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[Vancouver Canucks]

The 6 biggest dark horses to claim a roster spot at Canucks Training Camp 2025

Anytime the countdown gets to ten or fewer, you know you’re getting close. And as you read these words, we are approximately T-minus ten days until the opening of Vancouver Canucks Training Camp in Penticton, BC, and thus the launch sequence of the 2025-26 NHL season.

As we’ve spent the last month or so covering, this year’s edition is set to be a particularly competitive camp with lots on the line. If there is anything defining the Canucks this season, it’s the litany of question marks and ‘what ifs’ surrounding the team. Training Camp is where some of those questions will start to be answered.

But for a franchise that has 47 different players under contract, and will be inviting the majority of them to camp, there are inevitably some names that we’ve missed mentioning much this summer.

Every Training Camp has its dark horses, and given the uncertainty around the Canucks at this point in time, it stands to reason that they’ve got a larger stable than the average franchise.

Below, we’re going to take a look at some players that haven’t been penciled into many rosters this offseason, but who still stand a chance of at least making some noise in Penticton.

And maybe, just maybe, beating the odds to actually steal a roster spot for themselves.

Nils Åman

C, 25, 6’2”, 179lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	NHL/ Vancouver	19	1	5	6
2024-25	AHL/ Abbotsford	36	7	23	30

If there was an annual award for Most Forgotten Canuck, it would be Åman’s to lose. Once thought to have a potential long-term future as a bottom-six NHL centre, Åman has been leapfrogged on the centre depth chart by both Aatu Räty and Max Sasson in quick succession, and that’s left him on the outside of most roster projections looking in. It says a lot when someone is still technically on the NHL roster from last season and is still not penciled into anyone’s mock-ups of next year’s roster.

That’s all exacerbated by a weird end to the season for Åman. He was recalled in mid-February and then not papered back down to Abbotsford at the Trade Deadline, which meant he was ineligible for the AHL playoffs. Then, he got injured through a scary board collision at practice and missed the end of the NHL season, too. Where a lot of players in the organization were making their name with late-season NHL cameos or a deep Calder Cup run, Åman was on the sidelines, being forgotten about.

Still, if there’s one thing the Canucks aren’t deep on, it’s centres, and you never know what a player might accomplish in any given offseason. Åman has always had the size, the skating, and a medium amount of skill. Last year, he started to show some inklings of physicality. If he’s also added some faceoff ability, it’s not outside the realm of possibility that he steals that 4C job away in camp, or at least comes out of it as the 13th utility forward.

Chase Stillman

RW, 22, 6’1”, 185lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	AHL/ Utica and Wilkes-Barre	65	4	8	12

You will probably remember Stillman as the mostly-disappointing ‘centrepiece’ of the Arturs Silovs return. Unfortunately, disappointment has been a theme for a player once selected at 29th overall who has since topped out at 24 points in a single AHL campaign.

But what Stillman has going for him is rambunctiousness. He’s been described as ‘hard to play against,’ and is starting to develop a reputation as an agitator – or a rat, in less-polite terms. And given the success of the Florida Panthers, we might just be entering a few consecutive Years of the Rat around the NHL.

If Stillman can get into some preseason games and then get under the skin of the opposition, that might be exactly the kind of positive attention that can get him onto the Canucks’ radar for 2025-26. Even if he doesn’t crack the roster right out of camp – and he’s battling uphill against several PPG players at the AHL level who just won a championship together – he could at least land his name higher on the recall list, particularly for games against rival teams.

Jett Woo

RD, 25, 6’0”, 205lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	AHL/ Abbotsford	67	2	16	18

Plenty of folks are rooting for Abbotsford’s all-time games played leader amongst blueliners, especially after he was a leading contributor to the Calder Cup win. Despite him still waiting for his first NHL game, Woo enters Training Camp with a better chance of cracking the NHL roster than most will give him credit for.

It all comes down to handedness. Woo is just one of five right-shot defenders in the entire organization. Two of them, Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers, are locked into roster spots. Two more of them, Tom Willander and Victor Mancini, are expected to battle it out for the final 3RD spot.

But if both Willander and Mancini look as though they need some extra seasoning in the AHL, that would significantly up Woo’s chances. Sure, most projections have P-O Joseph ranked ahead of him on the depth chart, but Joseph is another LD, and if Willander and Mancini are in Abbotsford, it’s tough to imagine the Canucks rolling with a roster of six LD and just two RD. Even if it’s as a pressbox extra 8D, Woo has a real shot at this.

As we’ve mentioned recently, Woo still probably qualifies as the hardest hitting player in the organization. One has to imagine that’s something that incoming coach Adam Foote especially values.

