It’s not even November and injuries have hit the Vancouver Canucks‘ top two defencemen. Although, judging by the underlying metrics, Vancouver’s top pairing has not been very good this season.
However, many warned that overplaying the top pairing would increase their likelihood of injury and having one of the higher rates of blocked shots would help. Given how injury-prone Alexander Edler and Chris Tanev have been lately, it’s no surprised that they are hurt. However, the team’s thin defensive depth will open opportunities for other defencemen, some of whom are just trying to get back into NHL games regularly.