Canuck fans hold a bevy of opinions. “Sedin sisters are useless”, “Sundin is slow and old”, “Kesler has stone hands”, “Johnson is an excellent PKer”, and the antitheses to these. Unifying opinions do exist, however. To me the most prominent is “Taylor Pyatt is useless”.
For the past two seasons I have defended Pyatt. He’s become the whipping boy and I have a natural tendency to find positives while others attempt to harp on the negatives (there are exceptions, see: Brown, Mike...all of them).
Pyatt has shown that he is offensively and physically inconsistent. This stems from the fact that he has all the tools a hockey player could want as well as a good understanding of the game but lacks the ability to put everything together. His talent is tantalizing but the inability to reach even a fraction of his potential has left most Canucks fans frustrated. I’m sure Sabres fans feel the same way. All of this I will not deny. Despite his highly toned ability to frustrate, I will state that Taylor Pyatt has his a hidden use.

I attend around 20 regular season games a season. For about fifteen of these games I sit on my own and am forced to make conversation with those around me. Being at a hockey game the conversations naturally revolve around the Canucks. It is during these live games that it Taylor Pyatt becomes noticeable. His game does not translate to television for whatever reason but watching him live you can see why he has had a roster spot for 514 NHL games. I’m not going to on about the little things; the occasional big hit or timely goal. Every player is expected to deliver one of them. Pyatt’s biggest asset is his defensive play, specifically his penalty killing abilities.

Here are Pyatt’s numbers for Goals Against per 60 minutes of penalty killing ice time (GA/60 PK)*:

Pyatt - 4.90
Hansen - 5.32
Burrows - 6.71
Kesler - 7.88
Johnson - 11.61

Burrows and Kesler tend to take the hardest assignments, typically seeing the opposing team’s first powerplay unit. Although Pyatt (and Hansen for that matter) tend to play against the second unit they are playing with the, statistically, worst penalty killer on the team in Ryan Johnson. Quite simply, in my opinion, Pyatt is the best penalty killer on the team. He uses his large body to clog passing and shooting lanes forcing opponents to make riskier plays. His board work is phenomenal, using his frame to angle players, win battles, and protect the puck. Yet, the most his most obvious skill is the stick lift. Countless times I have watched Pyatt skate near the blueline, lift a stick, grab the puck, and clear it to safety. If the penalty reaches the second minute it is rare that a goal will be scored.

For a team that leads the NHL in penalties. For a team that has struggled on the penalty kill the past two seasons. Taylor Pyatt’s contribution to this aspect of the game has to be pointed out. He is part of the solution rather than the problem. One could argue that he is receiving sheltered minutes and this is not necessarily untrue. There are no easy penalty killing minutes, however. If anything with Kesler and Burrows’ emergence as top-6 wingers I would like to see their penalty killing time reduced while Pyatt’s is increased.

Next time you are watching a Canucks game and find yourself cursing his name, watch the next penalty kill. Watch it carefully. Pyatt’s usefulness should become apparent.

*Thanks to pitseleh for the numbers