Braeden Cootes

C, 18, 6’0”, 183lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	WHL/ Seattle	60	26	37	63

We’re not the first to bring up the possibility of Cootes playing at least a nine-game cameo for the Canucks this season. He might not have NHL size or strength yet, but his skating and smarts are a plus, and everyone knows there’s not an abundance of competition at centre.

Actually, speaking of that, the Canucks’ inability to land a long-term 2C this summer increases the odds that they’re looking at Cootes as the eventual medium-term solution there. If they’d like to start him toward that role as soon as next season, then a little audition to start this season isn’t the worst idea in the world.

One thing working in Cootes’ favour: he is quite literally the only right-handed centre in the entire organization. The smart money is on him returning to the WHL for one last season before the rule changes allow him to join the AHL as a 19-year-old next year. But stranger things have happened in Vancouver!

Danila Klimovich

RW, 22, 6’2”, 202lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	AHL/ Abbotsford	65	25	13	38

This was a quiet breakout campaign for Klimovich with new career highs across the board. At the same time, his still-occasional healthy scratches got just as much press, and maybe that’s fair. Klimovich really started gaining some positive attention in the AHL playoffs, where he was still an occasional healthy scratch, but made the most of his time in the lineup with some clutch overtime winners.

He remains one of the best shooters in the organization, and has that intriguing blend of attitude and snarl not typically seen in a player with his profile. There are still an abundance of holes in his game, but we’ve talked already about the power of a single productive offseason, and maybe Klimovich has sealed up some of those deficiencies this summer.

The fact that he is still exempt from waivers seriously hurts his chances of beating out some of his Abbotsford teammates for a spot this year. But a good showing could at least put him more on the big team’s radar than he was before, and that could lead to his first NHL call-up down the line.

Mackenzie MacEachern

LW, 31, 6’2”, 193lb

	League/ Team	Games	Goals	Assists	Points
2024-25	AHL/ Springfield	40	12	20	32

Meet your new Phil di Giuseppe!

If any veteran is going to come out of nowhere and challenge for a spot in camp, as Di Giuseppe made a habit of doing the past several seasons, it’s probably MacEachern. He’s a 31-year-old veteran of 123 NHL games and several hundred in the minors. He played on the 2018-19 Cup-winning St. Louis Blues roster as a rookie (though not in the playoffs) and has bounced back and forth between the NHL and AHL ever since.

Like Di Giuseppe, MacEachern is someone who came up as a skilled draftee and then had to develop his game into that of a hardworking grinder. He’s earned plenty of accolades for his work ethic and for being a highly coachable player. Sounds like the exact sort of player who might win the hearts of Foote and Co. in camp, and someone who might give the established crew in Abbotsford more of a run for their money than most are expecting.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/6-bigg...ter-spot-vancouver-canucks-training-camp-2025

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

JPat’s Monday Mailbag: Who’s ready for the new Canucks season?

The Vancouver Canucks will be out in full force at the team’s annual Jake Milford Golf Tournament in Cloverdale today. By week’s end, a group of prospects will be suiting up in Canucks uniforms for a pair of games against Seattle Kraken hopefuls. And beyond that, it won’t be long now until the big league roster touches down in Penticton for the start of training camp. So welcome to the start of a new hockey season. Optimism abounds at this time of year, but there are still many unanswered questions about this season’s Canucks. With that in mind, we launch into a new season of Monday Mailbags where we do our best to answer many of the questions that are clearly on your minds.

So the Abby Canucks won the 2025 Calder Cup. I'd like to know what specific and definable impact that championship will end up having on the Vancouver Canucks. We already know Silovs won't be part of their future, but are there other players or impacts resulting from that that we will see?

— Robin Bougie (@robinbougie.bsky.social) 2025-09-06T17:44:46.554Z

I think there are a number of tangible takeaways from Abbotsford’s climb to the top of the AHL mountain. First, Manny Malhotra proved that he was the right man for the job. And, in time, it’s possible he’ll be the right man for the organization’s big league job. But that time is not right now. The Calder Cup playoffs provided a number of the team’s top prospects with valuable experience in high stakes hockey games. Those players now know just how hard it is to string together 16 post-season wins.

Hopefully many will have the chance to apply those learnings in the Stanley Cup Playoffs soon. While most will point to players like Linus Karlsson, Arshdeep Bains, and Max Sasson because they’re the most NHL-ready prospects likely to push for jobs starting next week, the Calder Cup advanced the development curve for rookies like Ty Mueller and Kirill Kudryavtsev, allowing them to prove they could more than hold their own as first year professionals. It’s going to be fun to chart their progress this season.

I have 3 questions. 1. second line center 2. second line center 3. second line center . Jeff thank you for your attention to this matter.

