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A Look at Noah Juulsen’s Improvement with the Canucks

Noah Juulsen is nothing more than a depth defenceman for the Vancouver Canucks. It is as simple as that. But in a hockey-mad market like Vancouver, even a depth defenceman faces criticism. Juulsen has faced a lot of criticism from Canucks fans on social media, particularly X. (Formerly known as Twitter but is widely still known as that and should be.) But over the last couple of months, Juulsen has silenced his critics. Let’s take a look at Juulsen’s improvement with the Canucks.

Juulsen the Whipping Boy

No one is immune to criticism from Canucks fans, not even the star players such as Elias Pettersson and Quinn Hughes. But some players are criticized and slandered more than others.

Those include Tyler Myers, (the chaos giraffe as he has been known on Canucks Twitter) and Conor Garland, who has also since proven himself to his critics. Juulsen has been one of the whipping boys.

It was hard not to see why early in the season. The Abbotsford, BC native was prone to turning the puck over. It happened a lot. It felt like every time he had the puck, he would pass it to the opponent or bobble it on his stick.

There were also poor defensive reads which would often lead to high-danger chances and goals for the other team. Many fans and media members blasted him on Twitter. Many wanted him to be sent to the Abbotsford Canucks or healthy scratched. However, Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet continued to put him in the lineup.

I even Tweeted this when Juulsen was having a bad game against the Calgary Flames in early December:

Since this Tweet, he has improved.

Juulsen’s Improvement

Since that game in December and since that Tweet, Juulsen’s improvement has been clear as day.

For instance, Juulsen has turned the puck over less. He is still doing it but it is less frequent. The defensive mishaps have been toned down as well.

Juulsen also showed he is not afraid to throw his body around.

Juulsen has been working hard on the board battles and has been helping by cleaning up the area in front of and around the net. That is especially true on the penalty kill.

In terms of the numbers, they have shown Juulsen’s improvement. As of December 2nd, Juulsen gave up 31.11 shots against per 60 minutes at 5 on 5, the most among Canucks defencemen per NaturalStatTrick. He also gave up 2.1 goals per 60 which were also the most among Canucks blueliners.

Since then, Juulsen’s shots against per 60 has been lowered to 24.57 which is the second lowest among Canucks defencemen behind Carson Soucy. (That have played a total of at least 100 minutes.) His goals against per 60 is at 1.43, the lowest among Canucks blueliners since December 2nd.

Of course, there is a factor here and that is ice time. With Nikita Zadorov now in the fold, Juulsen has mainly stayed as a bottom-pairing defenceman and formed a good partnership with Ian Cole for a handful of games.

Guess who gave up the least shots per 60 on the penalty kill for Vancouver? Among all penalty killers who played at least 40 minutes at 5 on 4…it is Juulsen. He only gave up 46.34 shots per 60. Juulsen’s 5.32 shots against per 50 on the PK is second most on the Canucks behind Nils Åman.

It is also nice to see him contribute offensively as well. He isn’t known for it, but this was a really nice stretch pass to Garland who scored in the Canucks win over the Washington Capitals on Super Bowl Sunday.

Juulsen has been Stepping Up and that is Very Good.

Juulsen has been one of the best Canucks defencemen since early December. Why are you booing me? I’m right!

Yes, he is nothing more than a depth defenceman who can split time between the AHL and NHL. However, depth is wealth in hockey like it is in any sport. When the depth steps up, that is a very good sign, especially during the playoff push. Juulsen has a role and he stepped up in it.

Main Photo Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports

Joshua Rey

Joshua Rey

Joshua Rey covers the Vancouver Canucks for Last Word On Sport and also covers the Vancouver Whitecaps and hosts the Terminal City FC Podcast for Area 51 Sports Network. He has previously written about the Canucks for Fansided and TSJ101Sports.

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