Canucks getting great fourth line production from Sam Lafferty

On October 8, at the beginning of the 2023-24 National Hockey League regular season, the Vancouver Canucks acquired forward Sam Lafferty of Holidaysburg, Pennsylvania, from the Toronto Maple Leafs for a fifth round pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft. At the time of the trade, the transaction was considered a little under the radar. It is early still, but so far the trade has paid huge dividends for the Canucks. Lafferty has solidified the fourth line for Vancouver, a team that has exceeded expectations big time, and has emerged as one of the elite defensive forwards in the NHL.

Lafferty’s 2023-24 NHL Statistics

In 19 games, Lafferty has four goals and four assists for eight points. He is a +9 with 20 penalty minutes, two game-winning goals, one shorthanded goal, 22 shots on goal, 50 faceoff wins, 10 blocked shots, 24 hits, two takeaways, and 11 giveaways. Lafferty’s first game-winning goal came from Nils Hoglander of Bocktrask, Sweden on October 14 in a 4-3 Canucks win over the Edmonton Oilers. Lafferty then scored a second game-winner on Monday which turned out to be shorthanded. He scored from center Teddy Blueger of Riga, Latvia in a 3-1 Canucks win over the San Jose Sharks.

Lafferty is currently seeing playing time alongside Anthony Beauvillier of Sorel-Tracy, Quebec (two goals and five assists for seven points), and Hoglander (five goals and three assists for eight points). The bottom line is the Canucks have had 23 points from the fourth line after 19 games.

Lafferty’s 2022-23 NHL Statistics

The Canucks are Lafferty’s fourth NHL team. In addition to the Maple Leafs, he has played with the Chicago Blackhawks and Pittsburgh Penguins. In 70 games with Chicago and Toronto last season, Lafferty had 12 goals and 15 assists for 27 points. He was a -11 with 37 penalty minutes, five shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 102 shots on goal, 248 faceoff wins, 33 blocked shots, 125 hits, 27 takeaways, and 34 giveaways. The game-winning goal came on October 15, 2022 in a 5-2 Blackhawks win over the San Jose Sharks. Lafferty actually scored two shorthanded goals in the game. He has emerged as an elite penalty-killer, and checking-line forward. As a result, the Canucks are second in the Pacific Division with 27 points.