The NHL trade deadline is less than a week away, which makes this the perfect time to take stock of what’s in the organisation’s cupboards. Break out the balance sheet and see where to add, subtract, etc. to balance the depth.

The Canucks have quickly built depth at the centre position, with quite a few being able to play on the wing as well. At centre they have Henrik Sedin, Bo Horvat, Jared McCann, Brandon Sutter, Markus Granlund, Linden Vey and Adam Cracknell available to them, barring health concerns – as in the case of Sutter and Vey.

Beyond the players I’ve outlined, though, it gets a little dicey. Mike Zalewski can play center, but an NHL gig is likely beyond his ceiling. There’s Blair Jones, but he’s injured and the ship has sailed on his NHL career. This brings us to Brendan Gaunce.

Drafted as a center by the last regime, Gaunce was shifted to wing by the team he was drafted from in the OHL, the Belleville Bulls. The following season saw Gaunce return to the middle before he was traded to the Erie Otters, where it was back to the wing for Gaunce.

The Canucks and Comets were clearly swayed by his success on the wing in junior, as they made the switch a full-time move in his first professional season. Nation Network Overlord, Thomas Drance, did a good job outlining the reasons why they might make such a move before it even happened.

The organization hasn’t been able to hold to this mantra, shifting Gaunce back to center out of necessity this season. The December 18th recall of Linden Vey paved the way and Gaunce hasn’t let go since. A problem – depending on who you ask – exacerbated by the brief call-ups of Zalewski and Alex Friesen. Gaunce has played 17 of the past 25-games at center, with the other eight split evenly on the left and right wing. 

He played LW from January 13th to January 16th and then one game on January 29th. He was held to one goal and one assist, which were both recorded on January 15. The Comets were 2-0-1 during those first three games, with their loss coming in a shootout against first-place Toronto Marlies.

He played RW from January 30th to February 9th, recording three goals and one assist. The Comets were 3-0-1 in this stretch, defeating Rochester and St Johns (twice) before losing in OT to Wilkes-Barre Scranton. He was only held pointless in one of the four games. Part of that success is likely due to Zalewski playing like a man possessed after returning from the NHL, where he put up 7 points in 4 games. Since then, Zalewski has 2 points in 6 games.

Back to the matter at hand, though.

Gaunce strung together a five-game point streak, between December 18th to 30th – three goals, three assists. Gaunce did this with Hunter Shinkaruk (RIP) and Alex Grenier on his flanks, leading the Comets to a 3-0-2 record in that in that stretch.

Not long after, Gaunce played one game, at centre, with Carter Bancks and Wacey Hamilton, being held to one shot and a -1 rating. The Comets then returned Gaunce to Center, between familiar linemates Shinkaruk and Grenier, before a sub-optimal stretch of play. From January 8th to 29th, the Comets were 3-5-1 and struggling at both ends of the rink.

The return of Zalewski set the Comets back on track with his hot stretch of play upon returning from the bigs. Gaunce eventually returned to his role at center, on February 29th, and has remained there since. At centre, Gaunce has eight points in his last five game. Combined with his two games at right wing between February 6th and 9th and Gaunce has 11-points (5-6-11) in his last seven games.

Unfortunately, the AHL’s stat tracking is a few years behind most minor hockey leagues. Using the old fashioned eye-test, I can comfortably guess that Gaunce’s face-off numbers lie somewhere between 48-52%

So, now that the nitty-gritty is out of the way – why is Gaunce better at center?

Summed up in a sentence: it allows Gaunce to play with better players. By playing center, Gaunce will be attached to the hip of Grenier – or Markus Granlund if he makes his way back down – and good things will happen. 

I’m not the only Canucks Army writer covering Utica, though. Jeremy Davis did an excellent job just a week ago of breaking down how the kids are leading the way for the Utica Comets. Something that stuck out was Gaunce’s ice-time, which is estimated at about 21-minutes a game. Play that many minutes and a lot of them are going to be with high-end players, at the top of the lineup.

There’s also a fairly convincing set of data which shows that Gaunce is excelling offensively down the middle of the ice. Gaunce is averaging 2.4 shots per game, but that number is 2.64 at center. There’s three games with five shots, a couple with four and one with six. 

It will be interesting to see if the Canucks do acquire a centre for Utica to help with their playoff run, which may result in Gaunce being shifted back to the wing. But the returns on Gaunce going back to centre have been promising. Even if Gaunce does go back to the wing, and continues to progress up the depth chart there, at least, the option of Gaunce playing center is reinforced by success at the professional level. The argument could be made that the Canucks could use a 4th line centre next year, with Sedin, Horvat and McCann occupying the top three spots with Sutter and Granlund moved to the wing.

Maybe Gaunce is that guy, or maybe Sutter occupies the center spot with Derek Dorsett and Gaunce as his wingers. No matter what happens, Gaunce having the flexibility to play centre or either wings seriously helps his case to make the team for an extended period next year.

Then again, maybe the Shinkaruk trade opens a spot on the first line at left wing. Will be interesting to see what happens to Gaunce’s game without him, anyways.