Twitter, it says Niels Hoeglander has 7 points in his last 8 games. The Canucks have outscored teams 9-3 during his 5v5 shifts in that span. Now we do know Niels Hoeglander was a tiny bit in the doghouse to start the season, playing a lot of 4th line minutes, when Rick Tocchet did play some down there for what felt like the majority of the season, but since being reunited with Petey that we did see last year, And Brock Boeser, who had an incredible game. I want to touch on that shortly. Two goals, one assist. I said in the video yesterday that him and Petey did not work together. I guess I swallowed my words on that, and I'm quite happy I did, as we've seen this line tear it up. Niels Hoeglander had a disappointing start to the year, but six goals, 14 assists for 20 points. And as you can see, in the last eight games, putting up seven points, scoring a goal against the best goaltender in the NHL right now, and Connor Hellebuyck, and I know I hate to say that, But his stats have been incredible. Niels Hoeglander is finally getting back to what we expected. And this unlocks a lot for the Canucks and for fans for the rest of the season. Looking at some comments from Rick Tockett after the game as well, we did see him say that Niels Höglander, I think over the last month, he's one of our best forwards with overall intensity. This is a good quote coming from Rick Tockett, and as I said, it seems like it was in the doghouse of Rick Tockett at one point. Seeing the praise for Niels Höglander is awesome. Seeing him get back on the scoring sheet over the last eight games, putting up seven points, I think it was nine points or eight points in the last 11 games. He has been dominating this top line and with the Canucks having a slow trade deadline, not acquiring any players, having a player really step up to fill the void instead of giving up a first round pick to fill the void itself is huge for this Canucks team going into the playoffs. Now looking at. His stats, sorry, over the last five games, we can see one assist, two assists, one goal, and one assist. He has been playing great on the line with Petey, playing mostly under 13 minutes or just above 13 minutes over the stretch, but he has been playing well, throwing a couple hits here and there, blocking a few shots, putting up even strength points at five on five. He's been one of the most productive Canucks, shooting 100% last game on one shot. It does seem like this top line is here to stay, and honestly, I think it's perfect. Going into much-needed wins for the end of the season, which we will touch on shortly. But once again, looking at the lines itself, we did see Höglander with Petey and Besser. This line was absolutely dominant last night. DeBrusk, Sutter, and Sherwood, and we'll touch on DeBrusk shortly as well. Or, sorry, Sherwood. We see O'Connor, Bluger, and Carlson. I thought Carlson had an awesome game. Lecker Mackey got robbed last night. With the defense appearance, though. We did see Rick Tocchet switch it up a bit last night during the game, playing Hughes and Myers and Hronik and Petey together. These guys worked out, and I honestly think it's a little underrated on that pairing going into the game. Listen, we know Quinn Hughes works with absolutely anyone this season. We can see from the stats. He's been playing awesome with Tyler Myers, having the highest expected goals for percentage. When they're paired together, we've seen seasons ago he dominated with Luke Schenn. Quinn Hughes can play with absolutely any defenseman, and I think really building the lines out and not stopping. Stopping, stopping. Playing Hronik and Hughes, I do think you can spread the lineup out on the defense appearance. Hughes and Myers have been working perfectly, as I said. Marcus Pedersen with Hronik, forward with DPD, or Mancini has worked as well. I think the Canucks can really stretch this out so you don't have all your offensive talent on the back end, all in the same pairing. And I think this is going to help the Canucks later on. And I mean, as I said, it worked against the Winnipeg Jets, who is the top team in the NHL right now. So Rick Tocchet spreading the lines out as you can see from this the highest expected goals percentage and they have played a lot of minutes 358 minutes total together. This has worked perfectly but looking at the total stats. As I said, you do have Veronik sitting there as a second leading scorer on defense on the team. With 26, he did miss some time. Quinn Hughes sitting at the very top on its own, 65 points, over 54 games, splitting these twos up, does help the lineup a