Big Development in Pius Suter Situation with Canucks

It was only 10 days ago when we shared insider Elliotte Friedman's report that pending UFA Pius Suter was pretty much done in Vancouver, having priced himself out of the Canucks' ability to re-sign him. Now, however, it sounds like the team is taking another long, hard look at keeping the breakout center in-house.

It's been apparent, per Friedman's reporting, that Suter will be able to land himself a $4.5 million AAV contract on the open market, which it appeared that the Canucks weren't comfortable with. Now, after the recent re-signing of center Matt Duchene by the Dallas Stars to a four-year, $4.5 million deal, the insider said on the Donnie & Dhali podcast that Vancouver is reconsidering, due to their dire need up the middle.

It's a challenging thing for a team, because you're sitting there and you're looking around and you're saying, 'We need something (a center),'... and all of a sudden you're looking and you're saying, 'There's not much out there that could fill this hole.'
I think the Canucks are kind of in that place right now where they're sitting there and saying, 'We know this player, we like this player, we don't like the number, but we don't see a better alternative.'

Rick Dhaliwal agreed, and confirmed that talks are back on.

“I believe the Canucks have reconnected with Pius Suter’s camp in the last 24 hours. I believe contract talks are back on. Canucks are clearly having a tough time getting a top-six centre done. There is one in-house, and that is Suter. Let’s see if this goes anywhere.”

The Canucks are thin on top-six centers

The Canucks traded away top center JT Miller this past season to the New York Rangers after the very public feud between Miller and Elias Pettersson, leaving the latter as the only other legit top six center (they hope!) on the roster. Is Suter truly a top-six? He wasn't, through the first four years of his career, but in 2024-25, especially down the stretch when he had 10 goals and 19 points in the last 23 games of the season, he's proved that, when put in that position, he could handle it.

Suter finished the season with 25 goals and 46 points, both 10 higher than his previous highs. He also logged a career high 17:21 of average ice time.

The list of free agent centers available is razor thin, and trade targets at the position are few and far between as well.

So ultimately, Friedman sums it up, the Canucks must be considering that old axiom, 'Better the devil we know, that the devil we don't know.'