VANCOUVER – When impending free-agent centre Pius Suter became a first-time 20-goal scorer on March 18, Vancouver Canucks coach Rick Tocchet wryly called it a “cha-ching goal.” Suter was going to get paid.
On Friday, the Daily Faceoff website projected that payment at four years and $3.9-million per season. With contract valuations by AFP Analytics, Daily Faceoff has Suter listed 25th in its top-50 National Hockey League players eligible for unrestricted free agency on July 1.
Without naming a price, Suter told Sportsnet he’d like to stay in Vancouver but there has been little contact between the Canucks and his agent, Georges Mueller.
Watching Suter practise with the Canucks Friday at the University of B.C., general manager Patrik Allvin said assistant GM Emilie Castonguay has been in touch with Mueller.
“I think it’s great that players want to play in Vancouver,” Allvin said. “I honestly think that’s a great sign for us. When a player wants it and the team wants it, you usually find a way to make it happen.
“Pius has continued to grow, and I think we’re very pleased with the way he’s playing. The commitment he put in this year is paying off. I can’t say enough about how professional he is — and his versatility. When he’s called upon, he is playing well for us.”
Suter has career-highs of 22 goals and 42 points in 74 games. And he has played especially well the last three weeks, amassing six goals and 13 points in 11 games during the current injury crisis down the middle. He became the Canucks’ second-line centre when Filip Chytil suffered a concussion on March 15, and has centred Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk on the top line since Elias Pettersson left the lineup with an upper-body injury on March 22.
“I just want to keep getting better and show what I can do,” Suter said. “Obviously in that regard, I’m quite happy. But still, we’ve lost a few too many games. But, yeah, you just want to prove yourself.
“I always felt like I could score a few more goals.”
It is not unusual that a player like Suter, who was actually scratched by coach Rick Tocchet for the Canucks’ season-opener, isn’t yet close to an extension as the end of the regular season nears. Typically, players near the bottom of the lineup have to wait to re-sign as management deals with bigger-ticket items.
But the Canucks re-signed bottom-six winger Drew O’Connor in February for two years at $2.5-million, shortly after his trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins. And Suter doesn’t appear to be a typical depth centre, especially with uncertainty in Vancouver about the future of centres Chytil and Pettersson.
“He’s been a great story,” Tocchet said this week about Suter. “He’s deserved what he’s deserved this year because he’s put the work in, so he’s a positive story for us.
“When we sit at the round table (as coaches) and you look at what type of players you want, he’s obviously a guy that I’ve really liked. He’s really helped me in a tough situation… when guys went down and stuff like that. He’s been always a constant for me. You always root for a guy like that, sure.”
Asked about his team’s needs at centre, Allvin said: “We feel pretty good with our goalies and we feel good with our defence, and now we’re going to improve our forwards. If that’s through trades or free-agent signings, that’s something we have to look into. But I mean, Pius has been good for us, no doubt about that.”
Suter was a bargain signing for Allvin two summers ago when the Canucks waited until August for his free-agent demands to drop and signed the former Detroit Red Wing to a two-year deal that carried a salary of $1.6-million. Suter’s previous best season offensively was with Detroit in 2022, when the left-shot centre had 15 goals and 36 points.
If he makes it to market in July, Suter appears to be in a much stronger position than he was two years ago.
“Yeah, I know what that meant,” he smiled. “I guess that’s kind of a number that people look at (you) a bit differently, maybe. But it obviously was in my mind at the beginning of the year that that was a mark I wanted to get. I felt like I could get it, too, and it just worked out that way. Obviously, I’ve still got a few games left.
“There’s a business part of it. I really like it here, obviously, in the room and everything. So, yeah, we’ll just see if we can figure something out. I kind of knew (at the start of the season) with the way the team was set up and all that stuff, it was probably going to be an end-of-the-year thing. So in my mind, compared to some other guys, it hasn’t been much of a difference to me.”
Injured six games ago during his best spell of the season, winger Nils Hoglander fully practised Friday and should be available to play this weekend. The Anaheim Ducks visit the Canucks Saturday afternoon, before the Vegas Golden Knights play at Rogers Arena on Sunday.
“Yeah, I mean, it sucks,” Hoglander said of the undisclosed injury he suffered against the New York Rangers on March 22. “It feels like we had a pretty good run there for a couple of games and a couple of weeks. So, yeah, it sucks. But you can’t really do anything about it. (I am) just focused to get back as fast as possible.”
Playing mostly alongside Pettersson, who was hurt the same game, Hoglander had eight points in his previous nine games.
After a breakthrough 24-goal campaign a year ago, Hoglander had a miserable start to this season, scoring just three goals and nine points in 43 games and playing himself into a healthy scratch.
But the 24-year-old was able to heed Tocchet’s advice to forget about his first half and start fresh, and looked for most of the last two months like the player who earned a three-year, $9-million extension last October.
The Swede conceded it has been difficult mentally.
“Yeah it is,” he said. “Every player wants to play good and when you’re not playing good, it’s hard to turn (it around) and go back to your normal you. I’m pretty proud that I could turn it around, and hopefully I can come back here and have a strong finish.”
LIKE GAMES, LIKE PRACTICE
The season-long injury subplot for the Canucks continued in Friday’s practice when centre Nils Aman sustained what appeared to be an upper-body injury after crashing heavily into the boards at UBC. Like Suter, Aman has played an elevated role recently due to injuries.
Senior defenceman Tyler Myers, who was “shut down” by Tocchet in the third period of Wednesday’s 5-0 loss to the Seattle Kraken, did not practise and is unlikely to be available this weekend.
