It’s getting to be late in July, and the
Vancouver Canucks are still, by all reports, looking to add to their forward corps.
Specifically, GM Patrik Allvin and Co. are on the lookout for at least one additional centre. Unfortunately, the stocks of potentially available centres started low and have since dwindled.
There are a handful available through free agency still, but they’re either not exactly difference-makers or not exactly centres (
see: Jack Roslovic). There are some intriguing RFA centres still without contracts, like
Marco Rossi and
Mason McTavish, but the cost of acquisitions seems out of line with what the Canucks are ready and willing to pay.
If there’s one thing the Canucks do have on hand, it’s a little bit of cap space. We wrote last week about
the potential benefits of their standing pat with that cap space, despite the general unlikelihood of that actually happening with the ongoing search for a centre.
But if the Canucks could accomplish both things? What if they could bring in a centre with high upside but low salary, deepening their depth and keeping costs down at the same time?
That’s no longer possible through free agency. We’re not sure it’d be possible through trade. But it might just be possible through the waiver wire.
Every year, good players go through waivers because their own teams don’t have space for them yet. Sometimes, these players get picked up – Gustav Forsling to Florida comes to mind – and sometimes they don’t, like the time the Canucks got away with waiving Jacob Markstrom.
As we look out at various NHL rosters heading into 2025/26, we can spot a handful of young centres that have run out of waiver-exemption time but are still not guaranteed to make the cut in Training Camp 2025.
Are any of these players of potential interest to the Canucks? Or are they best to stick with their in-house options, like
Aatu Räty,
Max Sasson, and
Ty Mueller?
Hendrix Lapierre, Washington Capitals
C, 23, 6’0”, 180lb, $850K (until 2026)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 27 | 0 | 8 | 8 |
| AHL | 32 | 7 | 25 | 32 |
Well, the Canucks have certainly had okay luck with Lapierres before.
Though he’s of no relation to Maxim and does not play anywhere near the same style, Hendrix Lapierre is a player with an apparent NHL future. Drafted at 22nd overall in 2020, he’s struggled to consistently break into a deep Washington forward corps that has been more concerned with helping Alex Ovechkin chase the goal record than developing their internal prospects.
Still, Lapierre has come to be a dominant playmaker at the AHL level, and his run of production in limited NHL minutes isn’t half-bad, either.
If the predicted happens and Lapierre is a late cut in Washington, he’ll be one of the best options to hit the waiver wire this year.
Nikita Alexandrov, St. Louis Blues
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AHL | 48 | 21 | 28 | 49 |
Alexandrov is a former second-round pick of the Blues from 2019 who has had okay success at each step along the way, but who has recently gotten lost in the shuffle of newer, shinier St. Louis prospects. He went from 28 NHL games in 2022/23 to 23 in 2023/24 to zero last year, and with him currently unsigned, there are reasonable worries that he may take his talents back to Russia.
The Russian forward establishes his reputation with his feet and is said to possess a lot of speed in his game, as well as a willingness to utilize it at both ends. He’s really figured out the goal-scoring and playmaking at the AHL level, and there is potential for him to display that at the next level, too – so long as he gets under contract (uncertain) and then hits waivers (pretty likely).
Oskar Back, Dallas Stars
C, 25, 6’4”, 202lb, $850K (until 2027)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 73 | 4 | 12 | 16 |
| AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
You always want to try to steal players from the deepest organizations, and there aren’t many deeper forward corps out there than the one in Dallas.
Back played his first NHL games for the Stars last year and managed to stay up for the entire season and into the playoffs. But Back didn’t put up the kind of numbers that give him much staying power, and with other, younger prospects always looking to break through, it’s distinctly possible that Back loses his Dallas gig after just one year.
He has never been a prolific point producer, but gets by on his size and willingness to use it to protect the puck. He’s been getting better and better at distributing it from there, and is said to be quite good at utilizing his teammates. He could be someone who could score more in a better situation, and at worst, seems like someone capable of holding down a bottom-line career for a long time.
