{"id":459798,"date":"2025-01-01T15:02:04","date_gmt":"2025-01-01T20:02:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=459798"},"modified":"2025-01-01T15:02:04","modified_gmt":"2025-01-01T20:02:04","slug":"the-vancouver-canucks-have-roster-options","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/01\/01\/the-vancouver-canucks-have-roster-options\/","title":{"rendered":"The Vancouver Canucks Have Roster Options"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vancouver Canucks<\/a> options going into the second half of the season are few. But they do exist.<\/p>\n

Vancouver Canucks Options Getting Limited<\/h2>\n

The Canucks have dropped out of the playoffs<\/a> in the last game of the year, losing 3-1<\/a> to the Calgary Flames<\/a>. Both J.T. Miller<\/a> and Brock Boeser<\/a> picked up a single point, and Vancouver needs them to produce. The second assist went to Erik Br\u00e4nnstr\u00f6m<\/a>, who – unfortunately – Vancouver also needs points from.<\/p>\n

Q<\/a>uinn Hughe<\/a>s<\/a>, if you haven’t heard, is apparently week-to-week. He could be gone until February, but almost certainly he’s out until they return in mid-January. If Filip Hronek<\/a> remains on schedule, he’s also out until February. Teams have gone without a top defender for extended periods before – the Los Angeles Kings<\/a> have been missing Drew Doughty<\/a> all season. But two?<\/p>\n

Then there’s Elias Pettersson<\/a>‘s on-again, off-again season. He’s also missing at least a week, but even when he’s with the team he’s unreadable. Pettersson hasn’t produced poorly with 28 points in 34 games, but he’s well below his standard. He’s one of the very few for whom a point per game is modest.<\/p>\n

Thatcher Demko<\/a> has yet to find his groove in his return to the ice, too. He’s secured points in five out of six games, but his goals against is 3.43 and his save percentage is .879. Add mysterious reports from the room – highlighted by Miller’s 9-game absence – and other players underperforming and things don’t look great.<\/p>\n

But it’s not the end of the world<\/a>. There are positives as well. Kevin Lankinen<\/a> has held the fort decently. Free agent signings Keifer Sherwood and Jake DeBrusk<\/a> are straight-up wins. Pius Suter<\/a> and Teddy Blueger<\/a> should easily reach career highs in points. Br\u00e4nnstr\u00f6m has been a happy surprise on defence.<\/p>\n

But the margin for error has officially vanished. The Vancouver Canucks options remain the same as before, but the risks between them have grown wider.<\/p>\n

The Riddles Three<\/h3>\n

Nothing’s set in stone, but everyone knows that what a team can do to change mid-season is pretty limited. On-ice personnel, coaching staff, and management are the classic buttons that get hit – usually in that order.<\/p>\n

Changing R<\/a>i<\/a>ck<\/a> Tocchet<\/a> out now is a ridiculous prospect after he coached the Canucks to their third 50-win season in team history. Likewise, ownership isn’t going to send Patrik Allvin of Jim<\/a> Rutherford<\/a> packing so soon after their arrival. So it’s down to moving players. The only question is to what end they should be changed.<\/p>\n

Option One: Patience<\/h3>\n

Minor deals and\/or depth additions. Wait for Hughes and Hronek to return.<\/p>\n

The Canucks have plenty of talent on the team. Last season almost this same bunch hit 109 points. Granted, almost everything went right, but the talent is still here. This is<\/em> a playoff team, even if they aren’t defending their division title from a year ago.<\/p>\n

Ideally, any trade made would have an eye to the future, of course, but that may not be tenable. If one were readily available, it would have been done by now. Rutherford and Allvin aren’t known for hesitation. So short-term and hope to re-sign or let walk. See if the team can make it to the playoffs with a return to full health\/better composition next year.<\/p>\n

Br\u00e4nnstr\u00f6m isn’t a top-pair defender but can handle a power play. He is one of the better players at getting the puck out of his end, but the team could use another. Tyso<\/a>n<\/a> Barrie<\/a> is going mostly unused in Calgary and should come cheap. Or veteran Christian<\/a> Wolanin<\/a> could make his 2024-25 season debut. He’s not much for size, but has NHL savvy and is a good skater.<\/p>\n

