Article content

Want shots on goal?

Reid Boucher is your man.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Analysis: Reid Boucher is the Canucks' best shot driver Back to video

When the 23-year-old Grand Ledge, Mich.-born winger is on the ice, Canucks shot attempts peak (55.4 per 60 even-strength minutes, best on the team). When he’s off, the number dips terribly (49.7 per 60, fourth-lowest on the team).

Of course, raw shot-attempt numbers aren’t the whole story: but no matter which way you look, you keep finding Boucher’s name at the top. Unblocked shot attempts, he’s No. 1. Shots on net, he’s No. 2.

And even better: when Boucher’s on the ice, shots from the slot are well above the league average. Shots from the left side are, too.

hockeyviz.com

After his pair of goals last Saturday, he’s now scored five times in 20 games for the Canucks.

“I’m supposed to be an offensive guy,” he said Tuesday morning after the Canucks’ morning skate. “It’s good to be able to contribute.”

The ice time didn’t come right away, though. After being picked up Jan. 4 off waivers from the New Jersey Devils, Boucher skated just once over his first month with the team, a 6:04 stint Jan. 17 against the Predators in Nashville.

After spending the month before his Canucks move bouncing on waivers between New Jersey (he played nine times for the Devils this season) and Nashville (three games) — with a five-game conditioning stint in AHL Milwaukee in the middle — Boucher said he never lost hope.

“I was just trying to stay positive,” he said of watching game after game from the press box. “It’s tough watching games but I put my focus on getting my opportunity.”

Since getting his second Canucks game under his belt Feb. 9, he’s been a near-fixture in the lineup.

“They want to see a consistent game, a 200-foot game,” he said of what the Canucks brass has told him they want to see from him as the season closes out and eyes shift towards the 2018-19 Canucks. “I thought I’ve been doing a pretty good job.”

Boucher really was surprised by his second goal in Minny

The video didn’t lie on Saturday: even Boucher didn’t think he’d scored what turned out to be his second goal.

“I had no idea,” he said with a laugh on Tuesday. “I didn’t exactly see where the puck went.”

“It sounded like it hit the post.”