The Vancouver Canucks entered the international break on something of a heater.
It’s not just that they ground out points in seven of their final eight games before the NHL paused for the 4 Nations Face-Off, it’s that they played mostly solid and even inspired hockey in the wake of the J.T. Miller trade — despite the absence of Quinn Hughes, their captain and clear-cut most valuable player.
It’s a small sample and goaltending has been the primary driver of their recent run of success, but it’s impossible to ignore that the Canucks have added speed to their lineup, are controlling play at five-on-five well as they have all season and have firmed up their bid for at least a wild-card spot in the Western Conference playoff picture in the process. With less than a month remaining until the NHL trade deadline, the big question is should Canucks hockey operations let this simmer, or keep adding to their roster?
We know general manager Patrik Allvin and president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford are aggressive and prefer to move decisively. We know, too, that the club has entered something of a transitional phase in the post-Miller era, and are intent, as that process unfolds, on strengthening their lineup down the middle above all else.
Acquiring centres is virtually impossible at a reasonable price on the NHL trade market, which was recently underlined by the relatively high price the New York Rangers paid for Miller and the Dallas Stars paid for Mikael Granlund. And while Vancouver will look to be aggressive in pursuit of upgrades and depth down the middle, we’ve been hearing for weeks that the club is holding fast to its 2025 first-round pick in trade talks with rival clubs.
High prices, limited ammunition and a lack of really compelling centre options available will make this particular Canucks shopping trip a hazardous one. It’s something they will continue working at, however, whether they find the answer ahead of the trade deadline or have to wait until the offseason to accomplish it.
With that in mind, let’s get into some of the centre options reportedly available leading up to the deadline, and whether they might fit the bill for Vancouver.
Brayden Schenn
According to reports from TSN’s Darren Dreger and Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the St. Louis Blues are at least willing to listen to teams calling about productive, hard-nosed, 33-year-old pivot Brayden Schenn. The prices, however, according to Friedman, are prohibitive at the moment.
Schenn is an older centre, shoots left-handed and is more of an efficiency driver who plays with physical edge than a high-end two-way driver at this stage of his career. That’s probably not the ideal profile the Canucks would look to break the bank for at this stage of their team-building cycle, but it’s worth remembering that when you’re trading for a centre, the “ideal profile” is one that 31 other NHL teams also prize highly, and as a result, those players rarely shake loose or become available.
In Schenn’s case, it’s important not to let perfect be the enemy of the good. And Schenn is a very good player.
Although he’s not necessarily a two-way ace and has more offensive than defensive value typically, Schenn is a productive goal scorer capable of doing the job against top-of-the-lineup matchups. He’s also a big-bodied forward who plays with an appreciable physical edge, something the Canucks could sorely use down the middle of their forward group.
There’s obviously risk in Schenn’s profile, given his age and contract status — he’s signed through his age-36 season, on a contract carrying a $6.5 million cap hit — but there’s also serious upside. The Blues are something of a directionless mess of late, so you’d be betting on the player thriving in a more favourable environment. You’d also be betting on fit, and in Conor Garland, the Canucks have just about the perfect pass-first play-driving winger to help complement a shooter with Schenn’s skill set. Finally, truth be told, the remaining term and cap number on Schenn’s deal shouldn’t be viewed as unduly daunting given the expected growth in the salary cap upper limit over the next several years. If Schenn were a pending unrestricted free agent this summer, for example, he’d net a far more expensive contract than three years at $6.5 million per season.
Brayden Schenn won a Cup with the Blues in 2019. (Christopher Creveling / Imagn Images)
Lastly, the vast majority of centres on this list are young, unproven pivots with some potential upside. Players who are available due to underperformance, because of injury risk or because other young players have surpassed them on their respective club’s depth chart.
Schenn, in contrast, has championship pedigree. He’s the sort of highly respected leader and professional the Canucks might benefit from adding to the organization, especially with the way this season has gone.
It might not be a perfect hockey fit and it definitely won’t be affordable, but this is the sort of situation the Canucks should be closely monitoring and willing to consider paying up for.
