Vancouver Canucks unlikely to add centre before next season: report
Don’t be surprised to see the Vancouver Canucks enter the 2025-26 season with the exact roster they have now.
Despite the Canucks’ need for a centreman ever since the departure of J.T. Miller, it’s unlikely they add down the middle, or anywhere for that matter, throughout the remainder of the offseason.
After having also lost out on Pius Suter via free agency days ago, the Canucks are currently slated to begin the season with Elias Pettersson, Filip Chytil, Aatu Raty, and Teddy Blueger down the middle. While management is certainly aware that’s less than ideal, CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal doesn’t believe there is anybody they can, or will add before next season.
“This might be the team that you see day one of training camp,” Dhaliwal said on Halford & Brough in the Morning. “Looks like Pettersson, Chytil, Raty, and Blueger could be your centres. … One team told me last night, there’s not many centres available. There’s too many teams looking for centres. That’s an issue right now for the Canucks.”
Dhaliwal did mention that the Canucks had reached out to free-agent Jack Roslovic’s camp early into the frenzy, but talks seem to have cooled off since. A big part of that, of course, is due to the fact the Canucks have less than $800,000 in cap space to spend.
One other name who has been discussed by Canucks fans as a potential target is Anaheim Ducks centre Mason McTavish. Dhaliwal understands that he would be a great fit, but is very pessimistic that such an acquisition will ever take place.
“Canuck fans, I love them for this, they want Mason McTavish,” Dhaliwal said. “Well, the Cancuks couldn’t even land Marco Rossi, and McTavish is ten times better. The price on McTavish would be insane. I understand how fandom works, but if you can’t even land Marco Rossi, how the heck in the world are you going to land Mason McTavish.”
While things can always change in terms of the market and what’s available, it doesn’t appear likely that the Canucks are going to be able to bring in a top-six centreman this offseason, meaning that the four listed on the depth chart are going to need to have very big seasons.