The Vancouver Canucks are rebuilding, and that reality has put a spotlight on one of the hardest things to find in the NHL: a true No. 1 center.
That need has only been magnified around the league. The Philadelphia Flyers made that point loud and clear when they extended a stunning $18MM offer sheet to Anaheim Ducks center Leo Carlsson, a move that made him the league’s highest paid player on the basis of annual salary. Top centers are rare, and teams know it.
For Vancouver, this is a very different place than it was just a few years ago. The club once looked set at center with Elias Pettersson, who erupted for 39 goals and 102 points in his age-24 season before landing an $11.6MM AAV extension.
But that contract has not aged the way the Canucks hoped. Pettersson followed his breakout with a strong 34-goal, 89-point 2023-24 campaign, but since then he has been scoring at roughly a 55-point pace.
That has left the organization searching for answers about who will anchor the middle when this rebuild starts turning into something more.
The Canucks took a swing at the 2026 draft, using the No. 3 overall pick on OHL center Caleb Malhotra. He was widely viewed as the best pivot in the class by public rankings, but many around the game projected him more as a high-end No. 2 center than a true top-line force. That means Vancouver’s long-term answer down the middle may still be out there somewhere.
Right now, though, the picture seems to be changing in a more immediate way. According to The Athletic’s Thomas Drance, the Canucks consider Marco Rossi to be “their first-line centre,” not Pettersson.
Rossi arrived from Minnesota in the Hughes trade and wasted little time making an impression. The ninth-overall pick in the 2020 draft put up 22 points in 33 games with Vancouver, then added 20 points over the team’s final 25 games after returning from injury in February. Drance also wrote that Rossi “had legitimate chemistry” with Brock Boeser, and that he could begin the season on a line with Boeser and Jake DeBrusk.
Whether Rossi can actually hold that spot long term is another matter. It seems unlikely that he’ll be the Canucks’ No. 1 center all the way through the rebuild and into contender status.
Still, the 24-year-old has a real opening in front of him. He scored 24 goals and 60 points in 2024-25, and Vancouver is giving him a chance to play in a role he probably wouldn’t get in many other places.
That opportunity also carries major contract implications. Rossi is playing on a $5MM AAV deal that expires in two years, when he becomes an arbitration-eligible RFA and is one year from unrestricted free agency. Drance noted that Rossi would “probably have an enormous amount of leverage” if the Canucks let that contract run out without an early extension.
If Rossi takes another step with the minutes he’s set to receive in Vancouver, he could set himself up for a major raise.
In Other News...
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There is also a built-in familiarity that could make the fit even more interesting. Cotter and Max Sasson spent time together with Team USA at the 2026 IIHF World Championship, where they were on the same line and found some chemistry in a role that asked them to do a little of everything. If that connection carries over to camp, the Canucks may already have a combination that feels more natural than the usual preseason guessing game. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Just Sent Their Clearest Rebuild Message Yet
Luke Schenns return to Vancouver fits neatly into the Canucks latest organizational direction, one that looks a lot less like a quick fix and a lot more like a patient reset. The veteran defender is back in a role that should help steady the room and guide younger players, while the club continues to frame its next steps around development, culture and giving its blue line room to grow.
Manny Malhotras staff is now in place, and the broader picture is hard to miss: this is a group being built to teach as much as to win right away. Vancouver is leaning into younger defensemen, with Filip Hronek still a central piece, and the message from these moves is clear enough for anyone reading between the lines. The Canucks are choosing the long view, even if it means more growing pains before the payoff arrives. [Read more 🡒]