Chytil Injured In Practice
- Filip Chytil’s tough luck this season continues. After missing time before the break with more migraine headaches, he returned to practice on Tuesday. However, Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province notes that the center took a puck to the face in a mini-game at practice on Wednesday, causing him to exit early and go for imaging. Chytil has been limited to just a dozen games this season and has a long, documented history with concussions (or concussion-like symptoms). Now, it looks like he could be out of the Canucks’ lineup for a while once again.
Canucks Recall Aku Koskenvuo
With several teams summoning players from their AHL affiliates today to practice during remainder of the Olympics, the Vancouver Canucks got in on the action, announcing that goaltender Aku Koskenvuo has been recalled under emergency conditions. The 22-year-old will practice with the team while Kevin Lankinen remains with Team Finland, representing both his and Koskenvuo’s home country.
Chosen in the fifth round of the 2021 draft, Koskenvuo developed at Harvard prior to turning pro in 2025-26. So far this year he’s played nine games for Abbotsford of the AHL, also making six appearances in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings, indicative that the 22-year-old is at least fifth on the goaltending depth chart for now. The 6’4″ left catcher has a 2-5 record so far in the AHL with a .895 save percentage and 3.20 goals-against-average.
Still in the beginning stages of his career, the 22-year-old will enjoy getting to practice with the big club before returning to the minors. Koskenvuo’s entry level contract expires after 2026-27, as he’ll work to move up the organizational depth chart until then.
Canucks Prospect Parker Alcos To Play In NCAA Next Season
Last offseason, the first allowing CHL players to play in the NCAA, there were a flurry of commitments from players looking to play at the collegiate level. This season, the commitments have been more slow and steady. On Friday, a Canucks prospect decided to make the switch as defenseman Parker Alcos announced on his Instagram page that he will play at Quinnipiac University next season.
The 19-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Vancouver back in 2024, going 189th overall. This season, Alcos has split time between WHL Edmonton and Kelowna, combining for five goals and 18 assists in 47 games, already surpassing his production from the previous two seasons.
The Canucks will now have two prospects with the Bobcats in 2026-27 as 2025 seventh-rounder Matthew Lansing is in his freshman year with the club. Alcos is the second NHL-drafted player to commit to switching from junior hockey to playing at Quinnipiac as he’ll join San Jose goaltender Christian Kirsch in doing so for 2026-27.
The change in leagues could work to Vancouver’s benefit. Had Alcos not decided to make the switch, the Canucks would have only had until June 1st to sign him to an entry-level contract or lose his rights. Now, those signing rights will be extended, allowing Vancouver to get a longer look before making a decision on whether or not to ultimately sign him.
Poll: Which Team Should Make The Biggest Push For Shane Wright?
A weak Western Conference has the hot-and-cold Kraken still squarely in contention for a playoff spot. Seattle had won six of eight entering the break, moving them into third in the Pacific Division and tied with the Ducks for the second wild-card slot (although the Kraken have three more regulation wins).
Despite teetering on the edge of a berth all season, general manager Jason Botterill’s overall deadline strategy appears to be as aggressive as possible. 2022 fourth overall pick Shane Wright is one name that could very well be on the move after reports last month indicated they were open to dangling him as the big fish to land a major upgrade for their top-six forward group.
While it would normally be surprising to see a team so uncertain of its short-term outlook being willing to dangle such a high-value young asset, Seattle has assembled a deep prospect pool over the last few years that can easily handle the loss of Wright. Even just considering centers, they’ve supplemented him with two more top-10 picks in Berkly Catton in 2024 and Jake O’Brien last year.
The desire to give Wright a fresh start elsewhere appears to come from both player and team. That makes sense considering Wright has had his ice time reduced from last season under first-year head coach Lane Lambert, despite coming off a strong 19-goal, 44-point effort in 79 games in his first extended look in NHL minutes in 2024-25.
As a result, this year his production has dipped to 11 goals and 22 points in 56 games. That’s a points-per-game decrease from 0.56 to 0.39, accompanied by a 10-second drop in ice time per game.
The Ontario native has also struggled in the two most important secondary areas for a center – faceoffs and possession control. He’s winning just 37.9% of his draws this year after hitting 44.4% last season while controlling 46.3% of shot attempts at even strength. The latter number is particularly disappointing considering he’s been given sheltered usage, starting over two-thirds of his shifts in the offensive zone.
