Welcome back to installment number three of our award-winning “goals and expectations for each Vancouver Canuck in 2024-25” series here at CanucksArmy. So far, we’ve set the bar(s) for captain Quinn Hughes, his defence partner Filip Hronek, and Elias Pettersson.

Today, we’re turning our focus to the forward position, where we find 29-year-old right-shot winger Kiefer Sherwood, who signed a two-year contract worth $1.5 million annually with the Canucks in free agency this summer.

Sherwood is listed as a left winger in most places, but lined up on both wings throughout the season and throughout the Predators’ series against the Canucks. He’ll bring some versatility as a right-shot, something the Canucks don’t exactly have an abundance of in their forward group.

Sherwood plays a high-flying game, is heavy on the forecheck, and as Canucks captain Quinn Hughes told GM Patrik Allvin, Sherwood is flat-out annoying to play against. Sherwood should fit nicely with the Canucks, the only question now is how nicely.

Above Expectations: Sherwood becomes Dakota Joshua 2.0

Before the Canucks re-signed Dakota Joshua in free agency, Patrik Allvin’s end of season comments about finding the next Dakota Joshua sparked many conversations in the market. Those conversations essentially stopped when the Canucks re-upped THE Dakota Joshua, but they still may have found another Dakota Joshua in Sherwood if everything breaks right.

The rough definition of “the next Dakota Joshua” around these parts is basically a player who has shown flashes of potential but has never quite got the opportunity he will get in Vancouver. In Joshua’s case, he was mainly in the AHL showing that potential, but for Sherwood, it was in the NHL that he showed he can hang with the big boys.

In fact, Sherwood’s first full season in the NHL came just this past season, and it was even better than Joshua’s first full season with the Canucks in 2022-23.

Dakota Joshua’s first full NHL season (2022-23): 79 GP, 11 G, 12 A (23 points)
Kiefer Sherwood’s first full NHL season (2023-24): 68 GP, 10 G, 17 A (27 points)

Now, it’s worth mentioning that Sherwood is a year older than Joshua and has bounced around between the NHL and AHL in years prior. This past year was just the first year he spent all his time in the NHL. Could that be a career-year that Sherwood never matches in his time as a Canuck? Maybe! But could it also be a Joshua-like starting point that Sherwood builds off of in 2024-25! Maybe!

There’s a chance that Sherwood finds himself in a top nine or maybe even top six role this season, and you’d be foolish to scoff at the possibility given that we saw players like Phil Di Giuseppe and Pius Suter have extended stays in the Canucks’ top six this past season. Increased ice time and an increased role could unlock more offensive potential for Sherwood this season, and him putting up anywhere near 20 goals would certainly slot in as “above expectations” for a player who many are pencilling onto the fourth line to begin the new season.

Meeting expectations: Be a responsible energy bottom six winger who chips in on offence and kills penalties

At the very least, the Canucks are expecting Sherwood to be the player he was with the Predators last season. A hard-nosed energy bottom six forward who the coach feels comfortable putting up against any line. Sherwood’s line was the first on the ice against the Canucks in game 1 of round 1 of the playoffs, and on his first shift, he got in on the forecheck and made life difficult on the Canucks’ players right away.

Sherwood is a physical winger, and at the very least, he’ll bring that effort and compete level each and every night.

“We saw first hand in the playoffs how tough Kiefer is to play against,” Allvin said after the signing. “We like his quickness, tenacity, and the way he competes in all situations. Adding another physical player to the mix will work well with the way our forward group is currently constructed.”

Maybe he won’t match his point totals from this past season. 27 points in 68 games is an impressive clip, and coming in slightly below that won’t necessarily mean the season is a failure for Sherwood. He brings enough in other parts of the game that at $1.5 million, he can more than prove his worth to the Canucks without putting up quite as much offence.

What would constitute a failure of a season for Sherwood though…

Under expectations: Single-digit point totals, limited PK time, and multiple healthy scratches

There shouldn’t be many games this season where Sherwood is a healthy scratch for the Canucks. On paper, he’s their best fourth liner, and one of their best bottom six players as a whole.

As we said above, not matching the scoring rate he achieved this past season wouldn’t mean he’s coming in under expectations, but what would is his offensive game reaching second-half Ilya Mikheyev levels over the course of a full season.

Further, Allvin made it clear that they’re expecting Sherwood to be hard to play against. To forecheck hard, to be the first on pucks, and to win his wall battles. If Sherwood isn’t those things, he’ll find himself in the press box and losing time on the penalty kill, which would fit the bill of the 6-foot winger coming in under expectations in his first season as a Canuck.

Goals in 2024-25: 

-Break 20 goals for the first time
-Earn top nine forward time
-Help improve the Canucks’ penalty kill
-Set a career-high in games played (68 is the number to beat)

Like many of the Canucks’ free agent signings, Sherwood is an intriguing player who looks like he could flourish with the Vancouver Canucks. It’s now up to him how this next chapter of his career will shake out.