If they go that route, may we suggest a non-stop loop of the LA Kings 2011-12 Stanley Cup run<\/a> in the dressing room? Reach the playoffs and you never know! If, that is, you reach the playoffs…<\/p>\n

Option Two: Big Deal<\/h3>\n

Push for a team-changing deal with this season’s playoffs in mind.<\/p>\n

Look: Vancouver came into the season with a plan in mind, and they should stick to it. This management group has never been afraid of deals, and they’ve been working the phones for months. It would be a shame to let all that work go to waste. Bring in good, high-skill players and push the ones on the team now into more appropriate levels, like Abbotsford.<\/p>\n

Act like no one is injured, nobody is struggling, and having one scoring line isn’t carrying the team right now. Spend the future in classic Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> fashion and get serious about improving the defence. If that means moving a prospect – including Willander or Lekkermaki – or high draft picks then so be it. Shayne<\/a> Gostisbehere<\/a> could fit in nicely behind Hughes, though he might be hard to get.<\/p>\n

Some movement can happen off the roster, but proven players will need to return. These deals aren’t for the future, they’re for now! Don’t think of it as “giving up” on Nils<\/a> H<\/a>\u00f6glander<\/a>, think of it as giving him a fresh start somewhere else. When the Canucks best talent returns, they’ll still have their usual slots waiting. But now with even more talent behind them.<\/p>\n

Keep Lankinen, though, even if he’s not re-signed. Just in case.<\/p>\n

Option Three: Team? What Team? No Team Here!<\/h3>\n

This is the Big One. Watch it go boom and see where the pieces land. Get involved in profit sharing<\/a>. Watch the heart attack rate in metropolitan Vancouver skyrocket, with the Canucks options opening up completely. Get everything on the table and see what the offers are. Well, almost everything.<\/p>\n

We know that Hughes and Hronek can play together. Indeed, that’s exactly who should play together. Everyone else, though? Up for grabs – and we mean everyone. Sure, Miller has a full no-move clause, but that just means he can control where he goes. Players don’t want to stay where they aren’t wanted. Pettersson’s younger, but his no-move doesn’t kick in until next season. Pick one.<\/p>\n

Odds are the team would be selling a bit low on those players, but their peak value is so high the return would still be substantial. The talk of Pettersson going to Carolina<\/a> for Martin Necas and Brett Pesce<\/a> sets a value of sorts. And why negotiate with Brock Boeser when you can move him instead? Lankinen or Conor Garland<\/a> are flirting with career highs, but likely won’t bring huge amounts back.<\/p>\n

Now, obviously, that’s not all going to happen. There are only so many possible trade partners willing to make such moves. But the possibility creates an opportunity to revamp everything about the team. Bringing in help at multiple positions is fine in theory, but you’re not getting a single player as good as the one getting moved out. How confident are you in the players right behind the one sold?<\/p>\n

Vancouver Canucks Options Will Narrow Soon<\/h3>\n

Over the next two weeks, the Canucks have one game in Seattle, then one at home, then five on the road. Whatever else happens, expect the team coming back from that trip to look very different from the one that started it. That could mean players coming back from injury, or it could mean ones coming to the team in trades.<\/p>\n

The NHL’s trade deadline day may be in March, but the Canucks internal one is much closer.<\/p>\n

Main photo by: Bob Frid-Imagn Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Vancouver Canucks options going into the second half of the season are few. But they do exist. Vancouver Canucks Options Getting Limited The Canucks have dropped out of the playoffs in the last game of the year, losing 3-1 to the Calgary Flames. Both J.T. Miller and Brock Boeser picked up a single point, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3171,"featured_media":457377,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,2,4547,4548],"tags":[932,631,1630,2138,504,1615,5892],"class_list":["post-459798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-canucks","category-featured","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-elias-pettersson","tag-filip-hronek","tag-j-t-miller","tag-quinn-hughes","tag-shayne-gostisbehere","tag-tyson-barrie","tag-vancouver-canucks-analysis"],"modified_by":"Dan Mount, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3171"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=459798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":459877,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/459798\/revisions\/459877"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457377"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=459798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=459798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=459798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}