Dylan Cozens
Cozens looked like he was on the verge of stardom two years ago. Drafted No. 7 in 2019, the talented right-shot centre broke out with 31 goals and 68 points as a 21-year-old during the 2022-23 season. He was far from a perfect player — his two-way play, for example, was quite raw — but his monster breakout, age, tantalizing physical tools and pedigree pointed to a player with the potential to become a first-line-calibre talent.
The Buffalo Sabres rewarded Cozens with a lucrative seven-year, $7.1 million AAV contract extension, and it’s gone downhill for him since.
Cozens regressed to 47 points in 2023-24 and is on pace for just 41 points this season. During his career-best 68-point season, Cozens was one of the league’s top players at driving offensive zone entries with possession, according to Corey Sznajder’s All Three Zones tracking data. Cozens has been less dangerous attacking in transition since then, which is an issue because he was very reliant on the rush to drive offence.
Some of his point-production decline can also be attributed to the waning Sabres’ power play — it ranked top 10 in the NHL during 2022-23 but has fallen near the bottom of the league over the last two seasons. Cozens’ power-play point production has fallen considerably in tandem with the top unit’s lack of success.
Cozens has also failed to level up defensively. He still owns below-average defensive metrics and the high work-rate, blue-collar playing style that used to define his game (and give people hope he’d develop into an above-average two-way player) tends to come and go rather than be a consistent part of his identity.
Despite his stagnating development, there are still reasons to be bullish about Cozens’ future. First, he just turned 24 yesterday — he’s still young enough to have untapped upside. Development isn’t always linear, and many players find their peak in their mid-20s.
Secondly, how much of Cozens’ struggles are tied to playing for a woeful, sad-sack Sabres organization with poor culture and mediocre player development results? Look at how forwards like Sam Reinhart, Jack Eichel and Ryan O’Reilly have thrived since leaving Buffalo. It’s possible a fresh start could help Cozens rebound to being closer to the player he was two years ago.
And while Cozens hasn’t lived up to his contract yet, a $7.1 million cap hit through 2029-30 could age well if he regains his prior form, given how much the salary cap is expected to skyrocket in the coming years.
Cozens is an intriguing bounce-back candidate, but do the Canucks have the right assets to entice the Sabres?
Buffalo has already hoarded tons of prospects and draft picks; a futures-oriented deal is highly unlikely to get the deal done. The Sabres probably want impact, NHL-ready players in exchange for Cozens. It’s unlikely the Canucks can build a proposal that makes sense for both sides unless they’re willing to dangle Elias Pettersson, which would kind of defeat the purpose of adding Cozens.
Tommy Novak
If you catch Novak on the right night, you’ll be left believing he’s a budding top-six talent.
The 27-year-old boasts a wide array of creative offensive tools. He’s a shifty, agile skater and has silky-smooth hands with the puck which allow him to excel as a puck transporter. He led Nashville Predators forwards at creating offensive zone entries with possession last season, according to Corey Sznajder’s tracking.
Novak scored 88 points over 122 games (the equivalent of a 59-points-per-82-games rate) during his last two seasons before 2024-25. He was given the first crack this season to centre the Preds’ second line flanked by Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos. That looked like a promising fit on paper because of those two decorated snipers’ finishing ability and Novak’s dynamic speed and playmaking skill to set them up.
Unfortunately, Nashville’s new-look second line didn’t pan out and Novak has since been bumped down the lineup. He’s slumped to 19 points in 45 games. However, the bigger concern with Novak is whether he’ll ever develop the two-way chops to be trusted for full-time top-six duties.
Novak has only handled sheltered bottom-six matchups for the bulk of his NHL career. He’s only won 43.1 percent of faceoffs in his career, which could be problematic for a Canucks team that has struggled in the faceoff circle since the Miller trade. Novak didn’t register a single point against the Canucks during the first-round playoffs last season and his ice time was cut to just 10:31 per game.
Novak has deserved better offensive luck this season — the Preds have controlled 57 percent of scoring chances and scored on less than 7 percent of their five-on-five shots with Novak on the ice, which suggests he’s been snakebitten. He’s also signed to a reasonable $3.5 million cap hit for two years after this season.
