Canucks Preseason Profile
Kiefer Sherwood
30-year-old, right-shot winger
6-foot, 195 pounds.
No PP, Yes PK
Kiefer Sherwood set an NHL record for hits in a season with 462 for the Canucks in 2024-’25. That, on top of the fact he had the best puck possession percentage among the Vancouver forwards who played a full schedule. That would be 78 games in his case.
So he had grit and commitment going for him while also posting some positive basic analytics. It’s the previous that matters most.
Skill and/or offensive push is obviously important, but without commitment to systems and cause from your line-up in its entirety, your club is ultimately just going through the motions.
Sherwood set an example for all others to follow.
“He was as consistent a player as you could find,” Canucks TV analyst Dave Tomlinson told us recently. “Good for six hits every night at the start of the season, and good for six hits a night at the end.”
We could end this profile there, but Sherwood also posted the highest point total (33), shot total (114), and shooting percentage (13.2%) of his career.
Kiefer found his happy place, despite playing a substantial number of games on four different line combinations, the most being 21 games with Danton Heinen and Teddy Blueger.
Heinen was shipped to the Penguins on February 1st in the deal that brought winger Drew O’Connor and defenceman Marcus Pettersson to Vancouver.
Blueger is expected to center the 4th line this season, whether Sherwood is on it or not. Kiefer also played 14 games with top forwards Elias Pettersson and Jake DeBrusk.
A 30-year-old native of Columbus, Ohio, Sherwood enters a contract year. If he plays his cards right he’ll improve on the two-year, $1.5-million per season contract he signed with the Canucks in July of 2024.
Prior to that, he worked on a series of league-minimum deals with the Predators, Avalanche and Ducks. Most of them were two-way.
The Canucks should benefit from Kiefer’s recent ascension, while his plan is to keep it going.
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— Canucks Holiday 9; Lost Friends, Olympic Hopefuls, Greed
