Understanding Jason Dickinson

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a trade to announce.

Vancouver Canucks’ general manager Jim Benning came out roughly two weeks ago to break the news that his team were out and looking forward to trading or signing for a third line centerman who plays a physical game as well as having that corporeal size and that sense of heft to his game.

Many reporters suggested that the Canucks would try and target a player after the fashion of Nick Bjugstad of the Minnesota Wild. The reasoning as to why the Canucks wanted a player like him was due to not only Bjugstad being on a cheap 900 thousand dollar deal, but also is 6’6 and a whopping 207 pounds.

It was obvious that the Wild were not willing to move on from their massive forward once Minnesota’s GM Bill Guerin extended him, so Jim Benning and the Canucks were stuck looking for a new gritty third line centerman with little cap to spare.

Enter (ex) Dallas Stars second line centerman Jason Dickinson. Dickinson has everything the Canucks wanted in a third line centerman. He’s 6’2 and 201 pounds, kills penalties and has been proven to play high minutes on a decent team. For a third round pick, Dickinson seems to be a fantastic package and will finally fill the missing role of the third line centerman in Vancouver.

But what are the Canucks truly receiving from this 26 year-old, Georgetown, Ontario native? In this article we’ll dive deep into Dickinson’s past as well as his analytics and his personality type to get the full understanding of Vancouver's newest player.

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Jason Dickinson was drafted in the first round back of the 2013 NHL entry draft (29th overall) by the Dallas Stars. Dickie (is what his teammates in Dallas called him and what we’ll be calling him as well), was drafted right out of the OHL where he was coming off of his second season with the Guelph Storm. In his rookie season with Guelph, Dickinson notched 35 points in 63 games played. His second season saw him record 47 points in 66 games which gave Dallas the confidence to draft him 29th overall and see future potential.

After Dickie was drafted, he went back down to the OHL for an extra two years of development and both of those two years he went over a point per game. In 2013-14 Dickinson played in 68 games and recorded 78 points. When the 2014-15 season rolled around Dickinson was named the Captain of his OHL team and scored an impressive 71 points in only 56 games played. That was Jason’s final year in the OHL, and he was off to the AHL to get further prepared for the NHL. Dickie’s stay in the AHL was extended for some time as he spent four seasons of his career developing and maturing with Dallas’ AHL team, the Texas Stars. In those four years of playing in the AHL Dickie was periodically called up to play with the Stars. In those four years he played 38 NHL games and had five points along with three goals. Not to mention he scored his very first NHL goal in his very first NHL game.

Back to his AHL career, Dickinson had 114 points in 175 games played in that league. As soon as Dickinson arrived in Texas he proved to be one of the best players on his team and in those years there, he constantly stayed as one of the better players. In 2018-19, Jason Dickinson finally established a spot on the Dallas Stars full time roster. Although it wasn’t considered a rookie season for Jason due to the fact that he already played 38 career NHL games in the span of three years, he still did fantastically and recorded 22 points in 67 games. The point production was never a big surplus for Dickinson because he always played a certain type of game which we will discuss later on. In his next season, Jason recorded 21 points in 65 games. One less point in two less games which showed his solidarity and his consistency. The 2020 playoffs saw him record 4 points in 27 games, but sadly had him lose in the Stanley cup finals in the hands of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

In his most recent season, Dickinson played on the second line for Dallas and was ready to take on the responsibility of being a top six forward. Once again the offence never spiked up as he had 15 points in 51 games played.

The bad news for the Dallas Stars is that the NHL expansion draft for Seattle is coming up and they cannot protect a valuable asset in Jason Dickinson, forcing them to trade him rather than losing him to Seattle for literally nothing. Dickinson’s price on the market was lowered due to him being an upcoming restricted free agent, but Benning saw an opportunity to bring in a skilled and hefty player to fill the third line, so he used it and traded Vancouver’s 2021 third round pick (pick number 73) to the Dallas Stars in exchange for the one and only Jason Dickinson.

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We already know that the offence and point production may be an issue, but there has to be a reason as to why Dickinosn’s value is so high and why people love his game style, right?

