Canucks' Alright To Stand Pat Ahead Of Next Season?
The Vancouver Canucks might be the worst looking team down the middle in the NHL and they have hopes of not only getting back into the playoffs, but competing. A move will absolutely have to come at some point and the team has money to do so. The problem for them is nothing was done in free agency other than losing Pius Suter and center trade targets have either signed or been taken off the market.
The Canucks have real injury concerns down the middle. Elias Pettersson didn't have a healthy season in 2024-25 and it impacted his play a lot. The same can be said about Filip Chytil year after year unfortunately as he does have second line potential. But injuries have held him back and created concerns about who is the player to enter into the top-6 to fill the void when he does miss games.
At this time, that player is Teddy Blueger, a third line center at best, and I would only say that on a non-contender. He would be a fourth line center on contenders. Losing Suter was big as he stepped in and did a great job as the number one center last season. Now he's going to be on the third line with the St. Louis Blues.
Not only are there concerns going into the season, losing 1-2 of the centers to injury at once can cause panic and drastic moves mid-season. The young centermen that will either have a spot at the bottom of the lineup or play in the NHL who are the internal replacement options if things go south include Aatu Raty, Nils Aman, Max Sasson, and Linus Karlsson.
Thomas Drance reported that, "though the Canucks would of course prefer to more proactively flesh out their center depth ahead of time, hockey operations leadership is comfortable betting on the centers they have."
It may be a long year for the Canucks and we may hear Quinn Hughes' name a lot as the team has to win as an element that may make him want to stay in Vancouver.
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