The Vancouver Canucks don’t intend on doing a scorched-earth rebuild. That said, the club could be examining some big moves and may have one fewer untouchable player than we all would have expected.
According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Canucks do want to change their mix and breathe new life into the organization.
“They have indicated that they have one untouchable and that is (Elias) Pettersson,” Friedman said on the 32 Thoughts segment during the second intermission of Hockey Night in Canada. “Now you know what everybody's going to start to say: What does that mean for Quinn Hughes? What I was told is that the Canucks have said it would take an absolutely mammoth offer (to acquire Hughes). This is not something they're looking to do; it would take a mammoth offer for them to part ways with the tremendous young defenceman.”
The fact the Canucks would listen at all on Hughes is notable, as the 23-year-old is one of the best blueliners in the game. Since the start of the 2019-20 season, only five D-men — Roman Josi, John Carlson, Cale Makar, Victor Hedman and Adam Fox — have put up more points than Hughes’ 187 in 225 games.
Hughes — whose younger brother and fellow defenceman, Luke, was just named captain of Team USA’s 2023 World Junior Championship entry — is in the second season of a six-year contract that counts for $7.85 million annually against the salary cap.
Although nobody was really thinking about Hughes’ name being in the rumour mill, Canucks captain Bo Horvat has been the subject of trade speculation for weeks. The 27-year-old is eligible to become a free agent in the summer of 2023 and Friedman believes the seven-year, $8-million per contract extension signed by fellow Canucks forward J.T. Miller before the season is acting as ceiling for where the team would be comfortable going in terms of an offer for a new deal.
And with the way Horvat has played this season — 21 goals in 29 games — that simply might not be enough.
“The best I can sense is that J.T. Miller's contract is worth $56 million," Friedman said. "I just don't think they want to go over that for Horvat, and his year is putting him over that.”
COMMENTS
When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.