lot. But there is one player that you can see here that is covered with yellow, and that is Pius Suter, who is finally, and for the first time in his NHL career, a 20 goal scorer. Listen, Pius Suter has been a big part of this Canucks team. 20 goals, 14 assists for 34 points. We've seen him step in and fill out that second line center position. With the Vancouver Canucks, with JT Miller being moved in a trade. But the biggest thing with Pius Suter scoring 20 goals, being on this Canucks team, putting up, sorry for all the screenshots, 34 points, playing just under 17 minutes. He is a UFA and that does mean one thing. There is a raise in order and we've seen Rick Tockett speak about it himself. Noah Strang posted on Twitter when talking to Rick Tocchet, he scored his 20th. I told him after the game, cha-ching. That's a cha-ching goal. And he means by this, you're getting a raise, basically. When it comes to... To the open market for Pius Suter. Now listen, we don't know if the Canucks are going to re-sign him. We've seen teams hovering around him and the Canucks opted not to move him. With the impact he's having on this Canucks middle six and top six, if you want to put it that way. He has been a huge part for this team. Playing with Sherwood Dabrowski last night. Dabrowski is still leading the team in goals currently with the Vancouver Canucks. But Pius Suter is finally a 20 goal scorer. He's looking like the perfect middle six option. And listen. With Heidle out of this lineup, it does suck for the Canucks. But we've had, and I said this a lot in the last video, we need people to step up. Pius Suter has done that. Hoglander has done it incredibly. We've seen Besser really step up with two goals and one assist. This is a Canucks team that is desperate and hungry to make a postseason push. We've seen them lose in Game 7 to the Edmonton Oilers last season, which is gross. I know, I don't even want to talk about it. But this is a team that has a lot to prove. Going into the final stretch of the season, I mean, looking at the standings and looking at the wildcard, it's such a close race. St. Louis Blues are currently sitting just tied, sorry, in points with the Vancouver Canucks. The Canucks do have a game in hand. The Calgary Flames are sitting two points behind. The Utah Hockey Club is sitting four points behind. This is going to be one of the tightest races. And it's not only in the West, if you look at the NHL standings, but the West and only team that matters, the Vancouver Canucks, are currently battling to get into the wildcard spot. They might play the Winnipeg Jets, but guess what? We just smoked them. 6-2. I mean, looking at the game, 6-2. They lost to Utah, which was a big game, but this was a statement game. The Vancouver Canucks are 3-1 over their last four games, beating the Calgary Flames in a big game. Beating the Chicago Blackhawks, the Utah game, would have been massive, but they came off. Pushed through and beat the Winnipeg Jets. Now, the next game coming up tomorrow. Now, if you're watching this, the biggest thing is with the times. I'm from Newfoundland. The complete opposite side of Canada if you're watching this in BC. So, ignore the times. But the St. Louis Blues game is going to be huge. The JT Miller return game is going to be huge. There's a lot of must-win games here for the Vancouver Canucks. But next game is the biggest one out of the next six stretches. As I said, that is the team sitting directly behind him in the standings. What are you guys' overall thoughts on this? What's your thoughts on Pius Suter finally scoring 20 goals for the Vancouver Canucks? What's your thoughts on the top line with Hoglander, Petey, and Besser really turning it up against the Winnipeg Jets? What's your thoughts and expectations on this Canucks team? Go ahead and leave a comment below. I love to read through the comments. Let me know your favorite moment from last night's game, and who do you think the best player was on the ice for the entire game? Let me know down in the comments why you're down there. Leave a like, subscribe, share this video, friends. We'll be back with another episode, so keep your eyes for that. Because, listen, this is the rollercoaster of a season. Covering it has been crazy, and hopefully you guys are enjoying the content. If you made it this far, go down and just leave a 3.14 or anything down in the comments, just so I know you made it this far. But that'll be it for this episode. Make sure to leave a like, comment, subscribe, share this video, friends. We'll be back. But I've been your host, Mark Pye, and take care.