Canucks News & Rumours: Rossi, Hutton & Two Things to Watch

What we did see down the stretch, though, was pretty encouraging. Once Rossi was healthy enough to play regularly, he started to find chemistry with Brock Boeser and Liam Öhgren. That line, which picked up the rather fun nickname of the “BRÖ” line, gave the Canucks something to look forward to.

Rossi put up seven goals and 13 assists over his final 22 games, which is good production no matter how you slice it. Over the final 25 games, he was on a 66-point pace. And he was playing with a broken foot. I don’t know about you, but that makes me wonder what the numbers might look like if Rossi gets through an entire season without having to fight his own body along the way.

That’s where I think the Canucks have reason to be optimistic. Rossi has already shown that he can produce in the NHL, including a 60-point season with the Minnesota Wild in 2024-25, but Vancouver may give him a different opportunity. If he can stay healthy and gets a long run with Boeser and Öhgren, I don’t think 65 points is an unreasonable target at all.

Maybe he becomes a legitimate 1C, or maybe he settles in as a very good 2C behind Elias Pettersson. Either way, a healthy Rossi could give the team much-needed stability down the middle. And after the way he finished last season, I think there is a pretty good chance we haven’t seen the best of Rossi in a Canucks uniform yet.

Should the Canucks Bring Ben Hutton Back?

There is something fun about the idea of Ben Hutton coming back to Vancouver. Hutton was a rookie with the Canucks back in 2015-16, put up 25 points and even won the Walter “Babe” Pratt Trophy as the team’s top defenceman. Now he’s 33, has 575 NHL games behind him and a Stanley Cup ring from his time with the Vegas Golden Knights. He would be a very different player coming back. But maybe that’s not a bad thing for the Canucks.

The reason to bring him back is pretty straightforward. Vancouver has a young defence that could use another experienced voice, particularly on the left side. Hutton isn’t going to come in and play 22 minutes a night like he did when he was 26, and Vancouver was running him into the ground. He played a depth role in Vegas last season, and that’s probably closer to what Vancouver would be asking.

If the price is right, he could give the younger defencemen some competition, provide some insurance and bring experience to a group that doesn’t have a whole lot of it. If Hutton is a good fit in the room, a short, inexpensive deal wouldn’t be much of a gamble.

The reason not to bring him back is that he had just 15 points in 55 games last season while averaging 14:35 a night, and the Canucks already have Jamie Oleksiak, Zeev Buium and Elias Pettersson on the left side, with Kirill Kudryavtsev pushing for a job.

At some point, you have to give the young guys room to play. I wouldn’t bring Hutton back just because he used to be a fan favourite. But if he is willing to come in on a cheap one-year deal and accept a depth role, I can see an argument. Sometimes a player comes back to a team at exactly the right stage of his career, and maybe Hutton is one of those cases.

What’s Next for the Canucks?

For me, Rossi is the more intriguing story of the two. The Canucks didn’t get a full look at him last season because of injuries, and his finish suggests there could be more offence than his overall numbers show.

Hutton is a different question. Vancouver doesn’t need him to be the defenceman he was a decade ago. The team would need him to be a veteran who can step in, play some useful minutes and help a young defence find its way. If the price is right, that’s not a bad thing to have around. And if both Rossi and Hutton work out in these roles, the Canucks could end up getting more from their roster than we expected when the summer began.