"He needs to pick it up": Canucks need Mikheyev to rediscover his speed
There are very few Vancouver Canucks that have underperformed this season. The team has been seeing career-best performances all across the lineup, with just a few players not up to par.
Ilya Mikheyev is one of those players that has struggled to perform. While he’s not having a terrible season — he’s still on pace for a career high in points — he hasn’t fully lived up to expectations, especially over the last two months.
The Russian forward has not scored a goal since December 17, with just six assists during that time. He’s struggled despite spending a lot of time alongside the uber-talented Elias Pettersson.
While Mikheyev is returning from a serious knee injury and thus deserves the benefit of the doubt, at this point he’s had nearly an entire year to recover.
“He knows he needs to pick it up. He’s our speed guy; he’s gotta chase pucks down. He’s got to be like Hoggy. Hoggy chases pucks down. I’d like to see Mik do the same,” said head coach Rick Tocchet about the winger on Thursday morning after practice.
“I don’t think he doesn’t want to, I think he just doesn’t put himself in position to sometimes.”
The numbers support the premise that Mikheyev isn’t playing as fast as he was in the past.
In 2021-22, the Russian winger reached a top speed of 23.41 miles-per-hour according to NHL Edge data, placing him in the 95th percentile of all forwards. He also recorded 218 speed bursts where he broke the 20 mile-per-hour barrier, also good for the 95th percentile.
This year, his top speed reached is 22.63 mph, ranking in the 77th percentile among forwards. In addition, he has just 53 speed bursts over 20 mph, placing him in the 64th percentile, or just above average.
No matter if it’s lingering pain from his knee issues, not positioning himself correctly, or something else entirely, the winger has struggled to show off that signature speed.
With a cap hit of $4.75 million per season, there is pressure on the winger’s shoulders to perform.
His inability to drive play or finish means the Canucks are looking on the trade market to find someone who can. The team has been connected to players like Jake Guentzel and Elias Lindholm, who would likely cut into Mikheyev’s ice time.
The Canucks need Mikheyev to rediscover his high-end speed in the second half of the season to round out the forward group. If he can do so, it will greatly help their leverage in potential trade discussions and help the team when spring comes around.
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