Through the first quarter of the season, Kiefer Sherwood looks like the Canucks' smartest free-agent signing.
The literal impact is obvious. Sherwood has never met a check he didn’t finish. He currently leads the NHL in hits with 115 hits in just 18 games, 20 hits ahead of his former Nashville Predators teammate, Jeremy Lauzon, who is in second place. That puts Sherwood on pace for 534 hits over the course of an 82-game season, which would obliterate the single-season hit record of 383 hits set last season by Lauzon.
Kiefer Sherwood makes everyone he plays with better If Sherwood was throwing hits just for the sake of adding to his hits total, it wouldn’t be much help for the Canucks. But Sherwood hits with a purpose, always looking to create a turnover or take an opponent out of the play in order to help his teammates win possession of the puck.
"I'm not looking necessarily at numbers of hits; it's more about playing hockey," he said. "When the hits present themselves, I'll take them, but the puck's out there too. I want to make plays first and get the puck back and, over the time of games, get after their D as much as I can." All that is to say, Sherwood plays tough minutes and excels in those minutes, improving the results of his teammates along the way.
Pettersson immediately cited Sherwood’s ability on the forecheck when asked what has been working for that line. Sherwood’s fit with Pettersson is something few foresaw heading into the season but, at least in a small sample size, it seems like a match made in heaven. Sherwood has also been no slouch defensively. At 5-on-5, the Canucks have out-scored their opponents 14-to-8 with Sherwood on the ice, giving him the best goal differential among Canucks forwards this season.
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