Eins, Zwei, Ehrhoff

The native German and German Olympian has came to Vancouver from San Jose in a trade that Gillis would have been stupid not to make and with little expectation on a player no one knew much about Ehrhoff has certainly surpassed any expectation I had set of him. He is the most versatile defenceman on the Canucks and his play at both ends of the ice this season makes him the most consistent defenceman. His vision on the ice has led to him contributing offensively in a capacity that was expected by Salo and Bieksa, not the new guy.

Ehrhoff is on pace to put up career numbers. His career high in goals is 10, he has 5 right now. His career high for points and assists is 42 and 34 respectively. He sits at 5 Goals, 10 assists and 15 points through 23 games. He also is a +11 which puts him well clear of the rest of the team. The German’s shot also brings another dimension to the Canucks offense. Not only does he boast a cannon that is on par with Salo, and last years super skills winner Edler, but he also has an accurate wrist.

Ehrhoff sees the ice so well and knows when to pinch in. His presence on the power play makes him more than just a point shot. The top four blue liner has come onto the team and established himself as one of the top Canucks defenceman at exactly the right time. There was a hole that needed to be filled after Ohlund left, and with a struggling Edler, a Salo that’s had difficulty getting offensively started, and injury, Ehrhoff has stepped up and established himself on this team as more than just another defenceman.

In a time when the Canucks defence, and the Canucks offense has struggled Ehrhoff has come in and established himself as a staple on the blue line. He’s defensively responsible, knows when to pinch in on the rush, and he’s responsible on the ice. His penalty numbers are few and once this Canucks defence finds it’s niche and fixes some of the problems it’s having on an individual level the Canucks defense is going to take that step to the next level largely in part to the addition of Christian Ehrhoff.