Farewell to Schneider, Raymond and company [Top 10 video]

Following the Canucks' second straight first round exit, a roster shakeup to any degree seemed like a strong possibility.  Indeed, led by Cory Schneider, the 2013 off-season has spurred on a bevy of multi-year Canucks, ranging from marginal cog to roster stape, who have either already moved on or are awaiting alternate pastures.

In ascending order of overall impact, they are -- Andrew Ebbett, Andrew Alberts, Keith Ballard, Maxim Lapierre, Mason Raymond, Manny Malhotra and, of course,  Schneider.  Thanks in large part to Gillis' failure to land an immediate impact player from New Jersey, none of these vacancies have truly been filled as we enter the fourth day of free agency.  Though that's a diatribe for another time.

Depending on who you ask, however, the exodus of any one of the aforementioned seven players may be welcome news.  Ebbett couldn't seem to take advantage of any opportunity presented to him, Raymond has inspired a entire website dedicated to his inability to stay upright and even Schneider had vehement detractors for his lack of success when it really counted.  Just as easily, however, any of the departing seven could and, in many cases, should be defended with equal-to-greater zeal.

So in celebration of their time here and -- as is ritual for any player dear to anybody, anywhere -- to offer a proper YouTube send off, scroll down and enjoy BTD's Farewell Top 10 to Schneider, Raymond, Lapierre and Ballard.

As should be expected, Schneider dominates this Top 10 with three of his saves included.  Ditto for Raymond.  My apologies to Ebbett and Alberts, but I didn't think anyone wanted to see footage of either of them sitting in the press box.  And for highlights of Malhotra's time in Vancouver, see the compilation put together in February.

The Canucks' February round-up [with top five plays of the month]

My, how a month can change.  The Canucks began February with a six-game winning streak (with one carried over from January), propelling them to nearly the top of the Western Conference.  Then they played Dallas on the 15th and the team went 2-4-2 to finish the month.  It's as if nobody got what they wanted for Valentine's Day and they spent the rest of February moping about it.

Meanwhile, Ryan Kesler's much-anticipated return was supposed to put Vancouver over the edge.  Dare we say Chicago territory?  But that hero's welcome was tempered in threefold.  First, his return seemed to have required the end of Malhotra's career (plug BTD video here).  And rather than bolstering the lineup, the Canucks turned into a .500 team with their number-two centre.  Finally, by the end of the month, he was back on the IR with a broken foot.  So it goes.

If after these past few games then, you need to go to a place where, like Howard Campbell's tombstone, everything was beautiful and nothing hurt, I've got just the thing.  The Canucks' top five plays of the month:

The deepest blue are Canucks

Outside of Vancouver – with the exception of the most observant NHL followers – the Canucks' group of defencemen may be among the league's most underrated.  For virtually as long as the team has been in existence, the Canucks have lacked a bonafide Norris Trophy candidate and this past year's edition was no exception.  But what the Canucks' blueline may lack in a world class player à la Shea Weber or Zdeno Chara, they make up for in, arguably, unparalleled depth.  This was reflected in the Norris's most recent voting results, as the Canucks were one of only two teams to have three defencemen receive a vote for the award – Dan Hamhuis, Alex Edler and Kevin Bieksa.  (The other team was the New York Rangers with Dan Girardi, Michael Del Zotto and Ryan McDonaugh.) 

Offensively, this was further exemplified by the Canucks' fifth place ranking in defensive goal-scoring (see table to the right).  Among the top five teams, Vancouver and Los Angeles were the only ones to statistically do so "by committee".  Alex Edler led the Canucks' defencemen with 11 goals, accounting for just over a quarter of the Vancouver blueliners' total output.  Comparatively speaking, the other three teams topped the league by virtue of one standout player.  At 19 goals a piece, Shea Weber and Erik Karlsson scored nearly half of their teams' defensive goals, while Niklas Kronwall's breakout 15-goal campaign accounted for more than a third of Detroit's total. 

Statistically, that may all change for Vancouver if newly-signed Jason Garrison (who himself accounted for 53% of the Panthers' goals by a defenceman – the highest proportion in the league) can match his 16-goal output from last season.  And while Edler's play in the post-season left many wondering how he ever got voted best defenceman by Canucks fans, the reality is, when he's at his best, the big Swede could be just a few years out of a Norris nomination.  All things considered, however, Vancouver remains a balanced force on the blueline with no individual head-and-shoulders above the rest.  Garrison and Edler will share their equal portion of the load with Bieksa and Hamhuis, not to mention the ever-enigmatic Keith Ballard and the ever-improving Chris Tanev representing the blueline's potentially high-reward wild cards.

No one's saying that a player like Weber wouldn't put Vancouver over the top, cause that could very well be the case.  But Canucks fans would be wise to appreciate the group of guys we do have, 'cause collectively, they're among the league's very best.  So in salute of Vancouver's standout rearguards, here are the Top Five¹ of the group's 40 total goals from last season:


-HC

¹ Technically 4 of the Canucks defencemen's 40 goals, as Edler's shootout goal does not count towards official statistics.  Bonus fact: Edler had four shootout goals to lead all league defencemen.

*See the online discussion regarding this article on the Canucks.com forums here.