— SuperDaffyd (@SuperDaffyd) September 6, 2025

Allow me to lump those questions together and tackle them as one. Yes, it’s an issue. But just because the Canucks haven’t solved their second line centre issue in the off-season doesn’t mean they won’t next week or next month or at some point along the road this season. They know it’s still an issue. Clearly they haven’t found a deal to their liking just yet and so they seem content starting into training camp with the centres they’ve got on the roster. Now, if it becomes abundantly clear early on that their centre options don’t measure up, that ups the pressure on management.

‘But the Canucks found themselves in the same situation with goaltending at training camp last year. With Thatcher Demko still injured, it was obvious to anyone who watched camp that the Canucks needed goaltending help. And the team addressed it. They are clearly rolling the dice with the centre group they’ve got, but I’d be shocked if the centres that show up at training camp are the same ones they go through the entire season with.

Is Chytil a good two way C? Is he good enough as a shutdown C?

— Cameron Davis (@camdavis) September 6, 2025

In his 15 games after the trade, Filip Chytil posted encouraging underlying numbers. In 197 minutes at 5-on-5, the Canucks controlled 54.8% of all shot attempts and 55.58% of expected goals with Chytil on the ice. Additionally, they outshot opponents by 20 (100-80) and had an additional 25 scoring chances (102-77). Yet, the Canucks were outscored 8-3. So Chytil did some very good things and was fairly unlucky with an on-ice shooting percentage of just 3.0% and an on-ice save percentage of 90.0%. But being a shutdown centre in the NHL is a big ask. It requires being able to withstand nightly physical match-ups against some of the toughest customers in the game.

Chytil is 6’2” and 210 pounds, so he has decent size, but he is not physically imposing. And we know staying healthy has been his biggest issue to this point in his young career. Also, he is a career 41.7% face-off guy and that would need to improve considerably before anyone would consider him a shutdown option. So let’s slow any kind of roll about slotting Filip Chytil in to go head to head with Leon Draisaitl and Jack Eichel and the likes. Let’s let Chytil find his way through training camp and the preseason before asking him to do things he’s just not ready for – and may never be at the NHL level.

Who in the top 6 does Lekkerimaki have to beat out to make the team, whether in training camp or in the future. Can he play on the left wing?

— Michael (@MJohnRadcliffe) September 6, 2025

Well, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Evander Kane, and Conor Garland are all making the team. So right there are four guys ahead of Lekkerimäki on the depth chart. I think it’s safe to add Nils Höglander to that list. And then you’re looking at the likes of Kiefer Sherwood and Drew O’Connor. The Canucks have to decide what’s best for the 21-year-old. If he blows the doors off everyone in the preseason and makes the club in a top six role, great. But if he doesn’t, then is Lekkerimäki likely to develop more in a bottom six role in the NHL or as the featured forward playing big minutes in Abbotsford?

It feels like the organization is prepared to have him start the season in the minors and continue to grow out his game. And there’s nothing wrong with that strategy. It’s going to be interesting to see where Lekkerimäki is slotted at training camp and that could reveal much about the organization’s thinking with regards to its top forward prospect. As for left wing, sure, we see lots of forwards play on their off wing. But with DeBrusk, Kane and Höglander all natural lefties, Lekkerimaki’s path to full time employment with the Canucks is likely clearer on the right.

Would the Canucks be interested in Nazem Kadri as a potential 2C? If so, do you think he would waive his NMC to play in Vancouver, and what would it cost to acquire him?

— Steven Wong (@hockey17srw) September 7, 2025

I really like the idea of a Nazem Kadri-type player for the Canucks. I just don’t know that paying the acquisition cost for a player that turns 35 next month makes a lot of sense for the Canucks. Also, as you point out, Kadri has a full movement clause this season and then limited trade protection over the final three years left on his current contract that pays him $7M per season. The cap hit isn’t outrageous for a second-line centre that has produced 87, 56, 75, and 67 points the past four seasons. Plus, Kadri’s edge would be welcome in the Canucks’ lineup. If Kadri were 31, not 35, I’d think long and hard about that kind of move. But I don’t think it makes a ton of sense for the Canucks to part with significant assets for a player that would be the oldest forward on the roster.

This is the first time in a very long time I have been confident about our goaltending AND defense. Do we take solace in the fact that we are only concerned about our center depth?

