Why Canucks should sign NCAA defenceman Jake Livingstone in free agency

Jake Livingstone will be a hot commodity among NHL teams in a few months.

At 6-foot-4 and 205 pounds, the right-shot defenceman has been a fixture on Minnesota State University (Mankato) for a few seasons. The Vancouver Canucks would be wise to try to sign the pending college free agent, who also happens to be from British Columbia.

The 2021-22 Central Collegiate Hockey Association Defender of the year has been a productive player since his jump from the BCHL’s Langley Rivermen in 2020. Livingstone has 66 points in 80 NCAA games in the past three years, including 15 points in 16 games this season.

For NCAA free agents like Livingstone, opportunity and fit are some of the biggest factors when deciding where they will start their NHL career.

The Canucks potentially have both. 

With a defensive prospect pool headlined by the likes of third-round pick Elias Pettersson, and free-agent signing Filip Johansson, the Canucks frankly need more players with NHL outlooks on the back end — especially on the right side.

While the organization has options like Brady Keeper, Noah Juulsson, and Kyle Burroughs, Livingstone has the chance to provide a lot more upside; an all-around defender who can both transition the puck effectively, while also make defensive stops.

When considering factors such as Tucker Poolman’s heath and the myriad of defender injuries that plague the team from in any given season, there probably isn’t a better fit for the blueliner from Creston, BC.

Rush involvement and puck moving

Interest in Livingstone extends back to last season, according to EP Rinkside.

Part of this is because he possesses some standout puck moving skills — an area of the game that organizations like the Canucks want to improve.

Constantly an active rush participant, Livingstone will almost always activate through the middle of the ice to add himself as an option and capture the attention of opposing defenders. Defenders who do not join the rush typically have trouble contributing. 

Livingstone floats into high-danger areas and looks for shooting opportunities, even setting up handles to work past defenders in a blocking posture. When pressure mounts, the blueliner has legit passing skill, executing layered slip passes, and long wing-to-wing passes to weak-side teammates. 

Having a bottom-pairing option that pushes smart off-puck activations could be huge to leverage even more offence from the Canucks’ defensive core. 

 

On top of these activation habits, Livingstone is naturally a strong puck mover. An in-motion passer, he uses speed that is generated in the defensive zone to open up new passing lanes, key for successful puck movement, void of turnovers in the NHL. 

While you won’t see Livingstone exploiting forecheckers’ momentum with weight shifts and handles, when he faces pressure, he is as stone-faced as Kobe Bryant was when Matt Barnes tried to hit him with a ball fake. If forecheckers get too close, he can slip a puck through their body or even push the attack forward with a well-angled board bank. 

Livingstone’s a simple puck retriever, big enough to tank physicality and free his stick — handling the NHL forecheck might require more nuisance and deception, but this is something that shouldn’t be a major issue since he has some ability to cutback to escape pressure. 

Puck movement and shooting from the point

A significant amount of Livingstone’s offensive production has been on the power play; roughly seven-of-15 of points this year. This trends with a lot of his more notable shifts in sustained pressure. Power play opportunity usually isn’t available for players like Livingstone, so it could affect his scoring translatability in the NHL. 

In the more open environment, Livingstone is at his best as a roaming activator, while occasionally setting up on the left-hand circle for one-time shots. 

His shooting mechanics are strong; Livingstone extends his arms to better leverage his upper body, all while powering through a dropped knee. Unfortunately, his shooting percentage so far has been poor this season, only scoring three times on 46 shots. Part of this has to do with shot locations at evens.

With a majority of them coming from the top-right point, it’s hard to create much without moving into the middle of the ice. Livingstone will actually move toward the boards to shuffle into a cleaner shooting lane, only making it easier to pressure his possession or clog the smaller lane. If it’s not working in the NCAA, it won’t work in the NHL. 

Where the British Columbian shines is his passing game. From the blue line, he actively looks for cutting teammates and time passes directly into redirections. One-touches, pre-scanning teammates’ positions, layering through a sea of sticks and bodies — it’s all here.

Livingstone will look off his pass targets to freeze defenders and open new lanes. The Canucks are currently getting a lot of offence from their defence and these habits would only help that cause. 

Shot blocking and leveraging of size

An element of Livingstone’s game that will quickly endear coaching staffs at the NHL level is his penchant to clog lanes and block shots under sustained pressure.

A quick processor, you can actually see Livingstone drop into a blocking posture as opponents moved pucks into one-timed shots — akin to shot-blocking legend and Canucks’ assistant to the GM, Ryan Johnson, he lays it on the line in the defensive zone. 

Beyond shot blocking, Livingstone leverages his size well. He identifies secondary threats and locks down sticks. He punishes perimeter puck carriers with physicality and anticipates cross-crease and high-danger area passes.

While scanning is a strength, Livingstone chases at times — it’s an element of inconsistency that has to be worked out. 

He could be a natural option to replace a physical defender role that Luke Schenn currently holds with the club.

Stick work dominates a lot of Livingstone’s stops in transition.

Instead of reaching and having his triangle manipulated, he pulls his stick back and times activations to surprise carriers. His gap is measured, and he’s a strong skater for his size, but he can run into issues where he misjudges speed, leading to poor body positions as he recovers. 

Future

At 23 years-old, Livingstone is very much a close-to-finished product. While a level of adaptation and habit adjustments might occur in the years to come, he is essentially an NHL-ready defender, earmarked for games later this season.

While he profiles as a bottom-pairing option, he could provide legitimate transitional value, all while possessing the frame and mobility to defend against NHLers. 

For the Canucks, Livingstone could be a free depth piece that could contribute right away and act as internal competition on the depth chart. Add in the right-handedness, play-stopping in transition, and in-zone defending, and it wouldn’t be surprising if the club pushed hard to bring the hometown kid back to beautiful British Columbia.