The former Canucks winger has struggled to score, but has five goals in his last 10 AHL post-season games with the Checkers. Championship series opens Friday in Charlotte, N.C.
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Will Lockwood scored twice for the juggernaut Charlotte Checkers in an impressive Eastern Division final sweep of the high-octane Laval Rocket to punch their AHL ticket to the Calder Cup Finals.
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It’s not breaking news, but it’s significant for the former Vancouver Canucks winger. He has five goals in his last 10 post-season games, after just 10 goals in 52 regular-season outings, and is on an expiring two-year, $1.55-million US contract with the parent Florida Panthers.
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The Checkers have won eight-straight playoff games, are 10-2 in the post-season, and swept their last two series.
Lockwood, 26, will have extra incentive when the best-of-seven championship series against Western Division champion Abbotsford Canucks opens Friday in North Carolina. He was a third-round 2016 NHL Draft selection by the Canucks — 64th overall and 44 spots higher than an NHL Central Scouting projection — but never gained traction in Vancouver or Florida. He has two assists in 52 career games.
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Lockwood managed just one assist in 28 outings over three NHL seasons here, but did have 12 goals with Abbotsford in 26 games during the 2022-23 season. He was traded to the New York Rangers in February of 2023 for underwhelming winger Vitali Kravtsov, who managed just one goal in 16 NHL games before the restricted free agent returned to the KHL.
The pressure to perform in hockey-mad Vancouver got to a lot of prospects. For Lockwood, it was a combination of tailoring his game to the NHL and trying to be a feisty fourth-line fit. It was a physical grind and mental challenge amid roster additions. He even fought to gain attention.
“I had people coming up to me and saying, ‘They’re picking up this guy and this guy.’ I didn’t have any idea,” Lockwood told Postmedia. “You have to focus on controlling what you can. It’s a business. The team wants to win, and you have to understand that.
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“I’m not going to score from the top of the circle or beat a goalie with a clear shot all the time. If I can get to those dirty areas, I’ll produce.”
Former Canucks bench boss Bruce Boudreau said, “He’s got great speed, great tenacity, and for a not overly big guy, he hits real hard. If you give him enough ice time, like he had in the AHL to score goals, it will build his confidence.”
Fast forward, and if this it how it ends for Lockwood in his latest adventure — hosting the Calder Cup trophy — then he’ll probably take it, although he would like to keep playing. The same goes for former Canucks winger Aidan McDonough, 25, and centre Zac Dalpe, 35, who serves as Checkers captain.
McDonough, a 2019 seventh-round selection by Vancouver, has yet to play this post-season. He had 10 goals in 16 games in a regular-season shortened by a leg injury. With the Canucks, he had one goal in six games, 11 goals in 58 games with Abbotsford, and wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer.
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Dalpe is on the same expiring deal as Lockwood and played just nine regular-season games and none in the playoffs. He was acquired by the Canucks in a trade and had seven points (3-4) in 55 games in 2013-14.
Charlotte and Abbotsford have much more in common this season.
The Checkers went 44-22-3-3 for 94 regular-season points, same total as Abbotsford, and it included a franchise record 13-game win streak. The Checkers have trailed by several goals just twice this post-season, and after leading the AHL with 16 short-handed goals in the regular season, they have six in 11 playoff games.
Charlotte had the league’s top-rated penalty kill in the regular season at 86.6 per cent, and Abbotsford was 17th at 82.5 per cent. However, in the post-season, the Canucks are 90.6 and the Checkers 90.2 on the kill. Same story on the power play. Charlotte was 21.2 per cent and Abbotsford 18.3, but in the playoffs, the Canucks are 22 per cent and the Checkers are just seven per cent.
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The biggest factor in the series could be between the pipes.
Arturs Silovs and Kaapo Kahkonen have put on a post-season show. Silovs is 12-5 with a 1.94 goals-against average, .929 saves percentage and five shutouts. He’s one shutout shy from equalling the AHL record set by former Canucks stopper Mika Noronen. He established it while backstopping Rochester Americans to the league crown in 2000.
Kahkonen is 10-2 with a 1.73 GAA, .927 saves percentage and one shutout.
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