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Did Canucks miss out on a free-agent centre who didn't want to play in Canada?

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
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Jul 8 2025, 10:07 pm
Did Canucks miss out on a free-agent centre who didn't want to play in Canada?
@Canucks/X

The Vancouver Canucks have had a remarkably quiet start to free agency, the kind the organization hasn’t seen in many years.

GM Patrik Allvin didn’t acquire a big fish on July 1, with the exception of Brock Boeser, who the team merely re-signed. It took until July 2 for the Canucks to add a new NHL player, doing so by signing depth defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

It wasn’t for a lack of trying, of course.

Canucks management stated its desire to acquire a No. 2 centre. They reportedly made offers to unrestricted free agents, and have been involved in trade talks.

But so far, that endeavour has been fruitless.

Allvin spoke recently on the 100% Canucks Podcast, hosted by John Shannon and Landon Ferraro, where he admitted that some free agents didn’t have interest playing in Canada.

“Free agency, you never really know what’s going to come out of there,” Allvin explained. “The amount of players in the UFA pool this summer, a lot of them signed with their teams prior to July 1.

“Some of them expressed that Canada was not a preferred destination.”

You have to wonder who Allvin is talking about, because there weren’t many available free agents that fit the profile of a No. 2 centre.

The Canucks were reportedly interested in Mikael Granlund and Christian Dvorak in free agency, prior to circling back on Brock Boeser. It appears they were priced out on Granlund, who signed a three-year contract worth $7 million per season with the Anaheim Ducks.

They were apparently closer on Christian Dvorak, an American centre who signed a one-year contract worth $5.4 million with the Philadelphia Flyers after four seasons playing in Montreal.

The Canucks offered Dvorak more money in total, reportedly $4 million per season on a three-year deal per CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. Perhaps the 29-year-old Illinois native was merely betting on himself after a 33-point season with the Canadiens by opting for a shorter term.

Pius Suter was another available centre before he signed a two-year contract worth $4.125 million with the St. Louis Blues. By all accounts, the 29-year-old Swiss centre liked Vancouver and was reportedly willing to take less to return to the Canucks.

“As much as we were looking at the centre options, and we’ll still continue to explore what’s out there and see if there’s something over the next while that will materialize,” Allvin added.

While some NHL players may view playing in the spotlight as a negative, there is proof that others view things differently. Look no further than the Canucks re-signing three marquee free agents with American passports: Boeser, Thatcher Demko, and Conor Garland.

Can Chytil be their No. 2 centre?

Acquiring a No. 2 centre has proven to be more difficult than anticipated for Canucks management.

But maybe they have one already.

Filip Chytil comes with risk, given his history of concussions, but Allvin says he’s fully healthy now. And he’s keeping an open mind on the 25-year-old centre.

“He’s still young. He missed some games. I think he has the intangibles to play higher up the lineup and definitely the skillset to do so,” Allvin said. “You might have the best top three centres in the league if you have Filip Chytil on your third line.”

I’d like to see the centre they acquire before accepting that last statement by Allvin, but he does raise a good point about Chytil.

If the 6-foot-3 Czech can stay healthy, he does have the potential to fill the second line centre role. Just two years ago, at age 23, Chytil scored 45 points (22-23-45) in 74 games. That ranked fifth among New York Rangers forwards. And when the Rangers made it to the Eastern Conference Final in 2022, Chytil ranked third on the team in playoff goals (7).

So he has shown flashes.

We saw those flashes last season, as Chytil dazzled fans with his speed and skill after being acquired by Vancouver.

He’s still a wild card due to health concerns, but if Chytil can remain in the lineup, there’s still untapped potential.

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