— Paul Tonsaker (@PrisonBull) September 6, 2025

I hear you, but I’m not sure I’m fully buying what you’re selling. I want to see how Adam Foote fares in his first NHL head coaching role. I believe many people have significant concerns about Thatcher Demko’s ability to stay healthy and return to his 2023-24 level of performance. I think many also question the team’s ability to score with solid, but not elite wingers. On paper, the defence looks as good as it has in a decade and if Demko can stay healthy, then goaltending should be steady if not spectacular. But centre depth is a massive issue especially with questions about Elias Pettersson’s performance level, Filip Chytil’s health and Aatu Räty’s readiness to be an every day NHL’er. If any one of those issues persist through camp and the preseason, depth down the middle could put the Canucks behind the 8-ball to start the regular season.

Which prospect do you feel will come out gangbusters at the start of this season?

— kenna (@sadiemayhem.bsky.social) 2025-09-07T04:09:52.760Z

I’m going to say Tom Willander only because there is a wild card factor to him. No one knows what he’ll look like making the jump from NCAA hockey to the NHL. Maybe he blows everyone away. The guys that were in Abbotsford last season have all given us glimpses of what they’re capable of. But no one has seen Willander at this level. I’m not making any grand predictions about what we’ll see from the 2023 first rounder, but in terms of any prospect turning heads at main camp, I have a sense that he may be the guy. And I’m sure the Canucks would be just fine with that.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/jpats-monday-mailbag-whos-ready-new-vancouver-canucks-season

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Canucks Training Camp Battles: Who joins Teddy Blueger on PK1?

Heading into Training Camp 2025, it’s safe to say that the Vancouver Canucks have no set forward lines as of yet. That’s true for both their 5-on-5 arrangements and their special teams.

In a perfect world, the Canucks would not be making any alterations to their penalty kill from 2024-25. Last year’s PK unit rose from relatively humble beginnings to finish as the third-best in the entire NHL, boasting an 82.6% success rate. But the Canucks’ top forward penalty killer, Pius Suter and his 2:17 of average shorthanded ice-time per game, have departed the organization as an unrestricted free agent.

Teddy Blueger was the next leading PKer up front, with an average of 2:06 of shorthanded ice-time per game. There’s little doubt that Blueger will once again feature on the PK1 unit, as he did for the majority of last season alongside Suter.

The question heading into camp is, who takes Suter’s place next to Blueger on that first penalty killing unit?

If we’re just going to go with the next-most-frequent PKer from 2024-25, then it’s Kiefer Sherwood, who averaged 1:28 in shorthanded time, albeit mainly on the second unit. There’s a lot to like about Sherwood here, including his speed, his willingness to put his body on the line, and some pre-established chemistry with Blueger, with the two having enjoyed some success together at 5-on-5 last season.

But if Sherwood is the leading candidate, he’s still not a lock, with several other worthy candidates challenging him for the spot.

When Drew O’Connor was brought in via the Marcus Pettersson trade and then extended for two years fairly shortly thereafter, it was clear that he was in the Canucks’ future plans. Part of the reason they targeted O’Connor was his shorthanded abilities.

With his large frame and better-than-decent wheels, O’Connor is a bit of a natural penalty killer who can really cover a lot of the ice. He featured heavily on Pittsburgh’s PK prior to the trade, and remains the Penguins’ forward with the second-most overall shorthanded time for 2024-25, behind Noel Acciari, who was there for the entire season.

O’Connor only skated an average of 1:11 shorthanded minutes per game for the Canucks post-trade, but then that was at a time when the Blueger/Suter pairing was really rolling. O’Connor being a bigger part of the PK in 2025-26 would not be at all surprising, and it could be down to a question of who clicks better with Blueger between him and Sherwood.

If we were on the lookout for the most direct Suter replacement, we have to mention that part of the success of the Blueger/Suter unit was that both of them were capable NHL centres. That gave their unit double coverage in the faceoff circle, and two players who were accustomed to patrolling the middle of the ice. On that front, Aatu Räty will have to be given ample consideration.

Räty’s lack of footspeed will hurt him here. But he’s a clever enough player who has had some success on the PK at the AHL level and should at least get a chance at the NHL level this season.

In Räty, Blueger would gain a shorthanded partner capable of taking faceoffs on Blueger’s offside (and winning most of them), which is a major plus for PK puck possession.

But then, if Blueger and Räty are both on PK1, one has to wonder about PK2, and specifically who is going to handle the centre duties there. The Canucks rolled out plenty of two-winger pairings last season, including Sherwood/O’Connor, but it’s less than ideal. Perhaps the more natural fit is to save Räty as the centrepiece of PK2.

But speaking of taking faceoffs shorthanded, we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention the forward Elias Pettersson. Amidst his well-documented struggles, Pettersson didn’t kill a whole lot of penalties last year, averaging just 37 seconds of shorthanded ice-time per game. But that hasn’t always been the case. The season before, he averaged 1:22. The season before that, as Pettersson was notching 102 points, he led Canucks’ forwards in shorthanded time with 1:48 per game.

