Who's hot and who's not in the NHL? Canucks duo on the rise

A couple of weeks ago, we highlighted Brock Boeser’s early-season struggles, placing him very firmly in the “Who’s Not” portion of our weekly column.

Boeser went almost a month without scoring a goal at five-on-five. For a player who’s touted as a pure goal-scorer, that’s just completely out of character.

Much like his, team the Vancouver Canucks, Boeser was struggling without showing many signs of turning his season around.

Then the Canucks cleaned house.

After the club fired GM Jim Benning and head coach Travis Green along with AGM John Weisbrod and assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner, Boeser caught fire almost instantly.

This is thanks in large part to the arrival of new head coach Bruce Boudreau, who on his first day with the team pulled Boeser aside and stressed to him the importance of just shooting the puck again.

“All I was telling Brock was that ‘every time you played against us, you scored and you were shooting’,” Boudreau said. “Let’s get back to shooting. That’s what I want to see. I think if he scores a goal, his confidence is going to come back, but it all starts with shooting the puck if you’re a shooter. Let’s shoot the puck. Let’s not try to be cute.”

And with five goals in the six games Boudreau has been behind the bench for, it seems Boeser has taken his coach’s advice to heart.

Thatcher Demko

As a goaltender, when your team plays better in front of you, your numbers are going to improve, and that’s certainly been the case for Thatcher Demko.

That being said, the Canucks’ starting netminder has been absolutely stellar over the past six games. He was good earlier in the season too, but wasn’t necessarily stealing wins for his team the way he has been over the Canucks’ recent run of games.

Ever since his coming out performance in the Edmonton bubble in 2020, Demko has done nothing but show the Canucks and their fans that his bubble success wasn’t just a flash in the pan.

Canucks president Jim Rutherford had some thoughts on Demko:

“One of the real pluses is we have a franchise goalie,” Rutherford said when reflecting on his new team. “When you’re trying to build a championship team, and you already have that piece in place, you can start chipping away at things.”

On the season, Demko’s numbers don’t look that impressive, but going 5-0 in his last five starts while also being named the NHL’s first star of the week last week, Demko’s impact on the Canucks is simply undeniable.

Who’s Not

Dougie Hamilton 

Dougie Hamilton has struggled recently, at both ends of the ice. 

Over his last five games, Hamilton has just one assist and hasn’t scored since November 28.

We know plus-minus is one of the most deceptive stats in hockey, but when you’re minus-9 over your last four games, it’s worth noting — at the very least. 

The Devils are 1-8-1 in their last 10 games and have lost five straight. They are certainly hoping Hamilton, along with the rest of their team, can turn things around in a hurry. 

Kailer Yamamoto

Not much has gone right for the Edmonton Oilers as of late, and the same can certainly be said for Kailer Yamamoto.

Yamamoto has just one assist over his last eight games and hasn’t contributed a goal to the Oilers’ efforts since December 1.

Recently, the Oilers have started to turn around things around, but they had a brutal month of December as a whole. After starting the season on a heater and looking like the early favorites to win the Pacific Division, the Oilers now find themselves in the second wild-card spot in the West.

The Oilers need secondary scoring and could certainly use some of it from Yamamoto.