The great Russian winger brings speed, penalties and goals to the Canucks.
The Vancouver Canucks weren’t as quiet as expected to be on their first day of free agency. They may not have participated in any of the big names, but they got a middle name, signing Ilya Mikheyev on a four-year contract.
Mikheyev’s contract has a maximum success of $ 4.75 million, slightly more than most expected the Canucks to spend. But there’s a lot to like about Mikheyev’s game and it’s intriguing to speculate on where he might fit.
The name of Mikheyev’s game is speed. He is legitimately one of the fastest skaters in the NHL and combines with a 6’2 “frame and a willingness to throw punches and fight for records. All this combines to make him a nightmare to play against, when he is not. The first one, Puck, is throwing a check and stealing it anyway.
Mikheyev’s speed and strong two-way play make him a power-possessing puck: he’s constantly pushing the puck in the right direction, as illustrated by his HockeyViz heat map.
To accompany his excellent 5-on-5 possession game, Mikheyev is an effective penalty killer, who uses his speed and long range at the top of the area to interrupt passing lanes. That speed also makes him a threat to score goals, as he had four short-term goals last season.
Speed and death are an immediate improvement for the Canucks for next season. The question is, what else can Mikheyev bring?
The only blow against Mikheyev in previous years was the lack of a final. He played up and down the lineup with his complementary game and created all sorts of chances with his fuss, but he just couldn’t put those chances on the net.
That changed last season, as Mikheyev exploded with 21 goals in just 53 games.
That’s a 32-goal record in 82 games after missing a couple of months to start the season with a broken thumb. Getting a potential 30-goal scorer for just $ 4.75 million, especially one who plays a dominant possession game and can kill penalties, seems like a coup for the Canucks.
There are some caveats, though. Mikheyev had a 14.3% higher shooting percentage in his career last season, nearly eight points more than his shooting percentage the year before. Did he make any major adjustments to improve his shot or was he much luckier this season compared to last season? Can the canucks expect Mikheyev to score at the same pace next season with the Leafs?
Maybe not, but even if he doesn’t, Mikheyev is a very useful player. It will be the engine for any line you land on. Mikheyev’s addition gives the Canucks a great depth in the wings, suggesting more of a nine-first setup than the top six and bottom six that the Canucks typically use.
Mikheyev is also, by all accounts, an incredibly kind guy with a fun personality off the ice. He turned his love of soup into a nickname – The Soupman – and an ad for Campbell’s Soup. Combine this with your style of play on the ice and it is sure to quickly become a fan favorite.
He also joins two other Russians in the canucks Vasily Podkolzin and Andrei Kuzmenko. With just a few moves, the canucks have become a destination for Russian free agents. This could yield dividends in the future.