Nonetheless, there are a few teams looking to move out a top-six piece that wouldn’t benefit from a 22-year-old center with the pedigree of being a top-five pick. Which sellers should be the most aggressive in trying to ensure they strike a deal with Kraken and recoup Wright?
Calgary Flames
Even among sellers, you’d be hard-pressed to find a team with two tangible top-six forwards – with term – to use as trade chips. If Seattle wants to make a push for either Blake Coleman or Nazem Kadri, the Flames are asking for Wright as the starting piece of the return, especially for the latter.
They’ve done well to build out their prospect pool on defense (particularly the right side) and on the wings, but they’re missing a clear-cut top-six piece down the middle long-term, especially with Samuel Honzek appearing to shift to the wing full-time and Cole Reschny‘s slighter frame likely making him a better fit at left wing than center at the NHL level. They’re not currently icing a center under the age of 25 in the NHL, either, at least not with John Beecher injured.
Adding Wright gives them more hope down the middle long-term with greater offensive upside than a name like Honzek has been able to show in the pros thus far.
New York Rangers
Seattle made a big contract offer to Artemi Panarin but struck out with the winger deciding it was L.A. or bust. With the two clubs already having engaged in trade talks on the star winger, the Kraken might opt to put themselves in the conversation for Rangers middleman Vincent Trocheck as well.
For a team still in the earlier stages of a retool like the Rangers, they wouldn’t be too concerned with position when getting as high-value an asset as Wright back in a deal. Nonetheless, recouping a young, higher-ceiling center by March 6 would be a dream scenario for Blueshirts GM Chris Drury.
The Rangers’ arsenal of U23 potential top-six contributors at forward – Gabriel Perreault, Liam Greentree, and Malcolm Spence – are all wingers. Their best center prospect, 22-year-old Noah Laba, has operated as their third-line center for most of the year and, while he’s clearly made the jump to full-time NHLer status, has never been touted as anything more than a long-term 3C option.
With such a pressing positional need down the middle, especially if they’re intent on flipping Trocheck with several years left on his deal, Wright is a perfect addition.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues aren’t actively shopping Robert Thomas, but they are listening to offers. It will still take a gargantuan price tag – reported to be four first-round picks or equivalent assets – to land a deal, but the Kraken are well-positioned to do so with Wright ready to fill one of those four slots and four first-round picks available in the next two drafts.
Unlike for Calgary and New York, though, adding Wright down the middle would more signal a completion of the long-term puzzle down the middle than a much-needed jumpstart. Dalibor Dvorsky, still just 20 years old, has arrived this season as he looks to be a high-end second-line piece for St. Louis throughout his prime. Another recent first-rounder, Otto Stenberg, hasn’t looked out of place in NHL action this year, either.
Wright’s sluggish development so far wouldn’t solve the need for finding a bona fide first-line piece to serve as a direct replacement for Thomas, but he would give the Blues ample top-nine depth for their next playoff contention window.
Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks are headed straight toward the best odds at the first overall pick in this year’s draft, in large part due to a lack of production from the middle of the ice. Their middle-six pivots for much of the year, David Kämpf and Aatu Räty, have combined for all of five goals.
They already picked up Marco Rossi from the Wild in the Quinn Hughes deal, but he’s battled through a broken foot this season and only had a goal and an assist in eight appearances for Vancouver before the break. There’s also the matter of star first-liner Elias Pettersson, who’s still struggled to get anywhere close to the heights of his 102-point breakout three years ago. He’s scoring at a 57-point pace this season, the worst of his career.
If Seattle wants to buy low on the high-priced pivot, Wright won’t have more opportunity at premier minutes anywhere else than in Vancouver.
If the Kraken do leverage Wright into a top-six upgrade, which team would stand to reap the most rewards? Have your say in the poll below:
Which Team Would Benefit Most From Landing Shane Wright?
The Danger Of Signing Goalies To Lucrative Contracts
The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks are two of the NHL’s worst teams this season and are both on the verge of massive roster changes. While both teams face unique challenges, one parallel is that they’ve made a mess of their goaltending finances with pricey extensions that were miscalculations.
The Rangers and Canucks are far from alone in this predicament. High-priced extensions have also burned several other teams at the bottom of the standings, leaving them with goaltenders who had been performing well but whose play fell off a cliff after signing their new deals.
