Top 50 Canucks players of all time: #35 Dan Hamhuis

Join us this summer as we count down the top 50 Vancouver Canucks players of all time! #35: Dan Hamhuis

Sometimes, it’s just nice to be chosen.

After years of dreaming about BC-born stars like Joe Sakic and Paul Kariya coming home, many fans of the Vancouver Canucks set their sights on one of the top UFAs on the 2010 offseason market – Dan Hamhuis of Smithers, British Columbia.

Unfortunately, the team that drafted and developed Hamhuis into a top NHL defender had other ideas. They flipped Hamhuis’ free agent rights to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Ryan Parent.

But Hamhuis wouldn’t sign with the Flyers. So, a week later, the Flyers flipped his rights, again, to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a third-round pick. But Hamhuis would not sign with the Penguins, either.

As much as the Canucks had their sights set on Hamhuis, he had his sights set on them. A week after the Pittsburgh trade, Hamhuis became a free agent proper and promptly signed with the Canucks for six years and $27 million.

That next season, they went to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Hamhuis’ story began and continues in BC. He was born and raised in Smithers on December 13, 1982, and maintains a home there to this day. He played his WHL hockey for the relatively nearby Prince George Cougars, a team he is now the part-owner of, along with Eric Brewer.

Hamhuis’ time in PG was good enough to see him drafted 12^th overall by the Nashville Predators in 2001. After making his pro debut with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2002/03, Hamhuis became an NHL rookie in Nashville for the 2003/04 season, playing in 80 games and posting a respectable 26 points.

The 2004/05 lockout kept Hamhuis in the AHL for another season, but he was back in Nashville for 2005/06 and the next four seasons after that. During that time, Hamhuis established himself as a two-way talent who placed a greater emphasis on his own end than most, posting as many as 38 points in a season (2005/06) and consistently achieving positive defensive results.

But the Predators failed to make it out of the first round a single time in Hamhuis’ tenure. So, in the summer of 2010, he departed for greener and more familiar pastures.

His impact in Vancouver was immediate. Hamhuis put up 23 points in 64 games during that first 2010/11 regular season with the Canucks. More importantly, he became the team’s most reliable shutdown presence, frequently partnering with Kevin Bieksa to form the Canucks’ most effective pairing.

Hamhuis’s impact was felt especially in the playoffs of that year, or, at least, the first three rounds. After helping bring the Canucks to the Stanley Cup Finals, Hamhuis infamously attempted a hip check on Milan Lucic and ended up with a hernia, among other ailments, for his troubles. That knocked Hamhuis out of the postseason, and some will attest that it also cost the Canucks their best shot at a Cup. And, really, if they made it to Game 7 without Hamhuis, one can only wonder what they would have accomplished with him.

The 2011 run might have been the peak for that edition of the Canucks, but it wasn’t necessarily so for Hamhuis, personally. The following season, 2011/12, saw him post a career-high 33 assists in 82 games. The year after that, 2012/13, saw him put up his highest per-game scoring rate with 24 points in 47 games, albeit in a lockout-shortened campaign.

All told, Hamhuis would play six full seasons in Vancouver, totalling 389 games, 23 goals, 119 assists, and 142 points, along with a remarkable +78 rating. According to Hockey-Reference.com, Hamhuis maintained a positive possession rating throughout his time in Vancouver despite starting the majority of his shifts in the defensive end.

His time with the Canucks ended in a mild controversy. With Hamhuis a pending UFA in the 2015/16 season, and with the team having no intention to re-sign him, many fans got excited at the prospect of a sizeable deadline return. The scuttlebutt at the time suggested that Hamhuis was only willing to waive his no-trade clause for a handful of destinations, including Dallas and Chicago, but GM Jim Benning was unable to close a deal. This led to some ill will toward Hamhuis, but that’s largely dissipated since – in part, no doubt, because everyone knows Benning would have bungled that trade anyway.

Hamhuis did sign with the Stars for the 2016/17 season, played two years there, and then returned to Nashville for his final two seasons, retiring in 2020 with 1148 NHL games under his belt.

Hamhuis ranks 17^th in all-time games played by Canucks defenders at 389 and 15^th in all-time points with 142. His average ice-time of 22:49 is the 8^th-highest of anyone who spent significant time in Vancouver.

But Hamhuis’s impact could never best be measured by numbers. It was about the difference he made – off the ice, when he chose to pursue Vancouver as a UFA, and on the ice when he helped turn them into a true contender the very next year.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko