Who is actually the hardest-hitting current Canuck?

EA Sports

Sherwood finds himself at the head of a heavy-hitting class, featuring some household names in the business of thunderous checks, like Radko Gudas, Luke Schenn, Marcus Foligno, and Tom Wilson.

It’s not tough to figure out why Sherwood is being honoured in this way. Last season, Sherwood’s 462 hits were both an all-time NHL record and a full 156 more than the next leading hitter, Mathieu Olivier. In other words, Sherwood hit so much last year that it became a headline.

But those most familiar with Sherwood’s game will know there’s a bit of a misconception happening here because the “Body Checking” stat in the NHL games determines how hard a player will hit. And while Sherwood is absolutely fantastic at landing hits with great frequency – perhaps the best ever, according to his record-setting performance – he’s very much a quantity-over-quality guy.

Sherwood is not a particularly hard hitter. He’s not exactly a featherweight, either, and we’re not about to start any petitions or write any letters to EA. But this did make us wonder, if not Sherwood, then who is the Canucks’ hardest hitter on the current roster? The answer isn’t all that easy to come up with.

If we were to isolate the single hardest hit thrown by a Canuck last year, that probably goes to Marcus Pettersson on Declan Chisholm, which practically folded the unfortunate Minnesota defender in half.

Pettersson is listed at 6’5” and 174 pounds, meaning he’s seven inches taller than Quinn Hughes but six pounds lighter. He only threw 23 hits in 31 games as a Canuck last year. He’s not someone anyone would identify as likely to be the team’s hardest hitter, and yet, look at that result. Pettersson could be seen as the direct opposite of Sherwood, in that he’s a quantity-over-quality hitter.

On that same front, if we were to name the current Canuck who has thrown the hardest hit all time, well then, we’ve got to talk about Tyler Myers. He’s a more frequent checker than Pettersson, but saves his truly bone-crushing blows for special occasions.

Like this famous hit on Duncan Keith, which we’ll take any opportunity to re-roll.

But then it’s hard to name anyone as the team’s hardest hitter when their hard hits only come once in a blue moon. It’d be nice to find someone who does a little bit more of the best of both worlds, combining force and frequency.

Sticking with the blueline, Derek Forbort deserves some serious consideration. At 6’4” and 216 pounds, he’s got the most weight per square inch on the defence corps, and he uses that size pretty often.

If there were a way to measure impact upon opposing players from last season, we wouldn’t be surprised at all if the team leader was Forbort.

Speaking of last season, Forbort really seemed to take the younger Elias Pettersson under his wing, and we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention Pettersson as someone who is going to get some recognition in this category sooner than later.

It’s certainly something that has already demanded the attention of opposing teams.

If we turn our thoughts to the incoming Canucks, we must mention Evander Kane. At 6’2” and 218 pounds, he’s the heaviest Canuck forward, and he doesn’t shy away from throwing it around, especially when it matters most.

Over the past three playoff seasons, only Sam Bennett has thrown more hits than Kane’s 211 in 53 postseason games.

Kane’s hits tend to target the opposition’s best players, and they often draw a response. But then Kane benefits heavily from being able to back it up against anyone who comes calling – or anyone who chooses not to.

There are a few other names worth mentioning from within the system. At 6’3” and 229, Victor Mancini is the same weight as Myers while being five inches shorter. As Mancini develops, he’s slowly but surely adding more consistent physicality to his game, and he’s certainly got the toolbox for some serious achievement there.

Vilmer Alriksson put himself on the Canucks’ long-term radar with his preseason performance last year, and that had a lot to do with his open-ice checking. At 6’6”, Alriksson is the tallest forward in the Vancouver system, and he’ll be adding muscle to that frame as he ages.

Honestly, if we were to name the player in the organization who best blends force and frequency of hits, it’s probably still Jett Woo. It’s been his calling card since his draft year, and it’s something he’s only gotten better at as he’s developed into a top-pairing AHL defender.

That said, Woo is going to have an uphill battle to first claim the 8D spot on the Vancouver roster in this upcoming Training Camp, and then to get into the lineup consistently from there. If he does, then the odds are good that the hardest hits this season will come from him.

If not, we’re probably looking to Forbort, Kane, and the younger Elias Pettersson as the Canucks’ biggest bang-for-buck bangers in 2025-26.

Unless, of course, we’re still talking video games.