There’s a sentiment floating around the Canucks fandom that I find concerning. It’s the idea that the Canucks are set at centre for the foreseeable future and shouldn’t worry about acquiring more young centre prospects, either at the draft or via trade.
It’s why many Canucks fans were fine with the team moving Tyler Madden to the Los Angeles Kings in the Tyler Toffoli trade, even before Toffoli quickly clicked with Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller on the top line. It’s why many Canucks fans are eager to see the team draft defencemen and scoring wingers ahead of centres when the NHL Entry Draft finally arrives.
On the surface, it’s not an unreasonable stance. At the NHL level, Pettersson is a legitimate franchise forward, Bo Horvat is a strong two-way second-line centre, and Adam Gaudette is an up-and-coming scoring threat from the third line. With that youth up the middle and a veteran fourth-line centre, the Canucks should be set for years, right?