That isn’t necessarily the case for Shesterkin, however, it is the case for Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, and Jacob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils, who are all making big money on recent contract extensions, with no guarantees their play will turn around. This has left three teams with win-now rosters featuring goaltenders who are vastly overpaid.
It’s become a trend over the past five-plus years that teams signing goaltenders to expensive deals must be seriously concerned about their performance throughout the term of the agreement.
There is concern about every player’s performance after they sign a lucrative long-term deal. However, goaltenders have become a unique cause for concern lately, and it’s hard to say why.
In the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, many veteran goaltenders on the wrong side of 30 would sign expensive long-term deals without so much as a second thought from their new teams. In July 2002, for example, goalie Curtis Joseph signed a three-year, $24MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings, even though it wasn’t the best offer on the table.
Joseph had a three-year $26MM offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs but opted to move to Detroit. Toronto then pivoted and signed Ed Belfour to a two-year, $13.5MM deal.
By today’s standards, those contracts aren’t eye-popping, and the term is relatively short. But Belfour and Joseph were 37 and 35, respectively, and there was a chance their play would drop off significantly during the brief time they were signed.
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine a team giving $8MM a season to a 35-year-old goaltender, and Joseph’s deal was inked 23 and a half years ago. The Senators gave Ullmark four years and $8.25MM annually just last year, but he had just turned 32 and was two seasons removed from a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
It was a pricey gamble for Ottawa and hasn’t looked like good value this season, but Ullmark has been dealing with personal issues, so it’s hard to project how the deal will work out long-term.
Circling back to the Rangers and Canucks, they are a tale of two teams whose expensive goaltending has led to team-wide issues, but for wildly different reasons. In Vancouver, Thatcher Demko was signed to a lucrative three-year deal at the start of free agency, worth $8.5MM annually.
It was a gamble by Vancouver, as they hoped the former Vezina Trophy finalist could bounce back from a poor showing last season. Had Demko had a good year, he would have been a candidate to get $9MM or more on a new contract, but Vancouver thought it was wise to jump the queue. It has not turned out well.
If Demko had played well, Vancouver likely would have paid him an AAV slightly higher than the $8.5MM they gave him, but would’ve been on the hook for more term, which would’ve been riskier. Instead, Vancouver made a different bet and is now on the hook for more term than Demko would’ve received in free agency. But hindsight is 20/20, and for the Canucks, they are stuck with the Demko deal, one they’d love to have back.
In New York, it was a different calculation. Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury believed he had a Stanley Cup contender on his hands, which meant doing everything he could to retain his Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. Drury moved out his captain, Jacob Trouba, to open up space to sign Shesterkin to a record-breaking eight-year, $92MM contract.
While it was the right on-ice move given Trouba’s cap hit relative to his play, the Rangers have never been the same since the trade. New York fell off a cliff last season and has remained at the bottom of the league this year, despite Shesterkin being good.
But that is the issue: Shesterkin has only been good. In the years leading up to his extension, Shesterkin was elite.
His play in those seasons masked many of the Rangers’ problems and led Drury and New York management to think the team was much better than it actually was. Shesterkin’s goaltending was a mask, hiding the fact that Drury had built a fatally flawed roster that relied too much on out-of-this-world netminding, which was clearly unsustainable.
While the Rangers, Canucks, Devils and Predators aren’t the only teams with pricey goaltending, they are the most apparent examples of paying a premium for goaltending. But even middle-of-the-pack teams can run into issues where their extensions turn into disasters.
There are good examples in Washington: a few years ago, with Darcy Kuemper, who had just won a Stanley Cup, and Philipp Grubauer, who had been solid for years before signing as a free agent with Seattle and becoming unplayable in the NHL. Matt Murray in Ottawa was the same story, but none is more egregious and obvious than Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, who was recently dealt.
Pittsburgh is a relevant example because of Stuart Skinner, who has been a revelation with the Penguins but is a UFA at the end of the season. Pittsburgh already has its goalie of the future in tow in Sergey Murashov, and the Penguins would be wise to ride Skinner into the playoffs and then let him walk in the offseason if his salary demands exceed $5MM annually, which they surely will. It should be interesting to see the Skinner story unfold, but there is plenty of evidence that the Penguins would be wise to avoid giving term to a netminder who is unpredictable.