Correct. The graph from Jfresh’s player cards proves to us that Dickinson not only is an above average player, but also is one of the best defensive forwards in the entire AHL. Sitting at 96%, Dickinson blocks shots, kills penalties and steals the opponent’s scoring chances. Acquiring a player like Dickinson may have been one of the smarter moves Jim Benning has made in a while.

Now that Dickinson is a Canuck, that finally saves the Canucks in looking for a third line centerman, but also Horvat can finally stop having the pressure put on him in the defensive zone giving Bo his well awarded offensive time. Now that Horvat can play more offensive numbers, we could possibly see his points increase as well as his even strength offensive percentage increase.

Dickinson’s penalty kill was at 42%, but when looking deeper into it and realizing that the Dallas Stars were not a good team in any way, these numbers become promising. Speaking of promising, Dickinson has been constantly improving in the past couple years. In the 2018-19 season Dickinson’s WAR percentile rank was at 47%, and after a couple years of improvement and development, it now sits at 52%. Slow improvement, but luckily it’s going up rather than down.

Another graph above shows EvolvingHockey’s player card of Dickie. Once again we’re struck with an above average player who excels in all aspects defensively but does have his issues on the other end of the ice. His GAR and xGAR may not be pleasing to anyone, but realistically the Canucks do not need anymore forward stars because Bo Horvat can’t handle the defensive pressure, but you know who can? Jason Dickinson. He also happens to kill penalties more often than the average first line penalty killer, which shows how much Dallas depended on him when it came to the PK.

Finally, his isolated impact and his ice time looks. Dickie’s isolated impact shows us that obviously the shooting needs help and that the generated offence could use some work, but that isn’t the focus with him. Dickinson clears pucks and blocks shots (mostly with his face) and steals opportunities from the opponents constantly right in front of the net and proves to us that not only is Dickinson “good”, but he’s an elite defensive player who the Canucks have been needing for years upon years.

The ice time and the line improvements are quite noticeable with Jason. As you can see in 2017-18, Dickinson spent most of his time in Dallas as a fourth liner not getting an excessive amount of ice time. Come 2018-19, Dickinson finally starts to make an impact on the Stars roster as a third line player. The year after that interests me a lot because you can see that the graph moves up from the third line, and halfway through it caves into the second. That’s because the Stars realized his defensive potential and halfway through that season Dickie made it all the way up to the second line. In 2020-21, he finally established himself on the second line full time, and made a mark on the Stars. With that sort of improvement, it surely makes you think he could be a late bloomer and have a breakout season shortly.

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To expect, the Canucks might target a top six forward in free agency and upcoming rookie Vasili Podkolzin will most likely start the season on the third line in Vancouver on a line with Jason Dickinson. Why this could be a great idea is because of Dickie’s leadership. Dickinson served as Guelph’s captain for a year, but also his present and past teammates have described him as a great leader on and off the ice. Benning loves his locker room characters, and he hit the gold mine with this guy.

In the NHL playoff bubble back in 2020, you may remember the players from the remaining teams in the playoffs speaking out about George Floyd’s death and the horrible racism happening in America.

The photo above shows four players standing up at podiums, and countless players in the back standing in agreement. On our left, we can see Nazem Kadri, and Pierre-Edouard Bellemare of the Colorado Avalanche standing at the podium with Ryan Reaves of the Las Vegas Golden Knights to the right of them. Canucks captain Bo Horvat stands on the very right, and to his right side (or to the left of him for us) stands Jason Dickinson in agreement of the NHL delaying their games in protest of the active racism around the world.

Not only was that the only time Dickinson wanted to show his support because the following game back, Dickinson kneeled during the entirety of the United States National Anthem. These acts of protest and wanting of change prove to us that Dickinson’s stance on these issues are serious, and it shows us what type of a leader and person he is. He isn’t afraid of the judgement, he does things because they’re right and because they make a difference. Bringing this type of character into the dressing room shows how firmly the Canucks think of him, and not only will it bring the team closer together, but give the young players a chance to grow with one of the greatest leaders in the current NHL.

