The Vancouver Canucks should be worried about Pius Suter
The bottom-six struggles for the Vancouver Canucks are starting to extend past the early onset of the 2023-24 season, and that should be both a short-term and long-term concern. General manager Patrik Allvin signed free agent Pius Suter to a two-year, $3.2 million contract on Aug. 11, but the Swiss forward is still without a single point through eight games.
Suter’s linemates haven’t fared much better, as Dakota Joshua has only managed one goal so far, and Anthony Beauvillier just recorded his first point of the year in the overtime loss to the New York Rangers. Conor Garland has taken Beauvillier’s place next to Suter in recent weeks, and the trade candidate only has one assist since the Canucks’ first game of the season against the Edmonton Oilers.
Suter had established himself as a reliable middle-sixer in the first three years of his NHL career, scoring no fewer than 14 goals in each. However, the 27-year-old’s overall production took a nosedive last season as he scored only 24 points in 79 games; his 0.3 points-per-game last year was comfortably worse than his previous low of 0.44.
With a player like Morgan Frost potentially available on the trade market, the Canucks would probably like to see better from Suter and co. sooner rather than latter. The team’s stars have kept them afloat through their hot start, but it’s unlikely that persists over the full 82-game season. In addition, Vancouver’s fourth line – especially Nils Hoglander – has looked infinitely better than the third line. For their sake, that line either needs a promotion or there needs to be some moving parts in recognition of their differing performances.
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Suter is going to have most of this year to get going, but it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him benched if the bottom-six fails to produce. Unless the defensive play is uniquely strong, Rick Tocchet and the Canucks won’t have time to play games.