Maybe it’s time for PK Pettersson to return. Last season, the thinking seemed to be that giving Pettersson another responsibility, when he was already failing to meet his offensive expectations, was counterproductive. But maybe it’s the opposite. Pettersson’s most productive seasons have come at a time when he was carrying a heavier PK responsibility. Perhaps it’s best for both the team and the player to have Pettersson, not Räty, be the second centre on the PK1 unit alongside Blueger – though one has to wonder about total ice-time, with Pettersson already set to take on more at 5-on-5 and the power play.

Another top scorer deserves mention here, and that’s Conor Garland. He’s somewhat quietly become the Canucks’ most consistent player at both ends of the ice over the past few seasons, and the underlying stats say he might be their best defensive forward overall. Garland only killed an average of 48 seconds per game last season, but that can change. Part of the success of the Blueger/Suter pairing was that Suter allowed for the duo to be reasonably dangerous shorthanded. Garland would make that even more so.

In the end, it’s probably down to how much Garland is going to play at 5-on-5. If he winds up with a top-six, or even top-line role, that will naturally limit his shorthanded minutes. If he’s lining up on the third line, however, there’s no real reason not to throw him a few extra seconds per game via the PK unit.

In those five – Sherwood, O’Connor, Räty, Pettersson, and Garland – we’ve covered the leading candidates to join Blueger on the Canucks’ top PK unit for 2025-26. And, in reality, special teams get switched up all the time, so we’ll probably see all five get turns there in the preseason, and perhaps into the regular season, too.

But if the Canucks want to truly build on their shorthanded success from last season, they’ll have to lean heavily on Blueger again, and one of the best ways to support him is to give him a consistent running mate.

The competition for that honour is wide open, and the competition starts next week.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-training-camp-battles-who-joins-teddy-blueger-pk1

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Garland and Chytil join Canucks veterans for summer skate at UBC

After taking Monday off to participate in the Jake Milford golf tournament, almost all of the Vancouver Canucks were back on the ice Tuesday morning at the University of British Columbia.

Fifteen skaters and three goalies were split into two teams for a series of drills with Canucks skills coach Jason Krog. The players then battled in a 4-on-4 scrimmage followed by a brief 5-on-5 game, although the numbers made it difficult to sustain 10 skaters aside.

a streamlined vets only session for #Canucks at UBC this morning. 15 skaters and 3 goalies running through drills and a 4-on-4 scrimmage pic.twitter.com/RWigE7hg5H

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) September 9, 2025

Conor Garland, Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger have now joined the teammates who were already skating at UBC last week.

Forwards on the ice today included: Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Filip Chytil, Evander Kane, Nils Höglander, Kiefer Sherwood, Teddy Blueger and Drew O’Connor.

The defence corps was comprised of Filip Hronek, Tyler Myers, Marcus Pettersson, Derek Forbort and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen and Nikita Tolopilo were the three goalies present for the session.

While it’s difficult to draw many conclusions from a September scrimmage, it was interesting to note that both teams started the 4-on-4 game with three forwards and a defenceman. For those who like to read into summer skates, Elias Pettersson took the opening faceoff for Team White on a line with Evander Kane on left wing and Conor Garland on his right, while Filip Chytil centred the Blue Team’s first shift between Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser. However, by the time the team went to 5-on-5, any sense of line combinations had been put into a blender.

The workout finished with Garland, Boeser and Höglander at one end practicing taking pucks off the end boards while Chytil and O’Connor worked on different down low drills at the other end of the ice. Derek Forbort worked on mobility drills on his own in the neutral zone.

Captain Quinn Hughes, who was in town for the team golf tournament yesterday at Northview, is now in Las Vegas for the NHL’s North American media tour. He is expected to join his teammates on the ice later this week.

After a flood of the ice, a second group of Canucks skated on Tuesday. That session included a who’s who of team prospects and hopefuls, including Aatu Räty, Nils Aman, Arshdeep Bains and Max Sasson, along with defencemen Elias Pettersson, Tom Wilander and Victor Mancini. The Canucks will be sending a team of prospects to Seattle for weekend games against the Kraken.

Main training camp opens a week from Thursday in Penticton.

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/garland-chytil-join-vancouver-canucks-veterans-summer-skate-ubc

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Top 50 Canucks players of all time: #2 – Daniel Sedin

Join us this summer as we count down the top 50 Vancouver Canucks players of all time! #2 – Daniel Sedin

Well, our final two spots had to go to the Sedin twins. But at the second spot, we have Daniel.

In the 1999 NHL draft, Brian Burke made a handful of trades which would change the trajectory of the Vancouver Canucks franchise for years to come. Sitting at third overall, the Canucks General Manager needed to pull off a trio of deals in order to land the second overall pick to draft the twins.