Evening Notes: Blueger, Fowler, McKenna
The Vancouver Canucks are expected to have a high asking price for potential rental center Teddy Blueger, as written by Thomas Drance in an article with The Athletic from last week.
The 31-year-old had to miss a large portion of the season with an undisclosed injury, but since being activated on January 21, he’s been on a hot streak with five points in his last five games. Never notching more than 28 points in a campaign, Blueger is more of a penalty killing role player, but especially in such a thin center market, with a $1.8MM cap hit, he will come at a premium.
Nearly three years ago, Blueger was traded from Pittsburgh to Vegas for a third round pick, then catching on with Vancouver as a free agent. It’s hard to imagine the Canucks will part with him for less than that, considering demand and his strong play of late.
Contenders will have a chance to watch Blueger play a large role against elite competition on the global stage. He is helping lead Team Latvia in the Olympic Games, before coming back to the bottom ranked Canucks heading into the Trade Deadline season.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Montreal Canadiens top goalie prospect Jacob Fowler will miss AHL All Star festivities due to an upper-body injury, the Laval Rocket shared. The 21-year-old has proven to be a steal, chosen in the third round of the 2023 draft out of Boston College and now one of the league’s premier goaltender prospects. Fowler has a .914 save percentage, good for fourth in the AHL, on the sixth-ranked Rocket. Still early in his professional career, the Florida native already appeared in 10 games with the big club this season and performed well. The Rocket noted that he will still “remain on the bench” so it is likely precautionary and no cause for real concern.
- Top 2026 draft prospect Gavin McKenna is expected to return this weekend, according to Brad Elliott Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. NHL scouts were apparently notified that the Penn State star will be in action at Michigan in a huge matchup between the two top five ranked Big 10 teams. McKenna has had an eventful February, starting with an arrest and felony aggravated assault charges, which were eventually withdrawn. He still faces a misdemeanor charge, but an initial court date tomorrow has been postponed, meaning the 18-year-old can focus fully on the Wolverines.
Longtime Canucks Broadcaster Jim Robson Passes Away
Retired Vancouver Canucks play-by-play announcer Jim Robson has passed away at the age of 91, the news shared by Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK. He was an original part of the team, joining as they entered the NHL as an expansion franchise in 1970, making his mark in the booth all the way until 1999 in a legendary career across both radio and television.
Known as the Voice of the Canucks for 29 years, Robson earned the opportunity to work for Hockey Night in Canada, as well as assignments for the Stanley Cup Finals four times. In 1982, he covered the Finals as his Canucks took on the eventual champion New York Islanders.
The Prince Albert, Saskatchewan native is also well intertwined with New York’s history, as his call of Bob Nystrom’s Stanley Cup-winning overtime goal in 1980 proved to be a highlight of an impressive career.
As for his own team, Robson’s narration of Greg Adams’ overtime winner sending Vancouver to the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994 was another unforgettable moment. In a post shared by Dallas Stars broadcaster Daryl Reaugh, Robson reflected on the Canucks’ 1994 run with Vancouver News six years ago.
Robson moved fully to television after the 1993-94 season, his last game on the radio airwaves proving to be a memorable one, game seven of the Finals between the Canucks and the Rangers.
In 1998-99, Robson’s final year, he shared duty with John Shorthouse who remains Vancouver’s current voice on television to this day, as the torch was passed on. Rogers Arena’s broadcast booth is named after Robson, as he will be remembered for years to come as a pillar of the Canucks.
A recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 1992, honored by the Hockey Hall of Fame as a distinguished broadcaster, Robson is also a member of the B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and the CAB Broadcast Hall of Fame.
We at Pro Hockey Rumors send our condolences to Robson’s family, friends, and peers.
Vancouver Canucks Reassign Three Players
The Vancouver Canucks announced a series of transactions to prepare their roster for the Olympic break: forward Jonathan Lekkerimäki, defenseman Victor Mancini, and netminder Nikita Tolopilo have all been reassigned to the club’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. The team also announced that netminder Jiri Patera has been recalled from the AHL on an emergency basis.
The move allows this trio of players to play in games for Abbotsford while the NHL Canucks are on pause. Lekkerimäki, 21, is the club’s 2022 first-round pick and has split time this season between Vancouver and Abbotsford. He has scored 10 goals and 16 points in 16 AHL games this season, and has three points in 16 NHL games.
