Conor Garland has been having an outstanding year with the Vancouver Canucks as we hit the halfway point of the 2024-25 NHL season. Garland is currently on pace for career highs in assists, points, and time on ice. Not only is Garland on pace for a personal best season, but he’s also currently first in points among Canucks forwards as well as ice time.
Last season, the Massachusetts native ranked as the 7th forward on the team in ice time and 4th among forwards in points. This season, he’s taken that to a whole new level.
Primarily on the third line last season, Garland seemingly solidified himself into a good middle-six forward, now he’s taken an even bigger step as the 28-year-old has made himself into a top-six guy up front for the Vancouver Canucks.
The steps Garland has taken over the past few years have been huge for the Canucks’ organization. From being a player many fans wanted out and reports that Garland was seeking a trade out of Vancouver, to becoming a big-time contributor and a player that fans have rallied around and love. This has helped patch the wounds of what could have been a deal that held the Canucks back from reaching the heights they have, trading the pick that turned into Dylan Guenther for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland.
Listed at 5’10, 165 lbs, Garland is one of the smallest players on the team. Despite that, he is known for his dominance down low in the offensive zone. He has found a way to use his lack of size to his advantage, which has made him so impactful.
Most players that dominate below the goalline use size, length and strength to fend off defenders and win battles. Garland uses his underrated edge work to spin off defenders and create space. He also uses similar tactics to win puck battles by being a slippery player that defenders struggle to pin against the boards.
His grit and ability on the forecheck despite his size are what helped him find the role he did last year on the third line with Teddy Blueger and Dakota Joshua, this season it’s what has gotten him promoted to be the leader in ice time amongst forwards.
In Arizona, Garland was primarily a top-six forward before coming to Vancouver, his initial season in Vancouver was quite successful and that was when he set his current career-high 52 points, the year after that though he did see some regression and struggled a bit.
Last season, the Joshua, Blueger, and Garland line was dominant with Garland as the main play driver there. His dominance in a third-line role has turned him into a plug-and-play player for the Canucks. No matter where Garland is on the lineup sheet he plays with the same level of effort and intensity.
This is a big reason why he is so trusted by head coach Rick Tocchet to play the big minutes he’s seeing for the Canucks this season. Everyone’s heard the term ‘Tocchet player’, and the assumption is that means someone who is big, hard-nosed, checks hard, wins battles, and plays structured hockey. Despite his lack of size, Conor Garland has proven that a smaller player can do everything a coach like Tocchet wants.
Being the Swiss army knife Garland is, he has turned himself into a crucial player for the Canucks night in and night out, especially during this season when the team has faced so much adversity with injuries throughout the lineup.
Garland is loved among the Canucks’ fanbase and his teammates love playing with him as well. He has established himself as a tough playmaker, gaining lots of chemistry with the likes of Joshua and Blueger as well as the Canucks’ top-line forwards like Elias Pettersson.
In just two seasons Garland has gone from a player who didn’t seem to have much of a fit anywhere in the lineup and seemed like a potential trade was needed to dump his salary, to a player that fits up and down the lineup and it could be argued that he is playing above his salary.