First, Burke traded defenceman Bryan McCabe, along with a 2000 or 2001 first-round pick, to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for the fourth overall pick. He then flipped the fourth overall pick, along with a pair of third-round picks, to the Tampa Bay Lightning for the first overall pick. Burke found out the Atlanta Thrashers intended to select Patrik Stefan first overall. With that information, Burke traded the first overall to the Thrashers for second overall and a 2000 third-round pick.

His plan came to fruition, as the Thrashers took Stefan, and the Canucks drafted Daniel second and Henrik at third.

The brothers spent their draft-plus-one season in Sweden before coming overseas for their rookie 2000-01 campaign. Daniel made a good first impression, scoring 20 goals in his first season. However, the following three seasons were somewhat underwhelming, with 41 goals and 76 assists for 117 points in 240 games. However, after the lockout season and the West Coast Express era began to decline, the Sedins started to take over.

In 2005-06, the twins were paired with one-hit wonder Anson Carter, who helped elevate their game. Daniel reached career highs in goals (22), assists (49) and points (71) in a full 82-game season in which they evolved from depth scorers to top-six players.

The following season, Daniel continued to step up his game, hitting new highs in goals (36), assists (48) and points (84) in 81 games, narrowly edging out his brother for the team lead in points. The jump helped the Canucks win the Northwest Division after a one-year hiatus. Daniel added two goals and five points in 12 games, but the eventual Stanley Cup Champion Anaheim Ducks eliminated the Canucks in five games.

2007-08 saw the Canucks take a step back, but Daniel still produced with 29 goals and 45 assists for 74 points. After struggling to find a consistent right winger that season, Daniel would find a long-time linemate on the opposite wing in Alex Burrows following the 2009 All-Star break. The Canucks would bounce back to first in the Northwest Division with the help of Daniel hitting the 30-goal plateau again. Vancouver would fall to the Chicago Blackhawks in six games of the second round.

It was the 2009-2010 season in which true Sedinery caught the league by storm. The Sedins and Burrows became one of the most feared lines in the entire NHL. Unfortunately for Daniel, he missed 19 games this season with a fractured foot. However, that didn’t slow him down from reaching a new career high with 85 points in just 63 games. Including this absolutely stunning between-the-legs goal in Game 82 to help his brother win the Art Ross Trophy as the league’s top point-scorer:

The Canucks won the Pacific Division for the third time in four seasons, but went on to fall to the Chicago Blackhawks in the second round for the second consecutive season – Chicago went on to win the Stanley Cup.

While the 2009-10 season was Henrik’s year, the 2010-11 season was Daniel’s, marking the next step into superstardom.

As his brother did the previous year, Daniel won the Art Ross Trophy after becoming a 40-goal scorer and 100-point player for the first time in his career. He also took home the Ted Lindsay Award as the most outstanding player in the regular season, voted on by his peers. However, Sedin fell short of winning the Hart Trophy, finishing second to 50-goal Corey Perry. Daniel was also named to his second straight All-Star game.

But it was the playoff run that Canucks fans will remember forever. Daniel’s remarkable regular season helped the organization capture their first Presidents’ Trophy in franchise history.

Daniel rolled his successful regular season into the postseason, picking up six points in seven games as the Canucks slayed the dragon. He added another six points in six games against the Nashville Predators, and his six points in five games against the San Jose Sharks brought him to a point-per-game in the playoffs heading into the Stanley Cup Final.

After their 1-0 Game 1 victory, Daniel would tie the game up halfway through the third period of Game 2 and pick up the primary assist in Burrows’ overtime winner, just 11 seconds into the first overtime.

Unfortunately, we all know how this series would end. The Canucks would struggle away from home and fall short of the franchise’s first Stanley Cup in Game 7. After the series, Daniel revealed that he had been nursing a back and shoulder injury throughout the Finals.

The Canucks had no Stanley Cup Final hangover in 2011-12, as they repeated as Presidents’ Trophy winners. However, Daniel had his season cut to just 72 games, following a blatant flying elbow from Blackhawks defenceman Duncan Keith in late March that left him with a concussion.

Sedin had 30 goals and 67 points up to that point. His concussion held him out for Games 1-3 of the opening round against the Los Angeles Kings, before he returned for Games 4 and 5, picking up an assist in each game before losing the series in five games – again, to the eventual Stanley Cup Champions.

Daniel’s production continued as the seasons rolled on, but the Canucks as a whole began to decline. Over the next few seasons, the Canucks’ 2011 core started to disintegrate, as Roberto Luongo, Ryan Kesler, and Kevin Bieksa were all traded over the following three seasons. The Canucks returned to the playoffs under John Tortorella in 2014-2015, but lost that series in six games. This was the last taste of playoff action Daniel would see in his career.

