Canucks really missing Pius Suter this season – Hockey Writer – Vancouver Canucks

Shortly after the New York Rangers traded JT Miller for Filip Chytil, he went down with a concussion and ultimately missed the remainder of the season. Subsequently, Elias Pettersson was also injured, leaving the Vancouver Canucks with only Pius Suter, Artur Rati, Teddy Brugger and Max Sasson as their four centers. Suter became the top center by default and excelled in that role, often playing more than 20 minutes a night in any situation while making key draws in both the offensive and defensive zones.

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Suter finished the season with a career-high 25 goals and 46 points, and for some reason the Canucks didn’t feel the Swiss Army Knife was enough to re-sign him this offseason. Canucks management reportedly made him a lowball offer and he decided to bring his versatility and two-way game to the St. Louis Blues.

Suter’s 2024-25 season doesn’t appear to be a flash in the pan

Re-signing Suter to a lucrative contract after he had the best season of his career was always a gamble. While he’s been very consistent, scoring 14 or 15 goals each season since debuting with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2020-21, no one will mistake him for a top-six center with an average annual value (AAV) of $4.125 million. Everyone is wondering if the 2024-25 season is just a blip, boosted by top-six opportunities and, in each case, increased ice time. After four seasons of a sizable sample size and middling production, it’s reasonable to be skeptical about whether he can do it again.

Well, fast forward 19 games into the 2025-26 season, and Suter appears to have proven otherwise. While his ice time has dropped back to career averages, he’s still been highly efficient while being his usual elite two-way self. He ranks second on the Blues with five goals and fourth with 10 points. He’s also the Blues’ go-to option in shootouts, leading all forwards in shorthanded ice time with 1:24 per game. Basically, he did everything he did last season, just in the Blue Note instead of the Orca, which I’m sure general manager Patrick Alvin is regretting now.

Canucks missing Suter on PK

Last season, the Canucks’ penalty kill was one of their strengths, ranking third in the NHL at 82.6%. The leading duo in short-handed ice time is Suter and Brueger with 185:24 (2:17 per game) and 172:50 (2:06 per game) respectively. This season, they are dead last with a low shooting percentage of 66.1%, a drop of 16.5 percentage points. While neither player managed to convert a penalty, it’s no coincidence that Brueger has only played two games and logged 5:45 on the PK, Suter is no longer on the roster, and the Canucks are struggling 19 games into the season.

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Suter and Brugger were one of the best penalty-killing tandems in the league last season, and the Canucks front office should take that into consideration when deciding whether to bring Suter back. Not having it as an option this season really hurts their PK and may be the reason they miss the playoffs. Suter’s free throw shooting skills alone should be worth the money he’ll get in free agency.

The Canucks could really use Suter in the top six right now

Before signing David Kampf to a one-year contract on Saturday, the Canucks’ center lineup consisted of Pettersson, Lukas Reichel (who is not a natural center), Ratti and Sasson. With Brugger and Chytil injured, the team became one of the weakest teams in the NHL. While Kampf will help the bottom six and shoot free throws, he’s not a scorer and likely won’t contribute offensively.

The Canucks would have signed Kempf even if Suter was still on the roster, but their front six would look much better. Suter is still playing like a top-six forward in St. Louis and playing a second-line center role, something Alvin has been looking for on the trade market all season. The problem is, before Suter hits free agency on July 1, he already has one.

Although chairman Jim Rutherford revealed in a recent interview that Suter wanted to come back, the deadline and money were apparently not enough for him to reject the Blues’ offer. Citing “miscommunication on deadlines,” he said they were willing to work beyond his two years in St. Louis, but “that didn’t work out.”

Regardless, Alvin and Rutherford should prioritize him before other teams offer him anything. They had control of the negotiations well before July 1, but seemed to think he wasn’t valuable enough to really jump in and get something done. This has been a huge misstep for them so far this season.

Canucks hope Kempf can help fill Suter’s void

As mentioned before, Kempf should help fill the void left by Suter on PK and defense, but not in goals and points. His career high is 11 goals in the 2021-22 season, which is also his only season with double-digit goals. His performance was comparable to Brugger’s – ranked in the bottom six. Beyond that, Kempf is a lot like Suter, a versatile Swiss Army knife who plays great defense and has a high hockey IQ and work ethic. Who knows, he might surprise us and be more offensive than we thought.

However, that doesn’t take away from the fact that the Canucks made a mistake by not re-signing Suter. With him on the floor – even with so many injuries – they could be well above .500 given his ability to kill penalties and offense. Struggling in penalty kills has been a reason for many losses this season, and the Canucks underestimated his value, not only to PK, but to the rest of the team as well.