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Vancouver Canucks 2016-17 Roster Outlook

By Janik Beichler

Mar 7, 2015; San Jose, CA, USA; Vancouver Canucks right wing Radim Vrbata (17) celebrates with the Vancouver Canucks bench after scoring a goal during the first period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 7, 2015; San Jose, CA, USA; Vancouver Canucks right wing Radim Vrbata (17) celebrates with the Vancouver Canucks bench after scoring a goal during the first period against the San Jose Sharks at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Bob Stanton-USA TODAY Sports /
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Centres

Expiring contracts: 

Players re-signed: 

  • Markus Granlund

Having strong depth down the middle — in net, on defence and at centre, that is — is extremely important. So it is nice to see that Vancouver’s big area of strength is exactly there: at centre.

The Canucks just gave up Hunter Shinkaruk, one of the club’s elite prospects, to acquire Markus Granlund from the Calgary Flames. So, obviously, he is staying.

As to Mike Zalewski and Alex Friesen, well, Benning will do what he thinks is best. Zalewski got to play in two NHL games this season, Friesen in one. They might are 23 and 25, respectively, and could be NHL depth players. If not that, they should at least be leaders for the Utica Comets.

Related: Markus Granlund Trade Analysis 9 Games Later

That leaves us with a centre depth chart of Henrik Sedin, Brandon Sutter, Bo Horvat, Granlund and Jared McCann — not too shabby.

At 35 years old, Henrik is still scoring .81 points per game and 2.59 points per 60 minutes — second on the Canucks behind only his brother and 26th in the league. Sutter and Horvat are a 2A and a 2B centre. If both stay healthy, Vancouver does not need to worry about what happens down the middle.

Horvat is in a little bit of a sophomore slump. His offensive numbers have gone up a tad, but his defensive numbers are downright terrible for a two-way centre. Horvat ranks 22nd in Corsi-for percentage at 45.7 percent and his minus-34 are worst in the league. Still, on a healthy roster, those numbers should go up again next season.

Granlund and McCann round out the centre group. Neither one wants to be a healthy scratch and, more importantly, neither should be. Therefore, it would not be surprising to see Sutter, Granlund or McCann switch to the wing, occasionally.

Possible depth chart:

  1. Henrik Sedin
  2. Brandon Sutter
  3. Bo Horvat
  4. Markus Granlund
  5. Jared McCann

Next: Outlook

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