Fast forward to what became the Sedins’ last season in 2017-18, the then 37-year-olds abruptly announced their retirement in the final week of the season. Daniel left the Canucks fans in Rogers Arena with a storybook ending: scoring an overtime winning goal, assisted by his brother, Henrik, and fellow countryman and long-time teammate Alex Edler. The goal was scored 2:33 into overtime time – even more Sedinery.

Daniel’s 393 goals still rank first in Canucks history to this day. He also leads the franchise in power play goals (138) and shots on goal (3,474). Daniel trails only his brother in games played (1,306), assists (648) and points (1,041), firmly cementing himself as one of the best Canucks of all time. Fans will always remember him when they see the number 22 in the rafters or when they visit the Hockey Hall of Fame.

Our previously ranked top 50 Canucks of all time:

#50 – Curt Fraser
#49 – Dave Babych
#48 – Martin Gelinas
#47 – Chris Oddleifson
#46 – Jannik Hansen
#45 – Ivan Boldirev
#44 – Gary Smith
#43 – Jacob Markstrom
#42 – Orland Kurtenbach
#41 – Harold Snepsts
#40 – Darcy Rota
#39 – Thatcher Demko
#38 – Geoff Courtnall
#37 – Dennis Ververgaert
#36 – Petri Skriko
#35 – Dan Hamhuis
#34 – Doug Lidster
#33 – Patrik Sundstrom
#32 – Brendan Morrison
#31 – Richard Brodeur
#30 – Sami Salo
#29 – André Boudrais
#28 – Kevin Bieksa
#27 – Don Lever
#26 – Bo Horvat
#25 – Brock Boeser
#24 – Dennis Kearns
#23 – Ed Jovanovski
#22 – Greg Adams
#21 – Cliff Ronning
#20 – JT Miller
#19 – Tony Tanti
#18 – Jyrki Lumme
#17 – Elias Pettersson
#16 – Alex Burrows
#15 – Alexander Mogilny
#14 – Mattias Ohlund
#13 – Thomas Gradin
#12 – Stan Smyl
#11 – Alex Edler
#10 – Todd Bertuzzi
#9 – Kirk McLean
#8 – Ryan Kesler
#7 – Markus Naslund
#6 – Trevor Linden
#5 – Quinn Hughes
#4 – Roberto Luongo
#3 – Pavel Bure

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/top-50-vancouver-canucks-players-all-time-2-daniel-sedin

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Daniel Gee: Canucks invite intriguing Vancouver Giants player to Prospect Showcase

Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Braeden Cootes, Elias Pettersson, Sawyer Mynio, Aleksie Medvedev … the gang is all here, making the 2025 Vancouver Canucks Prospect Showcase Roster loaded with the organization’s best young talent.

While the spotlight will undoubtedly shine on this group of players, there is another player, an invitee, worth keeping your eye on.

His name is Aaron Obobafio.

Anyone who follows the Western Hockey League’s Vancouver Giants will know Obobafio. Coming out of the Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep U15 Prep School, the Calgary-born forward put together a successful rookie season, full of dynamic scoring flashes and upward potential.

His play was so encouraging over limited ice time that, going into Obobafio’s draft year, some projected the prospect to be a first-three-round pick. He essentially had everything going for him, entering the season with now Dallas Stars prospect Cameron Schmidt — a pairing that could inflict damage on their opponents on any given shift.

Unfortunately, a shoulder injury sidetracked Obobafio’s season, and despite an attempted return, his season ended at just 10 games played – a brutal blow to his NHL Draft stock.

Image courtesy of Eliteprospects.com

Obobaifo’s dynamic skill​

Obobafio is a hard player to dislike. He’s engaged, never backs down, and operates with a relentless motor, helping him play bigger than his 5-foot-10 frame. From there, he’s a lightning bolt. He may not drive play consistently, but across his draft-minus-one season and draft year, Obobafio racked up dynamic, game-breaking moments, showing the flash and skill that usually lead to a scoring profile that projects to higher levels of hockey.

His game is built on pace, something he uses to play fast and deceptive hockey. By slowing down and speeding up the game, Obobafio consistently put defenders on their heels, broke free on breaks, and connected plays with his above-average tools.

Able to connect plays through tight seams off the cycle and place pucks with precision off the pass, he’s versatile, blending feints and fakes, making him an intelligent, dual-threat attacker.

