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Canucks Player Autopsy: Shawn Matthias

All the positions, all the lines... Was it enough to secure a contract with us next year?

By gmonk33
Anne-Marie Sorvin-USA TODAY Sports

Who's this guy? Shawn Matthias

Position: C/W

Shoots: L

Height: 6’4"

Weight: 223

Born: February 19, 1988

Drafted by Detroit with the 47th selection in the 2006 draft out of Belleville of the Ontario Hockey League.  Matthias was dealt to Florida for Todd Bertuzzi in 2007… In 2014, Matty was brought to Vancouver in the trade that sent Luongo back to Florida… There is a weird connection between Matthias, Bertuzzi, and Luongo where we get Matthias from Detroit for Bertuzzi. I guess having a 27 year old Matthias now is better than having an unofficially retired Bertuzzi, we WIN!

What'd he do?


18-9 in some sports is the sign of a great season.  Case in point, a pitcher who has an 18-9 season is likely going to be considered a candidate for the Cy Young award (dependent upon their other stats of course).  Unfortunately those metrics don’t translate in hockey…

There are no doubts that Matthias has a value to an NHL team because of his adaptability.  He spent time at all 3 forward positions during the course of the season; and spent time on the 2nd, 3rd, 4th and injured list in the same timeframe.

So was he any good?


Shawn Matthias showed glimpses of brilliance.  His best night as a Canuck happened against the Broooons on home ice where he netted 3 goals.

Hat Trick

What'd we like?


Potting 18 is pretty decent for a 3rd liner.  In fact, he was tied for 3rd on the team in goals… He was tied with 2 of the triplets (Hank & the Burr) which is pretty good company in my opinion.

He has some pretty good wheels!   Here’s an example via a nifty little goal vs. Carolina:

His 13.6% shooting percentage was pretty respectable considering the NHL average shooting percentage is around 9%.

I think what I’m seeing here suggests that he should play more minutes based on his production per 60…

Cool. So what did we hate?

He was consistently inconsistent!  There were shifts where he looked like he was living up to his top 6 potential by driving to the net with a purpose and putting together a great scoring chance.  That shift could be followed by one where you wonder who let the beer leaguer on the ice.

0.35 points per game is not enough for a 27 year old player with his skill set.  A few more assists and we wouldn't be discussing his low overall production.

So what now?


Odds are we don’t resign Matthias because of the wealth of players who will be waiver eligible next season.  He’ll get a nice payday somewhere, but I don’t expect it to be in Vancouver next year.

Gmonk33’s rating:  B for Goals;  D for Assists… C Average!

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