Vancouver Canucks: How Does Their Defense Compare vs. Last Year's Team?

The NHL playoffs are a grind. They are a war of attrition, and players will be injured in every series. Some will come back, and others will be done for the season. 

No where is this more apparent than on defence.

If a forward is injured, a replacement can be slotted in and somewhat hidden on the fourth line. 

But if you want to go deep, you can't hide a replacement defenceman like that. Any playoff-capable team will be quick to pounce on a weak defenceman and take advantage of them.

The Canucks used nine different defenders in their playoff campaign last spring. Only Kevin Bieksa and Alex Edler played in all 25 playoff games. 

The other six NHL regular defenders on the roster didn't play the entire playoff campaign, largely due to injury.

Christian Ehrhoff (23 GP), Sami Salo (21), Dan Hamhuis (19), Aaron Rome (14), Keith Ballard (10) and Andrew Alberts (9) all saw time alternating between manning the blue line and sitting in the press box.

Rookie surprise Chris Tanev also came up and played five playoff games when the roster of eight NHL veterans was decimated by injury. 

Nolan Baumgartner, the captain of the Canuck's AHL farm team, was called up and almost played in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final as a game-time decision in case one of the walking wounded couldn't play.

Going into the playoffs in a few short weeks, the Canucks' defence looks largely the same as last year. 

Gone is Ehrhoff, who, lured by big money and longer summers, signed with the Buffalo Sabres as a free agent. His offense has largely been replaced by committee, with Bieksa, Hamhuis and Edler collectively picking up the slack, while veteran Salo continues to collect his points as well with a blistering slapshot.

Tanev spent the first half of the season playing big minutes for the AHL Chicago Wolves, and he has looked even better than his impressive debut last year in the 20 games he has played for the Canucks to date this season.

Offensive specialist Marc-Andrew Gragnani was also acquired at the trading deadline to add another body to the roster in preparation for the inevitable injuries.

In their own end, this year's edition of the Canucks have averaged 2.37 goals against per game, a slight decrease from their NHL-best 2.20 goals against per game last season.

This decline can largely be attributed to the much talked-about overall team slump from mid-January to mid-March.

Under Alain Vigneault, Vancouver has prided itself in having an active defence that jumps into the the play whenever possible. 

Last season's defensive corps put up 42 goals and 157 points in 82 games, led by Ehrhoff's 14 goals and 50 points.

This season, the defense has chipped in 38 goals and 177 points in 76 games, led by All-Star Edler's 11 goals and 46 points.

In terms of physicality and toughness, last year's team threw 642 hits through the 82-game regular season, led by the hulking Alberts, who had 113 hits.

This year's defenders have thrown 648 hits to date, led by Bieksa's 154 hits.

The defenders are also largely healthy as the season winds down.

At this time last year, Edler was still on injured reserve after January back surgery.

With six games left on the schedule, only two Canucks defencemen are injured, and they are both third-pairing guys. 

Rome suffered a minor leg injury in last Saturday's tilt against the Avalanche and is expected to miss the next few games as a precautionary measure.

Ballard has been gone for over two months with a concussion, although the good news is that he was cleared to practice with the team this week, and barring any setbacks, he should be available for the playoffs as well.

The Canucks, who secured their playoff spot back in January, have also had the luxury of rotating veterans such as Salo and Bieksa out to give them maintenance days to rest up for the playoffs.

Assuming that everyone is available for Game 1 of the first round, expect Hamhuis, Bieksa, Salo, Edler and Tanev to start. The sixth defenceman slot will depend on who the Canucks are playing.

In most circumstances, it should be Rome, but if Ballard gets a chance to play in the final regular-season games and looks good, he might draw in.

If Vigneault thinks the team needs more size or offense, Alberts or Gragnani, respectively, would draw in.

All in all, the Canucks appear to be much stronger on defence than they were last year. And yes, if necessary, Baumgartner is still available.