Every now and then a player emerges and forces a team to rethink its plans. For the Vancouver Canucksthat player right now is Kiefer Sherwood.
What Sherwood Canucks fans see next is a huge surprise
Honestly, no one I know saw this transformation coming. Then the Canucks signed Sherwood to a two-year, $1.5 million dealhe had to be a depth piece. He’s a tough, physical forward who can get minutes, throw his body around and score the odd goal. What he has become, at least through the first eleven games of this season, is something completely different: a wrecking ball who scores.
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Sherwood has already scored six goals and fifty hits in his first eleven games. He led his team with five goals in last night’s 2-0 loss to the New York Rangers. He averages almost two goals per shift, and he scores at a rate that a top six winger would be proud of.
Sunday night’s 4-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers was the best example yet of what he brings. He scored twice – once late in the second to put Vancouver ahead, and again in overtime when he parked himself in front and tipped home a Brock Boeser shot for the win (and that doesn’t count that was overturned on Canucks offside telephone conversation). It wasn’t pretty, but it was exactly the kind of cool goal that wins games in this competition.
That’s Sherwood in a nutshell. He is all effort, without hesitation. He doesn’t float, doesn’t wait for the puck to come to him. He’s going to make it, and usually he takes a piece of someone with him along the way.
Sherwood’s unexpected climb in Vancouver
This isn’t just any hot streak. Last season, Sherwood broke out with 19 goals, 40 points and an NHL record 462 hits – almost six per game. That’s an outrageous number, the kind of physical dedication you only see in players who don’t know how to pace themselves, or refuse to do so. Sherwood has managed to do this without breaking down, and now he’s consistently hitting that crash-and-bang game.
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He also plays big minutes. In the win over Washington on Oct. 20, he logged more than 23 minutes — the most of any Canucks forward that night — and added a power-play goal for good measure. When injuries arose and both Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimaki left early, Sherwood was given more ice and didn’t blink. You can see why head coach Adam Foote loves him.
The point is, he’s forcing management into a tough spot. In the discussion above, Dan Riccio and crew continue Real Kyper & Bourne hit the nail on the head: what do you do when a player you paid like a grinder starts producing like a mid-six scorer? You sure like the value. But if he keeps this up, the next contract won’t be cheap. Somewhere around $4 million, maybe more, would be the going rate for this kind of hybrid.
What is the right move for the Canucks regarding Sherwood?
That’s where things get complicated. The Canucks have been burned before by overcommitting to their players, heart and soul. Dakota Joshua is a perfect example. A physical forward, he earned a multi-year contract and played his way into the team’s identity, but he was injured, cost too much and ultimately moved to the Toronto Maple Leafs. Those lessons stick.
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But there’s one thing: Sherwood’s style literally fits what the Canucks need. The Canucks build around effort, structure and accountability. And right now He is the living embodiment of that. You can’t teach his energy or his perseverance.
He’s not a perfect player; his offense will eventually cool down (right?), and his game-to-game consistency still needs to improve. Still, you can’t deny that he’s in the thick of things every night. Whether it’s scoring a goal, drawing a penalty or cleaning up trash at the front, he makes a difference.
Sherwood has become a player worth betting on
Vancouver has been looking for these types of players for years: honest, physical guys with a low ego who drag the game into the trenches and stay there. Sherwood may not be a superstar, but he is just as valuable. He is a player who gives his team an identity.
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If the Canucks are serious about building a team that plays the right way, they might want to think twice before letting another one of these guys slip away. Sherwood doesn’t just deserve his minutes, he deserves his place in Vancouver’s future.
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