Mancini, 23, is in the middle of his first full season as part of the Canucks organization. A part of last season’s J.T. Miller trade, the blueliner has skated in 10 NHL games this season, averaging 13:38 time on ice per game. In 23 AHL games this year, he has eight points.
By sending Tolopilo down as well as the two skaters, the Canucks have returned a key tandem goalie to Abbotsford. The 26-year-old Belarus native played in 36 games last season, posting a .902 save percentage on a team that ended up winning the Calder Cup. So far this season, he has a .901 save percentage in 13 AHL games. Tolopilo has impressed at the NHL level so far this year, posting a .910 save percentage in nine games.
While Abbotsford loses their most frequent starting goalie by recalling Patera, today’s move gives Tolopilo the chance to sustain his positive momentum by getting in some starts at the AHL level during the break.
Latest On Filip Chytil
The Columbus Blue Jackets shared today that Rick Nash has been promoted to Director of Player Personnel, and Chris Clark has been promoted to Assistant General Manager. The two former NHLers have spent several years with the franchise, dating back to the Jarmo Kekäläinen/John Tortorella era.
Upon the end of his 1,060 game, 805 point career, Nash returned to the Columbus organization in 2019, starting out as Special Assistant to the General Manager, before promotions to Director of Player Development and Director of Hockey Operations in the last few years.
With his #61 alone in the rafters of Nationwide Arena, the 41-year-old has made an immeasurable impact in Columbus, starting with his first overall selection back in 2002. Nash spent nine seasons carrying the Blue Jackets as they got off the ground as an expansion franchise, followed by making his mark as a Ranger, as well as a stint in Boston, officially retiring in six years ago.
Meanwhile, Clark has been with the organization since 2012, starting out as a development coach, before moving up in 2019 to Director of Player Personnel and General Manager of the Cleveland Monsters, Columbus’ AHL affiliate. Under Clark, the Monsters have gradually improved year by year, making playoff runs in each of the last two seasons.
The 49-year-old Connecticut native was chosen by Calgary in the 1994 draft, going on to make 607 appearances in the NHL with the Flames, Capitals, and finally, the Blue Jackets, last skating at the highest level in 2010-11.
The franchise icon Nash, along with the highly respected Clark help round out General Manager and President of Hockey Operations Don Waddell’s top brass, the 67-year-old set to reach two years in the role this May. Currently below a Wild Card spot, the Blue Jackets have tremendously found their stride under new Head Coach Rick Bowness, winning eight of his first nine games. With a dynamic young core, the club figures to be on the cusp of another window in years to come, after reaching new heights as an organization in the late 2010s.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Canucks Head Coach Adam Foote told reporters, including Thomas Drance of The Athletic, that Filip Chytil will likely not return tomorrow in Vegas, which is the team’s last action before the Olympic break. The forward is dealing with migraines, concerning as he has struggled with concussions throughout his career, so far holding him back from breaking out as a legit top six forward. Chytil managed to return in late January from another concussion, skating in six games, but not recording a point. Limited to just 27 games as a Canuck, despite a trade from the Rangers which just reached one calendar year ago, unfortunately the 26-year-old is facing real questions about his long-term career in the NHL.
- Sabres forward Zach Benson won’t play tonight in Tampa Bay, as reported by Rachel Lenzi of The Buffalo News. The 20-year-old took a spill into the boards last night against the Panthers and did not return, due to an apparent upper-body injury which will require further evaluation. Buffalo has one more game before the Olympic Break, and will hope that Benson will not miss serious time. He has notched 26 points in 42 games, needing just five more to set a career high, making the most of a key top six role throughout the campaign.
Trade Deadline Primer: Vancouver Canucks
With the Olympic break approaching, the trade deadline is about a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We begin our look around the league with teams that have clear plans at the extremes of the standings, starting with the Canucks.
The worst possible outcome for Vancouver this season was another finish in the mushy middle, like their 38-30-14 record that put them in no man’s land at 10th in the Western Conference. Being clearly the worst team in the league through the first two-thirds of the season may not be a step forward, but it’s at least a step in a direction. They already made the biggest move any team will make this season by shipping off franchise defender Quinn Hughes to the Wild, ushering in yet another formal retool/rebuild in British Columbia. How aggressively they’ll tear down the rest of their roster over the next few weeks remains to be seen.
