Canucks Roll Call: What’s Jason Dickinson’s Value?

Canucks Roll Call is assessing every player who held a significant place in the fortunes of the 2021-22 Vancouver Canucks season. We’ll be looking at the highs and lows they experienced during the recent campaign, as well as what the future holds for them in Vancouver. Today we feature forward Jason Dickinson

Position: Center, left wing

2021-22 totals (GP-G-A-P): 62-5-6-11, 19 PIM

Contract Status: Two years remaining with an annual salary cap hit of $2.650-million.

Season Synopsis

Vancouver Canucks forward Jason Dickinson flew under the radar for the most part during the 2021-’22 season and mostly for the wrong reasons. Injuries factored in. He missed a couple of games back at the end of October, missed nine days on Covid protocols starting on New Year’s Day, and then sat out five-and-a-half weeks with an upper body injury suffered in a game against the Calgary Flames on February 24th.

He came back near the end of the season fresh and motivated, especially against his former Dallas Stars club. He tallied a goal and two assists in the 6-2 victory at home on April 18th. It was his only multi-point game of the season.

HIghlights

Not a whole lot to point to outside of April 18th. His ice time picked up with the arrival of Head Coach Bruce Boudreau in early December, skating more than 17-minutes on three occasions, but then it started to wane again upon returning from Covid protocols in mid-January.

Increased ice time did not equate to increased offence.

101 hits isn’t a bad thing. Dickinson’s definitely not afraid, and he essentially drew the same number of penalties as he took.

He had twice as many takeaways as giveaways.

Lowlights

Dickinson had goalless streaks of 23 and 20 games. That a significant hunk of the season. Yes, he was brought in to be a lower six checker, grinder, and penalty killer, but for the Vancouver Canucks to take the next step(s), players in his position need to contribute something to the offence.

A dip in confidence that snowballed may have contributed to his complete lack of finish.

His possession/shot analytics are simply not good. He was originally slotted to be one of the regular centers down the line-up and ended up bumped to the wing.

What the future holds

You give him another chance. New coaches, new club, and injury issues tampered any momentum Dickinson would have liked to establish. $2.6-million isn’t about to break the bank, but it’s somewhat urgent that Dickinson comes out as an effective player with a bit of a spark in 2022-’23.

Urgent for the club and for the future of the 26-year-old lefty. So far he hasn’t been worth it.