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How is it possible Canucks have just one assist from the second line centre position this season?
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Jeff Paterson
Dec 1, 2025, 09:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 1, 2025, 03:03 EST
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At first glance, it seemed impossible to believe. Everyone knows that the Vancouver Canucks centre depth has been an issue since the first day of training camp. But when fellow CanucksArmy contributor Cory McQuhae posted to his very instructive Canucks News Summaries social accounts on Saturday night that the Canucks have exactly one assist from the second line centre position this season, the statistic landed like a thunderbolt. One assist through 26 games and the first two months of the season from the collective group that has been tasked with patching together the top of the hockey club’s lineup.
As meticulous as always with his recaps and summaries, Cory nailed this one, too. 
The Vancouver Canucks have a lone helper from the four guys who have played the middle on the team’s second line so far this season. 
Filip Chytil started the season there and had three goals, but no assists in the six games he played before suffering his latest head injury on October 19th in Washington. Max Sasson stepped into the breach for the next two games, and while he scored a goal against the Nashville Predators on October 23rd, he did not set up any while playing second-line centre.
In a low-cost, roll of the dice and given the team’s desperate situation at centre, the Canucks acquired Lucas Reichel for a fourth-round draft pick from the Chicago Blackhawks. A day later, he was plugged into their biggest position of need. The experiment did not go well. However, it must be noted that the single solitary assist the Canucks have from a second line centre this season belongs to Reichel. But even then, it’s complicated.
After seven games without a point as a Canuck, Reichel was credited with a second assist on Brock Boeser’s game-winner against the Columbus Blue Jackets on November 8th. However, his puck touch came in the defensive zone, and he passed ahead to Kiefer Sherwood, who then sprung Boeser through the neutral zone for a quick shot that beat Elvis Merzlikins. So, not exactly playmaking magic from Reichel for what remains his lone point with his new hockey club, but it is on the record as an assist, and it stands alone for very dubious reasons.
Of course, of late, Reichel has been replaced in the middle on the second line by David Kämpf, who has now played six games since signing with the Canucks – and is still looking for his first point.
As December looms, the Canucks have 22 assists from centres this season – and 14 of those belong to Elias Pettersson. Aatu Räty has five, Max Sasson has a pair, and Lukas Reichel has his one. Filip Chytil, David Kämpf, Braeden Cootes, Nils Aman and Teddy Blueger have all lined up at centre in NHL games for the Canucks this season, and none has set up a goal.
The depth down the middle was always going to be an issue for this hockey club this season. But in the wake of Saturday’s 2-1 overtime loss in Los Angeles, Cory McQuhae laid it as bare as possible. A third of the way through the season, the team has one assist from a second-line centre. Even netminder Kevin Lankinen has an assist this season. And to take the point to the extreme, former Canuck Jacob Markstrom already has a pair.
At his end of last season media availability in April, President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford uttered his now prophetic statement about the price the team would have to pay to upgrade the centre position.
“It’ll be expensive, but it’ll also be very expensive not to get one,” he stated.
And with that one assist from the second line pivot slot and the team sitting 30th in the overall standings, the Canucks are paying a significant cost on a nightly basis.
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