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Everything about Dickinson seems perfect; he’s a great leader, he’s that missing defensive piece, and he’s a heck of a hockey player. Although it may seem all perfect, there is one tiny problem for Dickinson and the Canucks: he doesn’t have a contract.

Jason Dickinson is a pending RFA going into free agency looking to make some money after finishing a two year deal that saw him make 1.5 million dollars. Although price and terms shouldn’t be too much of an issue, it’s still something Jim Benning should get on quickly because he needs many other things to do before free agency and the draft rolls around.

Evolvinghockey has Dickinson’s projected next contract to be a three year deal that sees him make a total of 8.511 million dollars, or better yet 2.837 million dollars yearly. For a third line defensive genius who kills penalties and has some of the most outstanding leadership skills in the nHL, this should be a contract Benning should be offering yesterday. If Dickinson can take less, that helps out Vancouver in too many ways to count.

I would expect the Canucks to offer Dickie a contract sometime in the next week, and the extension (to the previous deal in Dallas) to be finished in the next two weeks. Dickinson will also be protected by Vancouver in the expansion draft henceforth the Kraken not being able to select him.

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The praise Dickinson has received from media members and fans has been nothing less than amazing. Not a single negative mention throughout the fanbase, as it feels like a fresh breath of air getting such a talented player for cheap. It feels like the “sleeping in and waking up late” level of refreshing to see Jim Benning not mess up and make the smart decision. Not only do the fans love the move, but the media as well which is quite rare in Vancouver’s market.

“Jason Dickinson played top six minutes in 2021. A strong defensive player, and a regular penalty killer. Struggled on faceoffs, just 46.3%. Canucks see him as a long term fit.” -Thomas Drance, The Athletic

“Jason Dickinson, traded to VAN (Vancouver), is an all-defence middle six forward who had some of the best scoring chance suppression numbers in the league this year. The difference between the Dallas defensive system and the Vancouver one is… vast. Incredibly vast. But it seems like a good bet for a 3C (third line centerman) if he wasn’t too pricey.” -Jfresh, EPRinkside

“Canucks (were) impressed by Dickinson’s versatility and skills. He’ll be a good fit on the third line.” Iain MacIntyre, Sportsnet.ca

“Jason’s a versatile player. He plays centre or wing. He kills penalties, gives us more line options. (I) Think he’ll be a good at the 3c matchup role. We think he’s real good. Third line, matchup type player . He’s 26 years old, he fits in with the rest of our group. There’s room for him to grow offensively. We’re happy to get him. Dallas gave us permission to talk to his agent before the trade. I expect us to get him signed shortly.” -Jim Benning, Vancouver Canucks GM.

Jason Dickinson found out he had been dealt to the Canucks while out enjoying some off-season golf. Here’s what Dickie had to say about joining the Canucks.

“I’m super excited to be in Vancouver. I’m Canadian and I was a big fan of Vancouver when they made their cup run in 2011. I loved the Sedins and Ryan Kesler. I have a lot more in me offensively. I feel like I’ve been able to solidify myself defensively. I love the matchup game. Once I’ve got a guy I need to outplay, my game shines and I play at my best.” -Jason Dickinson, Vancouver Canucks player.

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It’s more than fair to say that Jim Benning and the management group did well with this trade to acquire Jason Dickinson. Everything about Dickie gets Canucks fans excited as he fills the role on the third line perfectly, and brings in even more physicality but more importantly a bigger and brighter edge to the defensive side for the Canucks.

Under defensive minded coach Brad Shaw, could we possibly see Jason do even better defensively while improving offensively? The sky's the limit. It seems that Dickinson already loves it in Vancouver and is eager to sign a contract with the Canucks and the management is quite fond of the 26 year-old as well.

These types of forwards who are defensive geniuses don’t come around too often, but when they do, they're valuable and teams want them majorly. The Canucks finally got themselves that player and for quite cheap as well, as the return was a mid third round pick that will most likely not turn out to be anything crazy for the Dallas Stars. From all the now-happy Canucks fans around the league, welcome to Vancouver, Jason Dickinson!