With the NHL season nearing it's official end, the Canucks management have the most consequential few months of recent memory on the horizon. The team presumably needs to convince Hughes to stay around, and to do that they need to put a playoff team on the ice. I don't think they have to contend next year (it's pretty unreasonable to build a contender in one off-season), but they have to show last year was an anomaly to him and put the team back on track to make it to contender status.
The defense is their strength for next year, but their forwards need a massive overhaul. There are a few spaces in the top 6 that need to be addressed, especially if Boeser and Suter both walk. The Canucks have been linked to Marco Rossi, who would be a highly skilled and young addition down the middle, though his size gives some people a pause (though Brad Marchand isn't that much taller and is showing that height isn't everything). There are always rumors here and there (including Dallas' Jason Robertson being available), so here are some names that the Canucks could potentially target over the next few weeks that have been brought up by media people:
Trade candidates:
- Marco Rossi
- Jason Robertson
- Trevor Zegras
- Pavel Zacha
- William Karlsson
- JJ Peterka
- Morgan Geekie
- Mason Marchment
- Nicolas Roy
UFA candidates:
- Matt Duchene
- Mikael Granlund
- Jack Roslovic
- Sam Bennett
- Nikolaj Ehlers
The UFA class is a bit underwhelming this year (I don't think there's much of a chance the Canucks could land Marner), so it looks like the team will be positioning itself more on the trade market.
Vancouver Canucks Blogger • 
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