When Henrik and Daniel Sedin aren’t producing points the Vancouver Canucks’ offensive attack is dead in the water.

With Henrik on the ice the Canucks have scored 40 goals. When the team’s captain, still an elite playmaker after all these years, is sitting on the bench, the Canucks have scored just 36 times.

“It’s been a concern for us, for sure,” Canucks head coach Willie Desjardins said. “You have to marvel at Hank and Danny and how they’ve been able to stay with their game and even find a new level. Jannik Hansen has come in and fit on that line and they’ve taken off a little bit for the last nine games.

“With that said, we do need scoring from the other units. It’s not fair that other teams are just keying on that unit. Other teams know if that line doesn’t score then we’re in trouble.”

Vancouver’s lack of forward depth has been strained by the loss of Brandon Sutter. Sutter isn’t an offensive force in his own right, but at least provides the club with a sturdy, veteran centreman.

Though the club broke out offensively earlier this week against the Buffalo Sabres, in the eight games prior Vancouver manufactured just three goals without Henrik on the ice.

“(The Sedins) get the best matchups on them,” Desjardins said. “Every time they go on the ice, other guys know they’ve got to be on those guys…

“We need to find a little chemistry with our other (lines).”

In looking over Vancouver’s other forward lines, the trio that includes 19-year-old Jared McCann, Radim Vrbata and Chris Higgins stands out. If the Canucks are going to find some secondary offensive support during a crucial December stretch, this is the line with the potential to do it.

McCann, Higgins and Vrbata haven’t had much opportunity to play together yet this season, largely due to some tough injury luck for Higgins. In a limited run they’ve had some peripheral success though.

Higgins, McCann and Vrbata have skated together at 5-on-5 for just over 50 minutes this season and while they’ve generated only two goals in that time, their line has managed to control better than 60 per cent of the shot attempts, according to the Super WOWY tool found at puckalytics.com.

The new McCann line’s production hasn’t matched the extent to which they’ve controlled the play, but they’ve been snake bit. If this trio can continue to generate offensive zonetime the way they have so far, the goals should come.

Desjardins, for one, is optimistic.

“They’re all good players,” he said. “Vrbata had 30 goals last year, obviously he’s a gifted NHL scorer. McCann is a bit of an unknown, but so far this year he’s shown high-end offensive skill. He’s been a player who can break open a rush or a game, and he’s improved defensively. And Higgins has proved in the past that he can score as well, but he’s sort of an all-around player, he gives you a little bit of everything on the line.

“I think (the game against Buffalo) is kind of a start where we’re going to get some scoring out of the line because all three guys have that ability.”

The offensive calibration of McCann’s line is evident from their ice time. In recent games in which the Canucks were trailing – on Saturday against Boston, and last week against Dallas – McCann logged the second-most even-strength ice time among Vancouver centremen, behind only Henrik. In games in which the Canucks are holding on to a lead, that de facto second-line centre responsibility has fallen to Bo Horvat or Adam Cracknell.

It’s evident from the line’s deployment also. Desjardins isn’t one to zone match too obsessively, but this trio has started fewer than 30 per cent of its shifts in the defensive end of the rink at even strength. They’re carrying an offensive zone start percentage in the 60s, which may reflect their ability to get the puck moving in the right direction.

The Canucks seem to know what they may have in this group, but that’s not the only reason they’ll get an extended shot at building some chemistry and familiarity with one another.

“We’ve been juggling guys this year (because of injury) and it’s been tough to find the right combination,” Desjardins said. “I talked to the players and they kind of wanted us to maybe try and stay with a similar lineup a bit longer, so that’s what we tried to do: we tried to keep our lines intact.”

Whether that means giving McCann, Vrbata and Higgins a run together, leaning on them heavily in games when Vancouver is trailing or feeding them a steady diet of offensive zone starts, whatever the Canucks can do to help this line get going is worthwhile.

It’s clear that they’re Vancouver’s best chance at icing a secondary scoring line that resembles a consistent offensive threat.