{"id":473492,"date":"2025-08-22T15:11:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:11:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=473492"},"modified":"2025-08-22T15:11:52","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T19:11:52","slug":"nhl-rumours-vancouver-canucks-staying-active-on-the-trade-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/08\/22\/nhl-rumours-vancouver-canucks-staying-active-on-the-trade-market\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: Vancouver Canucks Staying Active on the Trade Market"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to another edition of <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/category\/rumours\/\" target=\"_self\">NHL Rumours<\/a> from the crew at Last Word on Hockey. We&#8217;re almost through August, which means teams will soon be starting training camp. With that, rumours are coming in hot. In today&#8217;s NHL Rumour segment, we focus on the Vancouver Canucks and their pursuit of adding a centreman.<\/p>\n<p><em>All NHL rumours come from their original source and are subject to change.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<h2>NHL Rumours: Canucks Looking to Add a Centreman<\/h2>\n<p>Rumour: According to Thomas Drance of The Athletic, the Vancouver Canucks are still looking to add a middle-six centre for the upcoming season.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Hearing the <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Canucks?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#Canucks<\/a> have cooled off on pursuing late summer UFA <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rosloja01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jack Roslovic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Club wants a full-time centre upgrade, and doesn\u2019t see that player available in the UFA bargain bin. It\u2019s going to take a trade.<\/p>\n<p>More in today\u2019s notebook via <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheAthleticNHL?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@TheAthleticNHL<\/a>: <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kqRo1ijb8e\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/kqRo1ijb8e<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Thomas Drance (@ThomasDrance) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ThomasDrance\/status\/1957817991808381408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">August 19, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Analysis: According to Drance, their interest in pursuing current free agent Jack Roslovic has cooled off. The Canucks don&#8217;t see Roslovic as a long-term solution at centre, and any remaining free agents just won&#8217;t cut it. However, they are still active on the trade front, trying to acquire this piece.<\/p>\n<h3>Possible Trade Targets<\/h3>\n<p>While the Canucks made a swing at Minnesota Wild forward <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/rossima01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Marco Rossi<\/a> prior to the draft, reportedly offering them the 15th overall pick, that proposal was rejected. The Wild have now signed Rossi to a <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2025\/08\/22\/minnesota-wild-sign-key-rfa-forward\/\" target=\"_self\">bridge deal<\/a>, leaving the Canucks looking elsewhere. The market is thin in terms of middle-six centres. However, two names specifically come to mind: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/k\/kotkaje01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Jesperi Kotkaniemi<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/z\/zachapa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pavel Zacha<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h4>Kotkaniemi<\/h4>\n<p>Kotkaniemi is the first player who comes to mind when thinking middle-six centre and is definitely available. He hasn&#8217;t exactly lived up to the hype of being selected third overall in the 2018 NHL Entry Draft. However, Kotkaniemi is still just 25 years old. Every season he&#8217;s played at least 60 games, he&#8217;s scored 10 plus goals. He&#8217;s just two years removed from his most productive season, where he scored 18 goals and 43 points in 82 games. A change of scenery could be exactly what the doctor ordered for Kotkaniemi to truly break out. Given his low cap hit of just $4.82 million for the next five years, he&#8217;s exactly the type of player the Canucks could afford to take a chance on.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_466854\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-466854\" style=\"width: 640px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-466854 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-1024x698.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"436\" srcset=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-1024x698.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-300x205.jpg 300w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-768x524.jpg 768w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-1536x1048.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/11\/2025\/04\/USATSI_25833410-2048x1397.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-466854\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Apr 2, 2025; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jesperi Kotkaniemi (82) and Washington Capitals left wing <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/d\/duboipi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Pierre-Luc Dubois<\/a> (80) take a face off during the first period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h4>Zacha<\/h4>\n<p>Zacha is a bit of a different story. He&#8217;s more proven than Kotkaniemi, flirting with scoring 60 points multiple times over his nine-year career and scoring over 20 goals twice. He has experience centring the top line for the Bruins and served very well in that position. He&#8217;d be a much better option for the Canucks to target; however, it would come at a much higher cost in terms of assets. He may be three years older than Kotkaniemi, though he&#8217;s still just 28 years old and in the prime of his career. While his situation is different than Kotkaniemi&#8217;s, as he has proven to be a valuable asset already, he is still available based on the Boston Bruins looking towards a rebuild.<\/p>\n<h3>Interesting Weeks Ahead for the Canucks<\/h3>\n<p>Though neither of these players has exactly been linked to the Canucks, they have been listed on every major outlet&#8217;s trade board over the course of the summer. One would have to assume that the Canucks have at least done their due diligence and checked in on what the cost would be to acquire one of them, as well as others around the league. As it stands, expect <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/c\/chytifi01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Filip Chytil<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hockey-reference.com\/players\/r\/ratyaa01.html?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2025-08-22_hr\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Aatu Raty<\/a> to try to fill the void for the Canucks to start the season. However, if it&#8217;s not working out, the Canucks do have some quality options they can turn to via trade.<\/p>\n<p><em>Main Photo: Derek Cain &#8211; Icon Sportswire via Getty Images<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Welcome back to another edition of NHL Rumours from the crew at Last Word on Hockey. We&#8217;re almost through August, which means teams will soon be starting training camp. With that, rumours are coming in hot. In today&#8217;s NHL Rumour segment, we focus on the Vancouver Canucks and their pursuit of adding a centreman. All [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2506,"featured_media":128385,"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":[4547,34,4548,4321,26],"tags":[2712,646,6227],"class_list":["post-473492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","category-canucks","tag-jesperi-kotkaniemi","tag-pavel-zacha","tag-vancouver-canucks-rumours"],"modified_by":"Colton Osmond, Dept Manager","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473492","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\/2506"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473492"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473492\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":473514,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473492\/revisions\/473514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}