Record
18-31-6, 8th in the Pacific (~0% playoff probability)
Deadline Status
Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$3.78MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: VAN 1st, MIN 1st, VAN 2nd, SJS 2nd, VAN 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th
2027: VAN 1st, SJS 2nd, VAN 3rd, VAN 4th, PIT 4th, VAN 5th, VAN 6th, VAN 7th
Trade Chips
The Canucks’ braintrust of Patrik Allvin and Jim Rutherford has already thinned this list considerably by pulling the trigger on the aforementioned Hughes deal. They also shipped out pending UFA winger Kiefer Sherwood to the Sharks last month for a pair of second-round picks and a minor-league defender to make the contract math work for San Jose, so that’s another relatively high-value name gone.
That leaves Vancouver with four pending UFAs remaining on the NHL roster. While those names are the most traditional trade deadline fodder, none of them will net the Canucks a significant return. One of them – lefty defender Derek Forbort – has been on long-term injured reserve since October, so he’s likely not even an option to move.
They have a pair of centers available, Teddy Blueger and David Kämpf, who might serve as added depth for a contender’s fourth line. The 31-year-old Blueger only recently returned to the lineup after missing over half the year with a lower-body injury, although he’s been hot in limited action with four goals in eight games. He’s found himself in a similar situation before, when the Golden Knights picked him up from the Penguins as a rental at the 2023 deadline, and he served mostly as an extra forward in their run to the Stanley Cup. His historical strength on draws, track record of 20-plus point seasons, and penalty killing ability all give him legitimate resale value at an affordable $1.8MM price tag. He’s the higher-value piece of the two, although he has a 12-team no-trade list that could complicate a move.
Kämpf likely won’t land more than a mid-to-late-round pick at best. Since having his contract with the Maple Leafs terminated after clearing waivers at the beginning of the season, he’s averaged over 15 minutes per night for Vancouver, but only out of necessity. The 31-year-old’s offense was already limited, but despite seeing increased deployment, he’s clicking at a career-worst 0.19 points per game rate with only six in 32 contests. His defensive game has been a legitimate benefit, though – his 50.5% shot attempt share at 5-on-5 is among the best on the team, and he’s done so in difficult matchups.
The name that’s been thrown around the most, though, is that of Evander Kane. At $5.125MM against the cap, his nine goals and 25 points in 54 games since being acquired from the Oilers last summer are certainly underwhelming. His track record of strong playoff performances when healthy, though, has seen him draw interest from contenders like the Avalanche and Stars. His high cap hit and the Canucks’ limited cap flexibility mean they’re unlikely to recoup more than the fourth-round pick they gave up for him, though.
Of course, there are the big names. Elias Pettersson‘s still available for the right price, although his $11.6MM cap hit has always meant an offseason move is likelier. He and Jake DeBrusk, signed through 2031 at $5.5MM per season, both control their own destiny with no-movement clauses. Vancouver signed Conor Garland to a six-year, $36MM extension that doesn’t kick in until next season, leaving him with no trade protection until July 1. But with him only churning out seven goals in 44 games this season, there’s likely not widespread interest in picking him up with such a commitment.
Team Needs
Cap Space: Normally, rebuilders can add assets by leveraging their cap space to take on bad deals from money-needy teams in exchange for futures. Vancouver is in no such position to do that, as they’ve been tight to the limit all year and have only accumulated a few million dollars in space as a result. Kane, Blueger, Kämpf, and Forbort coming off the books will give the Canucks about $10MM of reprieve in addition to the projected $8.5MM cap jump. They also don’t have any RFAs in need of big pay bumps. It’s still relatively uncommon for a team in Vancouver’s position to have as many anchor deals as they do (Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Filip Hronek, Thatcher Demko) above a $7MM price point. No one is expecting one of those names to get moved in the next four weeks, but if they decide to take on a more aggressive teardown, opening more infinite flexibility will be the way to go.
More Center Help: Save for Pettersson enjoying a rebound, Vancouver doesn’t have a true first-line center, nor do they have one on the way. Marco Rossi is a nice piece, but he has only two points in eight games since being acquired from Minnesota. Braeden Cootes looks like a nice value for the 15th overall pick in last year’s draft, early on, but projects as more of a second-line, two-way piece. They won’t get a bona fide No. 1 middleman with a top pick in the 2026 draft class, either, with both top forwards being wingers.
Image courtesy of Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images.