Canucks Live: Merry Christmas, now get out of town; World Junior prospects

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Happy Christmas Eve to one and all. We appreciate you reading our content and supporting us through this up-and-down time following your favourite team.

This will be our last Live file of the week and it seems like everyone is off doing Christmas stuff, there’s not a lot of Canucks content out there with the team on a short break.

Let’s start with Ben Kuzma’s deciphering of Patrik Allvin’s comments in Philadelphia. It’s so puzzling how scared this organization is of admitting they’re in a phase of trying to build a contending team instead of insisting they’re in some other phase of construction.

A hybrid is defined as “combining two different elements — a mixture.” And when general manager Patrik Allvin delivered his summation Monday on what the post-Quinn Hughes era may look like, he used the encouraging return in the blockbuster trade to lay the foundation.

But for what?

“We felt the package that Minnesota delivered with the younger players gives us a chance to step back here and retool it a little bit with a hybrid form,” Allvin told the Amazon Prime intermission panel. “I give the players a lot of credit in how they’ve come together again as a team.

“You see a lot of energy in the dressing room, and we’re playing with more speed and pace.”

Allvin wants his roster to get younger. The trade acquisitions of defenceman Zeev Buium, 20, centre Marco Rossi, 24, and winger Liam Ohgren, 21, certainly fit the format. Especially in a long-lens view of where the trio could be in a few years as dominant players.

Indeed. However, the earlier declaration that the team was open for business keeps running well past the Hughes trade. And the Canucks will be mentioned as a prime trade partner right up until the deadline. The Athletic is determined to get Kiefer Sherwood out of town.

Kiefer Sherwood
Team: Vancouver Canucks
Position: Winger
Shoots: Right
Age: 30
Contract term: 2026 UFA
Current cap hit: $1,500,000
Trade Board ranking: No. 2

Pierre LeBrun: Dallas Stars
We know the Stars have already kicked the tires on the pending unrestricted free agent. And that was before Tyler Seguin was lost long-term to an ACL injury.

Dallas doesn’t have a first-round pick in June, as it was dealt last season to the Carolina Hurricanes in the Mikko Rantanen deal. I wonder if the Stars would entice the Canucks with 23-year-old forward Mavrik Bourque? The 30th pick from the 2020 NHL Draft hasn’t quite measured up yet to the offensive potential he showed in the AHL in 2023-24 (77 points in 71 games). The Canucks are seeking younger players as they continue their post-Hughes roster retool.

I’m not sure if Bourque is the answer, but I do think there’s a match here somehow between the Stars and Canucks.

Chris Johnston: Boston Bruins
Sherwood is a prototypical Bruin: big, fast and tenacious on the forecheck. As such, he’s viewed as a player who would be a great fit in an organization that is building back up following last year’s reset.

What’s more, the Canucks and Bruins have explored potential trade fits on a variety of players dating to the summer.

The biggest hurdle here might be the asking price. Vancouver is seeking a meaningful return for a player who looks poised to blow past 20 goals for the first time in his career, and Boston isn’t expected to be chasing rentals at this deadline. However, these teams might be able to thread the needle if this trade comes with a contract extension for Sherwood, which is something he’d be open to.

One thing Christmas means to many hockey fans is World Juniors. Sportsnet has done a roundup of Canadian NHL teams prospects at the tournament so we’ve peeled out the Canucks content for you here:

Canada
Braeden Cootes, 5-foot-11, 186 pounds, right-shot forward
Drafted: Vancouver Canucks, first round (15th overall) in 2025

Cootes is a proven leader and relentless competitor who can be deployed in all situations. He very rarely cheats defence to chase offence. Cootes is the Captain of his junior club in Seattle and past captain of Canada’s U18 team. He’s contributed 10G-13A in 17 WHL games so far this season after breaking camp with the Canucks and suiting up for three NHL games this fall.

Sweden
Wilson Bjorck, 6-foot, 165 pounds, left-shot forward
Drafted: Vancouver Canucks, fifth round (143rd overall) in 2025

Bjorck is a freshman at Colorado College. The bulk of his ice time comes at even strength and on the power play. He has better-than-average pace and above-average puck skill. Bjorck has the ability to drive opponents off their blue line off the rush and takes the puck to the net when a lane opens up. He was a prolific scorer at the U20 level in Sweden (28G-39A last season). He’s contributed 5G-3A in his first 15 college games.

Switzerland

Basile Sansonnens, 6-foot-4, 211 pounds, left-shot defenceman
Drafted: Vancouver Canucks, seventh round (221st overall) in 2025

Sansonnens was drafted out of the QMJHL last June. He played for the Rimouski Oceanic last season and has graduated to the pro game in Switzerland this year suiting up for Lausanne HC. Sansonnens is a towering defender who relies on his size and length to take away time and space defensively. He isn’t punishing physically and doesn’t produce a ton of offence, but he’s generally steady overall and a player the Swiss coaches can rely upon to keep things simple.  

Check back for more Canucks news throughout the day …