"He's really helped Petey": Lafferty the unlikely sidekick to Canucks' star
When the Vancouver Canucks traded for Sam Lafferty in early October, not many expected to see him featured on the team’s top line. Yet that role is where the 28-year-old has thrived, as evidenced by another impressive performance in the team’s 4-3 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes on Saturday night.
Lafferty was +3 with the opening goal and an assist in the big win over an Eastern Conference foe. He’s now up to eight goals and 15 points on the season, with three of those goals coming in his last four games.
Have a Laff, it's good for you. š pic.twitter.com/UXxTlBVLfa
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 10, 2023
“That’s a typical power forward goal. If you look at that goal, he goes through the middle drive, bulls his way in, knocks people out, and then rebound is there and he puts it in,” Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet said happily after the game. “That’s a power forward-type of goal. You have to have those types of goals to win.”
Perhaps more important to the team’s success than thriving on an individual level, Lafferty has helped unlock the best in superstar Elias Pettersson.
With both of those two players on the ice at five-on-five, the Canucks have outscored opponents 8-2 this season. That’s a much better ratio than the 16-16 that Pettersson sports away from Lafferty. While it is a small sample size, the early results have been promising.
“He’s really helped Petey, being that fast forechecker,” continued Tocchet after the game against the Hurricanes. “He’s relishing that role right now. Hopefully he can stay there.”
The chemistry continues to grow between the two players. Lafferty and Pettersson even shared a huge on-ice embrace after the Swedish player’s go-ahead third-period goal on Saturday.
Lafferty is all of us. pic.twitter.com/nsYVBPo4ZB
— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) December 10, 2023
The American-born winger is in the final season of a contract that costs $1.15 million against the cap. He will be an unrestricted free agent next summer. While he could easily slip through the cracks as the Canucks handle extensions for Elias Pettersson, Filip Hronek, and Nikita Zadorov, his current play suggests he deserves to be more than an afterthought.
With a rough estimate of just over $30 million in cap space next summer, the Canucks might have to make some difficult decisions to fit everyone.
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