The creative, slick forward could be an attractive buy-low opportunity, but he profiles more like a third-line centre than a true top-six centre on a contender. And now that the Canucks have a puck-rushing middle-six centre of their own in Filip Chytil, Vancouver’s front office may not see Novak’s skill set (dynamic centre with two-way flaws and not a lot of toughness) as an ideal fit.
Since being traded to Colorado at last year’s deadline, Casey Mittelstadt’s results have been mixed. (Bob Frid / Imagn Images)
Casey Mittelstadt
By orchestrating a stunning Bowen Byram-for-Mittelstadt swap with Buffalo at last year’s trade deadline, the Colorado Avalanche, one of the best pro scouting teams in the NHL, made a bet that Mittelstadt could excel as a second-line centre on a Cup-contending team. On paper, it seemed like a savvy move because he scored 59 points in 2022-23 and was leading the Sabres with 47 points in 62 games leading up to last year’s trade.
Since arriving in the Mile High City, Mittelstadt’s results have been mixed. He played promisingly down the stretch last season, scoring 10 points in 18 games (nearly all of that production came at even strength) and nine points in 11 playoff games. Mittelstadt’s point production has been fine this season (32 points in 57 games), but his performance under the surface has been an issue.
The 26-year-old’s two-way metrics have fallen off a cliff with the Avs surrendering more shots, scoring chances and goals than they’re generating during his five-on-five minutes. Mittelstadt’s usage has been declining, as he’s averaged just 13:48 over his last 13 games. He’s falling out of favour as Colorado’s 2C.
It’s worth pointing out that Colorado’s been decimated by winger injuries so Mittelstadt has been stuck with inferior wingers for most of the season (Valeri Nichushkin’s return will be a huge boost for the second line).
Mittelstadt is an excellent playmaker and has proven he can produce at a top-six level (he ranks 41st among centres in points per game since the 2022-23 season). However, he’s inconsistent defensively, not the fastest skater and offers no physicality or edge. While a combo of Pettersson, Mittelstadt and Chytil would offer a lot of skill down the middle, the fragility and lack of physicality of that group would probably drive Rick Tocchet crazy.
Josh Norris
Until he sustained a multi-week lower-body injury earlier this month, Josh Norris was enjoying a healthy and productive season for the Ottawa Senators for the first time in years.
The 25-year-old signed a significant, long-term second contract with the Senators several years ago when he was coming off a 30-goal campaign and looking like one of the most dynamic young pivots in the game. Then his momentum derailed, almost entirely due to injuries. Over the next two seasons, after he signed his extension, injuries limited Norris to just 58 total games.
This season, however, Norris has bounced back. He’d played in 50 games before sustaining his injury and was pacing to score 30 goals again. Perhaps even more importantly, he was being thrown to the wolves by Senators coach Travis Green defensively and was holding his own in difficult minutes while winning a stellar 54 percent of faceoffs.
Norris isn’t a two-way ace necessarily, but he’s a gifted shooter capable of holding up in difficult minutes and wins a lot of draws. He’s also 25 and close personal friends with Hughes going back to their days as college roommates. While Norris’ contract is prohibitive for a player with his history of durability concerns, it’s also relatively secure. He’s locked up through the balance of his prime, and at a cap hit that’s perfectly reasonable for a centre with his skill set.
So, what’s the rub? It comes down to availability. The Senators are tracking to be a playoff team this season, diminishing their incentive to sell off a big contract, and Norris’ usage speaks to an intense level of organizational trust. Having covered Green closely during his time in Vancouver, we can tell you the Senators bench boss doesn’t utilize a centre with the level of matchup discipline he’s shown in deploying Norris this season if he’s not extremely high on the player.
We’ve heard the Canucks have been interested in Norris in the past, but the buy-low window on the gifted Senators pivot has surely passed. Norris seems far more likely to remain a long-term fixture in Kanata than he does to end up in a trade.
(Top photo of Tommy Novak skating behind the Canucks net: Steve Roberts / Imagn Images)
