Vancouver Canucks: Analyzing their depth at centre

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The NHL draft is coming up, and the Vancouver Canucks have plenty of options, but do they have the depth at centre? We take a look .

The Vancouver Canucks depth at centre has often been called a logjam, they have a superstar and their future captain.

After that, it’s a drop off. Adam Gaudette has shown some promise but is in no way a sure thing to be a permanent part of the rebuild for this team. Markus Granlund and Tim Schaller aren’t a regular part of the team and they play a majority on the wing, so they will be omitted. Some have argued that Brandon Sutter and Jay Beagle are bring the same style of play. There are also a few centres in the pipes that I will go into covering after draft day in a later article.

Elias Pettersson

Elias Pettersson has shown us fans time and time again that he has all of the tools required of a superstar and the ability to become one. His precision on the ice is very Sedin-esque, the only problem is that he can’t pass to himself; he can, however, pass it to Brock Boeser. Pettersson’s place in the Canucks lineup is uncontested and he is the only one that can do what he does in the organization.

He just had a phenomenal rookie campaign and is a favorite to win the Calder Trophy. He was third on the team in Corsi For percentage (58.20), High Danger Scoring Chances For Percentage (53.47), and second in SCF( 56.08), via Natural Stat Trick) of Canucks to play at least ten games, behind only his line mates Boeser and Josh Leivo. He received a lot of favorable starts in the offensive zone but being the best offensive player that is an obvious decision.

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One of the most underrated aspects of Pettersson’s game is his commitment to his defensive responsibility, he has time and time again made amazing defensive plays; one of his most famous defensive plays was from a blocked point shot that he turned into a breakaway which he scored bar-down on. His diving efforts and his active stick make every aspect of his game an art to watch and us fans are blessed.

Bo Horvat

Bo Horvat was tasked with coming out and showing his leadership abilities this year, he had done that and much more.

Not only did he play a full season in an era where its seemingly impossible to get to see a Canuck night in night out, but he improved on almost every aspect of his game; he set new career highs in goals assists and points, as well as improving on almost every one of his advanced statistics.

Horvat was tasked at the beginning of the year when Jay Beagle and Brandon Sutter were injured to become the shutdown guy, lowering his offensive zone deployment from the previous year by four percent.

Horvat has continued his development each campaign since his rookie campaign, that should make Canuck fans very excited for the future. He should be trusted on both ends of the ice and his 20 minutes of ice time allows the Canucks to utilize him as such.

Adam Gaudette

Adam Gaudette’s season was full of development even though he didn’t score an NHL goal until Nov. 24 Unfortunately, his use this season was more directed towards injuries than merit or his gameplay. He was sent down after his second goal due to the team becoming healthy, his numbers might not reflect that his play was improving but he looked more dangerous offensively.

Right now, Gaudette is a third line centre who is on an entry level contract, and he’s getting pushed out of the lineup by two overpaid fourth line centre in Sutter and Beagle; they are both under contract until the end of the 2021 and 2022 seasons respectively.

Sutter has a modified no-trade clause that starts this upcoming season which consists of a list of 15 teams he cannot be traded to. Beagle has a modified NTC for the next three years, with a 15-team no-trade list.

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Sutter and Beagle

Sutter and Beagle, making $4.375 million and $3 million respectively, combined for 83 games.

Beagle had a good year — if f you’re looking at his underlying numbers. He has improved on the offensive aspects of his game from last year while his offensive zone percentage went down. You have to think that since general manager Jim Benning signed him, knowing those were his contract year numbers that he was ecstatic seeing his improved statistics.

Beagle isn’t what I would call a game-breaker, but he’s an amazing presence in the room and I have absolutely no issues with him on the team. The problem here is that there are two Beagles on this team.

Sutter has been an injury prone shut-down centre, he plays hard minutes against the oppositions’ top lines; not the most ideal situation for an injury prone player who has now had two sports hernia surgeries. Sutter’s contract was signed with him spending most of the time in offensive zone, clearly that wasn’t the long-term plan for him; this lack of forethought has me scratching my head.

Unlike Beagle and Horvat, Sutter’s numbers have been getting worse the more time he spends in the defensive zone. It seems like Benning had the correct idea signing Beagle with an inconsistent player such as Sutter. Again, the problem here is that the Canucks don’t need both Sutter and Beagle. They only need one.

Future Considerations

The Canucks know they have a solid one-two punch at centre, but how do they stack up to the rest of the league at the three-four? Gaudette still being a question mark and a few prospects still haven’t had a taste of NHL action.

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The third line centre should be filled by a tough and fast grinding prospect where the Canucks can fully control the development. The fourth line position can be filled through free agency, but moving forward, the Canucks can’t afford to blow millions of dollars on a fourth line player.

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