Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman joined Donnie & Dhali for the final time this year and had some updates on the latest he’s hearing about one of the Vancouver Canucks‘ pending unrestricted free agent Pius Suter and what his future with the team might be:
“Rick, you were the one to report last week that the Canucks are taking another run at Suter,” Friedman said. “As you know, the Canucks weren’t comfortable with the number that was asked of him, which was about $4.5 [million]. I’ve been asking around to other people if they think Suter can get $4.5 [million] on the market, and everybody thinks ‘Yes.’
“Ultimately, I think Vancouver’s going to have a decision to make here. It’s a challenging thing for a team because you’re thinking, ‘We need something.’ And all of a sudden, you’re looking, and there’s not much out there that can fill this hole. The thing about Suter is that they know him. He had a good year for them. But if they were really sure about him at that number, they would have done it already. I think the Canucks are in that place right now where they’re sitting there saying ‘We like this player. We know this player. We don’t like the number, but we don’t see a better alternative.'”
Suter signed a two-year $1.6 million AAV contract with the Canucks late last summer. Over his two seasons in Vancouver, he developed from a bottom-six forward to a top contributor in all facets of the game, including taking over as the team’s top centre due to injuries late in the season.
The Swiss centreman made his contract year worth it, setting career highs in goals (25), assists (21), points (46), and average ice time (17:21). A year like this from Suter earned him the right to test the free agent market.
Friedman also wondered aloud about the club’s interest in extending Garland when he’s eligible for an extension on July 1.
The Canucks acquired Garland along with Oliver Ekman-Larsson from the Arizona Coyotes just hours before opening night of the 2021 draft. In exchange, the Coyotes received Loui Eriksson, Jay Beagle, Antoine Roussel, the ninth overall pick in the 2021 draft, a 2022 second-round pick and a 2023 seventh-round pick.
Garland has played the best four years of his career in Vancouver, scoring 75 goals and 195 points, while only missing seven games over those seasons. 2025-2026 will be the final year of his five-year, $4.95 million contract he signed with the Canucks shortly after being traded. But it sounds like at least the team is interested in getting something done with the American winger as early as July 1.
