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LOS ANGELES — Watching him now, it’s hard to believe that launching himself into opponents as a human projectile did not always come so naturally to Kiefer Sherwood.

Why would it? Hitting hurts, even for the player driving contact.

But for Sherwood, not playing in the National Hockey League hurt more.

“In Nashville, my first year … I thought that I finally was ready to be an everyday player in the NHL, and then I got sent down (to the minors) and kind of lost my way a little bit,” Sherwood, the Vancouver Canucks winger, said Wednesday. “But that’s when I had to figure out what identity I needed to bring. That was a really tough time, but I tried to use it as more fuel for the fire.

“I really worked on just trying to understand how to be impactful and what kind of energy to bring that’s going to help the team. It’s not always about producing points. For a guy like me, I’m not going to be getting power-play or top-six minutes. So it’s about contributing … and finding a way that is impactful to help teams win games.”

And so Sherwood, undrafted and at times unwanted, transformed his game and went from being an elite goal-scorer in the American Hockey League to a menace for opponents at the NHL level.

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Through 11 games with the Canucks, his fourth NHL team, Sherwood leads the league with 72 hits. This puts him on pace to register 537 this season, which would obliterate the single-year record of 383 set last year by former Nashville Predator teammate Jeremy Lauzon.

It was Sherwood’s physical play that the Canucks noticed during last spring’s first-round playoff series, which led eventually to Vancouver targeting the 29-year-old winger in free agency and signing him to a two-year, $3 million contract on July 1.

In the first month of that contract, Sherwood has given the team everything it hoped for and, literally, more: three goals and seven even-strength points, which rank third on the Canucks, and unblemished penalty killing.

After two years in each of the Nashville, Colorado and Anaheim organizations, Sherwood has become a key contributor for the Canucks on an effective third line that includes Teddy Blueger and Danton Heinen.

Despite clearing waivers three times in the NHL, Sherwood never lost his natural offensive touch even as he has become one of the most relentlessly physical players in the league.

“He’s been a bright spot with our team because he just adds that juice,” Canucks coach Rick Tocchet said after the Canucks practised here ahead of Thursday’s game against the Los Angeles Kings. “Even when our team’s a little quiet, he’s chirping on the bench. He’s getting people that usually don’t talk much on our bench, talking. So it’s contagious. I talked to him in the summer three or four times, and he said he had some offensive game. And you can see that he has it.

“He’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s kind of like Gars (teammate Conor Garland). They’ve got that (attitude): Every day prove everybody wrong. And I think if you have that chip on your shoulder … it makes you not comfortable. He doesn’t want to get comfortable. And I like that.”

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Asked at the start of the season if anyone on the Canucks had surprised him, marquee newcomer Jake DeBrusk answered “Kiefer Sherwood.”

“To be honest, what I thought about him as a player was just an energy guy that could bang in 15 goals,” DeBrusk explained Wednesday. “You never really get a read on certain players when you play them once a year. But I think I noticed it pretty early on, even before training camp, just his playmaking ability. And obviously he’s got a laser of a shot. It was one of the first things I noticed, and I was surprised.”

Kevin Lankinen wasn’t surprised, but that’s because the Canucks starting goalie sat next to Sherwood in the Predators’ dressing room all of last season.

“You could tell from his stats in the American League, he was tearing it up and putting up tons of goals,” Lankinen said. “But I think one of the most impressive things about him is kind of the adjustment that he was willing to make to become a full-time NHLer. He realized that he might not be on the first line in the NHL … so you have to bring something else to the table. He realized that he has the energy, he has the legs, he has the tenacity, the attitude and the leadership to provide different kinds of things. The goal scoring has always been there for him … but it’s just been really cool to see his development.”

Now seven years into a professional career that began with a free-agent offer from the Anaheim Ducks after playing three seasons at the University of Miami-Ohio, Sherwood has played only slightly more games in the NHL (198) than the AHL (178).

In his last 109 games in the minors over parts of three seasons between 2020 and 2023, Sherwood amassed 68 goals and 129 points. That skill, combined with his physical impact, probably means the six-foot forward from Columbus, Ohio, won’t be leaving the NHL again anytime soon.

“I try to not focus too much on stats because it’s distracting,” he said. “It’s more about the identity that I need to bring. So that’s what I’m focused on, honestly.

“I know the end game and the long game, and I always believed in myself. I’m a late developer. I was not ready for the NHL draft (in 2013). I was still playing U18 (minor hockey). Wherever I’m at, I’ve just tried to get better. And eventually, I feel like if you play the long game and continue to develop, then you’ll get a chance.

“Sometimes your brain, you want to feel sorry for yourself. That’s where you’ve got to kind of rewire it. Yeah, there were definitely some dark days. But if you try to look at it and use it as fuel, I think that’s the only approach that you can use to try to get better. And that’s what I try to do. For me, I just try to use every setback for reflection and more fuel to the fire. Eventually, things are going to crack.”

Lately, that sound has been opponents cracking the boards as Sherwood flies into them on the forecheck. He embraces his role, even as it looks increasingly like merely a launch point for him in the NHL at age 29 rather than a final destination.

“I’ve learned to love it now,” he smiled. “I want to be mean, I want to be a pest. Whatever it is, I want to get under guys’ skin. I think it helps our team and makes us harder to play against. I want the other team to feel that presence and feel uncomfortable. I love it. And I want to continue to grow that part of my game, and continue to have the people on the other team feel it.”

ICE CHIPS – Tocchet said the team is being cautious with winger Dakota Joshua, who won’t play Thursday as he continues to work his way back from testicular cancer … Canuck goalie Thatcher Demko, who remains out indefinitely with a popliteus muscle injury in his knee, participated for the first time Wednesday in a few team drills at practice … Lankinen will start Thursday for the eighth time in nine games as Vancouver brings a five-game road winning streak into Los Angeles … Tocchet announced defenceman Derek Forbort is out “week to week” due to an injured leg.