{"id":395698,"date":"2026-01-08T08:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/395698\/"},"modified":"2026-01-08T08:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T08:05:07","slug":"post-hughes-who-is-now-the-canucks-most-valuable-asset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/395698\/","title":{"rendered":"Post-Hughes, who is now the Canucks\u2019 most valuable asset?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Vancouver Canucks<\/a> have spent much of the 2025-26 campaign shuffling their various trade chips and considering a series of big moves.<\/p>\n

But it must be said that the biggest chip has already been cashed in, and the biggest move already made. Coming into the season, there was little doubt that \u2013 even with only two years remaining on his contract \u2013 Quinn Hughes was the team\u2019s single-most valuable asset. In truth, it wasn\u2019t even close.<\/p>\n

And in the end, Hughes did prove to have immense value. When his trade eventually went down, Hughes returned a truly gigantic package of assets that included all of Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam \u00d6hgren, and Minnesota\u2019s first-round pick.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s all over and done with now. But in the wake of it all, we can\u2019t help but wonder: in a post-Hughes world, who is now the Canucks\u2019 most valuable asset? Note that we\u2019re not using the phrase \u2018trade chip\u2019 here, because we\u2019re going to be talking about some players that are more-or-less untouchable from a Vancouver perspective. We\u2019re talking instead about the theoretical, in-a-vacuum type of pure value, and from where we\u2019re sitting, we can see at least five candidates worth considering.<\/p>\n

We can start with the honourable mentions, or the players who are definitely not the most valuable asset for one reason or another, but who bear noting all the same.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not Elias Pettersson, given that contract and the uncertainty surrounding his performance. Some, like this author, will attest that Pettersson\u2019s worth is currently underrated, and it\u2019s certainly not into the negative as some have suggested. Still, there are enough question marks tied to the player to prevent him from having anywhere near true 1C value.<\/p>\n

There are also far too many question marks surrounding Thatcher Demko and his health for him to get much consideration here, in addition to the general volatility of the goalie market.<\/p>\n

We can discount the idea of most of the other veterans here; folks like Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Jake DeBrusk, and Marcus Pettersson. All fine vets, but all mired in difficult seasons of some degree, and all too middle-of-the-lineup to enter too much into this discussion.<\/p>\n

We say \u2018most veterans\u2019 here, because there is one that could be considered the Canucks\u2019 new best asset, and that\u2019s Filip Hronek. We\u2019ve talked recently about his potential trade value<\/a>. But even if the Canucks plan to hang on to Hronek, he remains an incredibly important, rare, and valuable asset. In short, Hronek is an all-around top-pairing right-shot defender who is just 28 and is signed to a $7.25 AAV contract until 2032. Specifically, Hronek has seemed to play some of his best hockey without Hughes, and has now plainly taken over as the Canucks\u2019 number one defender.<\/p>\n

Whether we\u2019re talking about how much other teams might pay for his services or just what he\u2019s going to do on the ice for the Canucks over the next while, Hronek should be rated extremely highly. And if being the \u2018most valuable asset\u2019 just meant the player that was going to have the largest impact over, say, the next five years, Hronek would be as good a pick as any.<\/p>\n

But then, Willander was drafted slightly higher \u2013 at 11th overall in 2023 \u2013 and projects to have a more well-rounded game in the end. He\u2019s also got 12 points through his first 31 games, which is not terribly far off Buium\u2019s pace.<\/p>\n

In the end, both Buium and Willander project as long-term top-four pieces at minimum, and each seems to have the potential to end up as top-pairing defenders if all goes as well as possible. Move far enough ahead into the future, and eventually one has to figure that Buium and Willander\u2019s cumulative value from here on out will eventually surpass that of Hronek.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a question of whether one more values Buium\u2019s top-notch offensive output, or Willander\u2019s ability to impact the game at both ends \u2013 not to mention his rarer right shot. If we had to make our pick, we\u2019d probably name Buium as the more valuable asset of the two, but it\u2019s close.<\/p>\n

Another youngster who probably should be mentioned here is recent World Junior bronze medalist Braeden Cootes<\/a>. He\u2019s the Canucks\u2019 top prospect by a long shot now that Buium and Willander have firmly graduated, and he is a right-shot centre, which is the next-most-scarce asset in hockey after right-shot defenders.<\/p>\n

Cootes\u2019 long-term upside remains up for debate, with some pegging him as a middle-six two-way centre at best, and others believing he has true top-six potential. Ultimately, until he shows more at the NHL level, it\u2019s tough to call him a better asset than either Buium or Willander. But there are probably at least a few pundits and executives out there who would outright prefer him over the other two, and so he gets at least a name-check here.<\/p>\n

So, there you have four candidates for the distinction of the Canucks\u2019 new most valuable asset in a post-Hughes world. But we promised five options, and you know we\u2019ve saved the best for last. But if it\u2019s not Hronek, Buium, Willander, or Cootes, who could it possibly be?<\/p>\n

Well, we can\u2019t exactly answer the \u2018who\u2019 question yet, because it\u2019s more of a \u2018what\u2019 at this point. We\u2019re talking, of course, about the Canucks\u2019 2026 first-round pick.<\/p>\n

As of this Tuesday morning writing, the Canucks have the second-worst record in the league. If they stay in that spot until the end of the regular season, they\u2019ll have the second-best odds at first and second overall, and would be guaranteed to draft in at least the top-four selections.<\/p>\n

Right now, as an undefined pick, the Canucks\u2019 first is probably already a more valuable asset than any of the other four we\u2019ve mentioned. Sure, they say a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, but in this case, it\u2019s about a 50\/50 shot at Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg<\/a> hiding in that bush. As good as Hronek is now, and as good as Buium, Willander, and Cootes will be, they still don\u2019t quite compare to a genuine shot at a truly elite talent. The thing with the top of the draft is that it\u2019s typically the only reliable way to get one\u2019s hands on those sorts of players.<\/p>\n

Put it another way, and both Hronek and Buium have already been moved once. The Canucks\u2019 first-rounder, as it stands, is a completely untouchable asset. As it should be.<\/p>\n

Wait until the lottery is over, and the value of the Canucks\u2019 pick could go up or down. Win the lottery, end up with 1OA, and it gains value. Lose down to fourth overall, and the value goes down.<\/p>\n

Either way, though, a top-five pick in the 2026 Entry Draft is still probably the Canucks\u2019 most valuable asset in a post-Hughes world. Until, that is, the pick gets used, at which point whoever the Canucks drafted will take over that distinction.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by bet365<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Vancouver Canucks have spent much of the 2025-26 campaign shuffling their various trade chips and considering a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":395699,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[433],"tags":[49,48,448,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-395698","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=395698"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/395698\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/395699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=395698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=395698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=395698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}