Not long ago, the Vancouver Canucks announced jersey numbers for their offseason acquisitions. And on Monday, the club announced via social media that four players will be changing their jersey numbers ahead of the 2026-27 season.

Per the Canucks, defenceman Zeev Buium will be switching from 24 to 8; centre Marco Rossi will be switching from 93 to 23; winger Jonathan Lekkerimäki will be switching from 23 to 88; and forward Filip Chytil is moving from 72 to 77. 

Zeev Buium wore number eight when he was a member of the Minnesota Wild, the club who originally drafted him 12th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. Upon landing with the Canucks as a focal point of the Quinn Hughes trade between the Canucks and Wild last December, Buium couldn’t wear number 8 because it was already taken by Canucks teammate Conor Garland, who was, of course, dealt to the Columbus Blue Jackets at the trade deadline.

Before turning pro, Buium wore number 28 through his time with the USNTDP, Denver, and at the World Juniors. Once he made the jump to the NHL, he dropped the 20 and sported number eight instead. In Vancouver, 28 is unofficially retired by the club in honour of Luc Bourdon. So Buium landed on 24 upon joining the Canucks, sharing the reason why this past January:

“Well, we didn’t have too many options. Garly sent me a picture of a Rolex if I wanted [his] number,” Buium said. “I know Chris Chelios wore 24, obviously a huge fan of his, and I was with Zach Bogosian, like right before I got traded, and he wears 24 – we were pretty tight. I just thought it’d be pretty funny and cool to have it, and he appreciated it too.”

Now, he’s back to the number that he began his NHL career with.

We’re eager to learn the story of how Marco Rossi got his 23 back, which was previously held by Canucks teammate Jonathan Lekkerimäki. We likely won’t find out the behind-the-scenes story of how they agreed on the switch for some time, but Rossi wore 23 prior to the Hughes trade that also saw him land in Vancouver. In a story with Michael Russo of The Athletic, Rossi offered this up as the reason he wears 23: “Simple… My birthday (Sept. 23), and threes always follow us as a family.’”

As for Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who switches from 23 to 88, 88 has long been his number of choice dating back to his days in Sweden, but upon arriving in Vancouver, the number was taken by Nils Aman. The real question is, who first brought up the idea of a number change: Rossi or Lekkerimäki?! Does one owe the other a Rolex? We won’t rest until we get these answers!

Filip Chytil has only ever worn 72 during his time in the NHL with both the New York Rangers and the Vancouver Canucks, so we really don’t know why he’s switched to 77, but we’re eager to find that out too!