Jack Finley, Tampa Bay Lightning
C, 22, 6’6”, 220lb, $775K (until 2028)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AHL | 40 | 14 | 14 | 28 |
It probably doesn’t take much to figure out why Finley is intriguing. He’s 6’6”, he plays centre, and he’s right-handed. The former second-round pick was drafted for those immutable characteristics, but he’s also developed well enough in the Tampa Bay organization since then. There’s just never a lot of room to break through in Tampa, so Finley has been limited to just one game so far.
Still, he’s very young for a waiver-eligible player, and that should mean lots of upside left in him. He’s developing a real defensive presence down the middle, and his numbers at the AHL level keep climbing. Finley has all the markings of a classic sizeable late-bloomer, and could be someone worth taking a chance on.
Marat Khusnutdinov, Boston Bruins
C, 23, 5’11”, 176lb, $925K (until 2027)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 75 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| AHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
A high-talent player with a relentless motor, Khusnutdinov came over from Russia three seasons ago and has yet to play a game in the AHL.
Unfortunately, that’s led to him failing to really get his feet under him at the NHL level. A trade sent him from Minnesota to Boston last season, and he finished pretty well for the Bruins with five points in 18 games.
Still, Khusnutdinov is out of waiver exemption and may not be guaranteed the same spot in 2026/27. This is still a player who was drafted in the early second round and put up 20 points in the KHL at the age of 20. There’s upside here, and Khusnutdinov’s two-way commitment makes it all the more likely he’ll hit it.
Xavier Bourgault, Ottawa Senators
C, 22, 5’11”, 179lb, $775K (until 2026)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AHL | 61 | 12 | 14 | 26 |
Upon reflection, we’re not sure Bourgault belongs on this list. There’s plenty to like about a former 22OA pick from as recently as 2021 being available for free, and Bourgault is definitely young for someone no longer waiver-exempt. But that’s also because he’s spent three full seasons of relatively unsuccessful AHL hockey.
Bourgault was traded in a prospect swap from Edmonton to Ottawa last year and only managed 26 points in 61 AHL games for Belleville. That’s just not that exciting for an offensive talent. Unless the pro scouts see something more there, he’s probably destined to top out in the minor leagues.
Thomas Bordeleau, New Jersey Devils
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AHL | 59 | 14 | 24 | 38 |
A player with a similar profile to Bourgault is Bordeleau. He was drafted early in the second round in 2020 and was said to have great offensive vision, but hasn’t been able to translate that into much pro scoring.
So why is he on the list? For whatever reason, Bordeleau’s results at the NHL level haven’t been half-bad. He scored 11 points in 27 games for the league-worst Sharks in 2023/24, and while he hasn’t got a lot of NHL action since, that’s at least something.
Truthfully, we’ve arrived at the dregs of the list, and like Bourgault, unless the scouts see something here, Bordeleau is probably best skipped.
Ryan Suzuki, Carolina Hurricanes
C, 24, 6’1”, 196lb, $775K (until 2026)
| 2024/25 | Games | Goals | Assists | Points |
| NHL | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| AHL | 69 | 12 | 47 | 59 |
We may be in the dregs, but we’ve saved an intriguing name for last.
And we do mean ‘name.’ Ryan Suzuki is the younger brother of Nick Suzuki, captain and 1C of the Montreal Canadiens. Both were drafted in the first round, with Nick going 13OA in 2017 and Ryan following at 28OA in 2019.
Nick had a slow start to his NHL career before becoming the player he is today. Ryan, on the other hand, has had a slow start to his pro career in general. But, of the two, Ryan is a couple of inches larger. And he did really seem to figure it out with the Chicago Wolves last year, raising his numbers to a career high of 59 points in 69 games, including a stand-out 47 assists.
Will he ever become his brother? No, but the door’s not quite closed on Ryan becoming a full-time NHLer. He already cleared waivers last year, but perhaps he won’t this time around after a breakout campaign at the minor level.
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