5 Centers the Vancouver Canucks Should Trade For
Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin tipped his hand with some recent comments he made, suggesting that the team isn't done wheeling and dealing ahead of the 2024 trade deadline. The Canucks have already made multiple trades early on in the season, including acquiring Mark Friedman from the Pittsburgh Penguins, trading with the Calgary Flames for Nikita Zadorov, and sending Jack Studnicka to the San Jose Sharks.
If the Canucks are dead-set on keeping the Lotto Line together, they're going to need to find other ways to produce secondary scoring. The second line of Pius Suter, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Ilya Mikheyev has not produced a goal in their last six games together, and the Canucks will need more than that in order to survive in the postseason.
There's been some debate as to whether or not the Canucks should aim for a player like Penguins winger Jake Guentzel or go a different route altogether and target a center. As you probably deduced by now, we're going with the latter for the sake of this exercise. The center market is also nowhere near as flush with potential options as the winger market might be. So, as a result, it's an opportunity to be more creative and to see who (or what) is out there for the Canucks. Let's dive in.
#5. Adam Henrique, Anaheim Ducks
Once upon a time, Adam Henrique was the de facto No. 1 center for the New Jersey Devils - a team starved of offense and had very little dynamism in their forward group. Despite that, Henrique was always Mr. Consistent.
A staple on both the power play and the penalty kill, the 33-year-old has scored 20 or more goals in six of his 13 full seasons in the NHL. Henrique would be on pace for a seventh should his finishing pick up; something likely to happen were he to end up with the Canucks at some point in the next six weeks.
Henrique has scored 30 power play goals in his career, as well as 13 short-handed goals. In addition, the Anaheim Ducks veteran has won over 50% of his draws in each of the last six seasons. Henrique is not going to be the sexiest option on this list, but he's still capable of bringing some of his own offense. The former Devil boasts a career shooting percentage of 15.3%.
#4. Michael McLeod, New Jersey Devils
Speaking of the Devil(s), let's head east for this one. Michael McLeod is a bit of a wild card pick here, in part due to his drastically different role in the wake of Jack Hughes' injury. McLeod scored a career-high 26 points in 80 games last season and is already up to 19 points in 41 games this year. He's also set a new career-high in goals with 10 and counting.
The 2016 first-round pick is also getting the most ice time of his career this season, with an average of 14:53. Further adding to the appeal for the Canucks, McLeod is winning an astonishing 65.7% of his faceoffs. Only four other players with at least 100 attempts have eclipsed 60%. For the Canucks, there's no reason to worry about the defensive or physical sides of the game - McLeod has that covered.
The big questions revolve around McLeod's true potential. The 25-year-old has never scored double-digit goals before this season and doesn't have a 30-point campaign under his belt either. McLeod has excelled as a puck-carrier and as a distributor, but his actual shot is notably weak. This might be a situation where McLeod is more valuable to the Devils than he is to other teams, but the risk and reward are ultimately for the Canucks to assess here.
#3. Sean Monahan, Montreal Canadiens
If teams end up competing for his services, there's going to be high risk around Montreal Canadiens center Sean Monahan. On the other hand, if the Canucks can get something out of him, there's potential for high reward as well.
Heading into this season, there were major question marks about Monahan's health and fitness level. The 29-year-old appeared in just 25 games for the Habs in the 2022-23 season, and his production declined severely in the seasons preceding that. Monahan dealt with a torn hip labrum, a broken foot, and a groin injury in recent seasons.
Back in his Calgary Flames days, Monahan was one of the more productive centers in the entire NHL, underscored by his 82-point 2018-19 campaign. It's been all downhill since, though the veteran appears to finally be healthy, playing big minutes on a bad Canadiens team. Monahan is winning 57.7% of his faceoffs and his average ice time of 18:26 is his highest since 2018-19.
If the Canucks feel they can coax some of that scoring form back out of the Ontario native, then this is a trade they should absolutely make. Vancouver doesn't need Monahan to turn into Connor McDavid, but a player that ultimately gives them 50-60 points down the middle would be a good supplementary addition to their roster.
#2. Mikael Granlund, San Jose Sharks
This might be a bit of a controversial choice, but Mikael Granlund is quietly having a nice bounce-back season with the San Jose Sharks after several not-great seasons with the Nashville Predators. His short stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins was even worse, which is how he ended up in California.
During his best years with the Minnesota Wild, Granlund was one of the better two-way centers in the NHL. Granlund had back-to-back 20-goal seasons in 2016-17 and 2017-18, and hasn't had one since. The Finn has almost always had far more assists than goals, and that could make him a fit in Vancouver, depending on who he's lined up with.
For the Canucks, the main drawback with Granlund is going to be the fact that he has another year on his contract after this one at a $5 million cap hit. With players like Elias Pettersson and Filip Hronek in need of new contracts in the summer, the Canucks might be biting off more than they can chew. If they have an idea that makes the money work, it could be worth a shout.
#1. Elias Lindholm, Calgary Flames
The top option on the market, Elias Lindholm is not going to be a cheap buy for Patrik Allvin and the Canucks. However, one advantage the Canucks do have is that the line of communication between Allvin and Calgary GM Craig Conroy is already open.
Lindholm, like most players on this list, is going to be an NHL trade deadline rental. The 29-year-old has a palatable $4.85 million cap hit on his current deal, but is due for a new contract in the summer. Unless the Canucks do some cap gymnastics, Lindholm would be headed for his third different team in 2024.
The former Carolina Hurricane's offensive form has gotten progressively worse, as have the Flames as a team. Lindholm scored 42 goals in 2021-22, but only eclipsed 20 twice prior to that. Shooting just 7.9% this season, the Swede is on pace for another sub-20 goal campaign, barring a big uptick in his finishing.
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On the other hand, the Canucks, as well as the rest of the NHL world, know that Lindholm has carried the burden of being the Flames' No. 1 centerman. If he arrives in Vancouver, perhaps Lindholm would benefit from some easier matchups and less taxing minutes.