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JPat’s Monday Mailbag: With time running out on the season, why haven’t Canucks called up anyone from Abbotsford?
Jeff Paterson's weekly Vancouver Canucks mailbag.
Jeff Paterson
Mar 30, 2026, 11:00 EDTUpdated: Mar 30, 2026, 02:03 EDT
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Evander Kane plays his 1,000th National Hockey League game tonight in Las Vegas. In some ways, it’s fitting to have a Vancouver Canuck reach this milestone now because this season, on its own, has felt like 1000 games, and yet, somehow, there are still 10 remaining. As the Canucks trudge to the finish line, many of you have questions about what comes next? From high-level organizational personnel decisions to the draft and on to free agency, the focus has clearly shifted in this market from the games on the ice to reshaping this franchise in an effort to build a championship contender. With that in mind, we set out to answer some of your questions in this week’s Monday mailbag. Let’s dive in.
There isn’t really a question here from Jack, but more of an assertion. Unless he legally changes his last name to Tkachuk, it’s going to be difficult for Curtis Douglas to be the most hated player in the league. But I get your point. And I concur, the 6’9” giant still needs to cover a fair bit of ground to prove he can play a regular shift at this level. A pending Group 6 unrestricted free agent, Douglas hasn’t cemented himself a new contract with the Canucks. And quite frankly, I’m not sure he will. But I am fascinated to see what role toughness and assertiveness play in this Canucks rebuild.
This team has been far too easy to play against for too long now – especially on home ice. With so many young players already on the roster and presumably a few more on the way, it feels like the Canucks need to insulate that group to some degree. But that hasn’t been the kind of roster this management group has delivered in its time at the helm. So whether it’s Curtis Douglas or a couple of veteran unrestricted free agents who can and will do some heavy lifting, I’m curious to see if that area of the roster is addressed this summer. The game is trending toward speed and skill, but it will always be a contact sport and it seems like the Canucks could use a robust player or two to spark the hockey club.
When we learn on May 5th where the Canucks will ultimately pick in the first round, I am totally open to them holding an auction for the third overall pick should they fall to that position. If there is another team out there that covets a particular player – especially one of the top defencemen in the draft – and is willing to pay a premium to move up, then I think the Canucks ought to explore all options. It would seem odd to go through the season they’ve been through to drop too far down in the draft, but if they feel they could get a top forward prospect and add a couple of assets simply to swap a few spots in the first round, then yeah, I think it’s the kind of deal they should consider. But this team needs so much offensive help, I wouldn’t want to see them trade back more than a couple of spots. 
Well, Peter, first things first, it’s Mr. 11.6. So let’s get that part straight. Beyond that, however, it has most certainly been a while since Elias Pettersson scored a 5-on-5 goal. Both of his goals in a March 17th win over Florida were on the power play. The first of those goals snapped a 20-game drought. So you have to go all the way back to a January 13th game in Ottawa to find the last time Pettersson cashed in at even-strength. That marker capped off a run of four goals at 5-on-5 in a six game span. 
This one is hard to figure. The Canucks have basically used the same group since the trade deadline. Now, there are a couple of factors at play here. One is that Jonathan Lekkerimäki has been shutdown for the season. Otherwise, he certainly would have had another NHL opportunity. Beyond that, sadly, there just aren’t many players on the farm that warrant a long look with the big club. Still, I thought we would have seen at least one of Ty Mueller, Kirill Kudryavtsev and Sawyer Mynio get called up. I figured the team would want to have a look at them and perhaps reward them for slogging through the toughest of circumstances on a minor-league team that has been overmatched almost every night out. I also thought with the number of veterans that have struggled at the NHL level this season, it might make sense to inject some youth into the lineup in ultimately meaningless games. There are still 10 to go, so it remains a possibility that we’ll see the Canucks use a couple of their call-ups. But Manny Malhotra still has to ice a line-up in the AHL and robbing him of his best players at this stage of a difficult season may not be worth it for either level of the organization.
I find myself wondering this from time to time. And it’s pretty clear Botch would have had a field day covering this team. He would have been livid that this organization couldn’t support Quinn Hughes and was forced to trade the best defenceman in franchise history. It’s hard to believe, but Botch only saw Hughes play those first five games at the tail end of the 2018-19 season after he turned pro following his two years at the University of Michigan. He would still be in shock at the offensive struggles of Elias Pettersson given he watched him put up 66 points en route to his Rookie of the Year award that same season Hughes joined the fold. Botch would clearly have questioned many of the deployment decisions of Adam Foote and wouldn’t have held back letting the organization have it for its lack of centre ice depth to start the season. But more than anything, he likely would have been aghast that this team was so quickly back to – and now behind – where it was for the final few seasons he covered it. Jason Botchford wanted to cover good hockey. We all do.
I think it’s pretty clear by now that running with four young defencemen on a nightly basis hasn’t worked for the Canucks. And people can say ‘play the kids’ but if they’re getting shelled on the regular and not showing signs of growth and development, it seems to make sense to bring in at least one veteran UFA defenceman to insulate the young guys and to support Filip Hronek and Marcus Pettersson. Attracting veteran UFAs with short-term offers to play for a last place team will likely be a difficult sales pitch.
But perhaps that’s where the Canucks will have to be willing to overpay (slightly) to keep the term down. And that’s an approach they should consider. Whether it’s Jacob Trouba, Jeremy Lauzon, Trevor Van Riemsdyk, Logan Stanley or Jamie Oleksiak, there are players out there that could fit the bill. But those guys will all likely have options and convincing them to choose the Canucks at this stage of their competitive arc will probably prove difficult. However, based on what we’ve seen this season – particularly lately – running back a blueline with four young players for a full season doesn’t seem like a wise plan. Unless that plan is to be right back in the same spot again next year to have a legitimate shot at drafting Landon DuPont.

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