What separates Obobafio even more is his puck handling. He strings together highlight-reel worthy handles, attacking defenders’ weaksides, pulling pucks across his body in an attempt to create advantages. Not all his attempts work, but his ability to maneuver through large ice, whether he’s chipping and chasing around a gapped-up defender or rolling off the outside lane to protect the puck at his hip, makes him a relentless attacker off the rush.

Nevertheless, the cons of Obobafio’s profile are relatively straightforward. Mechanically, he isn’t the cleanest skater, lacking depth and relying on foot speed and activity rate to create speed; he can break down as fatigue builds. Despite his playstyle, his size is a detriment to his long-term projection. He loses battles against larger opponents on the perimeter of the ice and can fade as games become rougher and space becomes more limited. His injury and time missed are a concern as well — it’s never a good thing to miss so much of a season, especially early in your WHL career.

Still, Obobafio is a no-brainer in terms of an invitee to a prospect showcase. You tap into a team in your local area, and he’s someone who could potentially break out offensively this upcoming season. And if you are like the Canucks, who regularly look for value in overaged players — ones who are older than the current draft year – this small period of time could be valuable for learning more about the player, if it hasn’t already been done in the draft process.

Why Obobafio fits the overager profile Vancouver targets​

While this isn’t necessarily broken down scientifically, in the past seasons, the Canucks have added players such as Wilson Bjorck, Anthony Romani, Ty Mueller, and Matthew Perkins, creating a subtle throughline when comparing profiles.

These players typically operate with a high work rate; the catalyst for much of their game is their high effort levels. This falls in line with the theme of competitiveness — something almost every drafted Canuck boasts. They are also behind the curve developmentally — late bloomers who may have found scoring or projectable niche roles later in their careers — all while boasting skills that should translate to the professional game if they get to that stage.

While these traits could ultimately be coincidences — it’s hard to be sure outside looking in — Obobafio brings all of that to the table, matching the value profile the team seemingly looks for in later rounds. With a return to the Giants for the 2025-2026 season, the Canucks will have a front-seat view of his progress — whether that leads to an eventual draft selection or not — that will be up to Obobafio’s play, which starts this weekend in Seattle.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/daniel...ing-vancouver-giants-player-prospect-showcase

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

What’s an acceptable home ice record for the Canucks this season?

When it comes to areas of obvious improvement for the Vancouver Canucks this season, the team’s performance on home ice should be at the top of the list. But saying they need to be better at Rogers Arena isn’t enough. The challenge, of course, is for the Canucks to make it happen.

Last season, the team finished with an appalling 17-16-8 record in front of its home fans. Only bottom feeders Chicago (15) and San Jose (12) managed fewer home ice victories. But it goes much further than that.

The Canucks were outscored 127-112 at home, won just one of eight games decided in overtime on home ice and generated a league-low 24.8 shots per game. Individually, Quinn Hughes was the only Canuck to crest 30 points in the team’s 41 home games and Brock Boeser, with 15, was the only player on the team to score more than 12 home ice goals. On many nights, the home team’s performance was borderline unwatchable.

losing 5-0 will do that to ya #Canucks pic.twitter.com/5PE91aSWEP

— tiana (@nuckaround) April 3, 2025

Through all of that, the Canucks still managed to scrape together 90 points in the standings and finished just six points back of St. Louis in the race for the final Wild Card spot in the NHL’s Western Conference. So it’s an easy conclusion to draw that had the Canucks been even remotely improved in front of their home fans last season, they could have been a playoff team.

Only one team qualified for the postseason in 2024-25 with fewer than 20 home ice wins. The New Jersey Devils made it to the dance with a home record of 19-17-5. So it’s not like a minimum of 25 wins is required to be a playoff team. In fact, four teams locked down playoff berths with fewer than 25 victories last season.

The previous season en route to 50 wins, 109 points and a Pacific Division title, the Canucks rolled to a record of 27-9-5 on home ice. So there is recent precedent for the organization to draw on when it comes to getting it right more often than not at Rogers Arena.

Between dictating matchups, benefitting from tired teams making their way to town and the comforts of sleeping in their own beds, the Canucks simply have to find a way to make home ice more of an advantage than it was last season when the team suffered a series of embarrassing losses to the likes of Buffalo, Detroit, Boston, New York Islanders, Nashville and Seattle. Earn wins in even half of those games, and the Canucks would have recouped the points needed to climb above the playoff bar.

The team opens at home on October 9th against a Calgary club that plays the night before in Edmonton. That should play into Vancouver’s favour. The Canucks open with just two of their first eight games and only five of their first 14 on home ice. So the front end of the schedule is loaded with road contests. That will add heft to the home games to ensure the Canucks stabilize results in the early going.

The team’s first seven home dates are against the Calgary Flames, St. Louis Blues, Montreal Canadiens, Edmonton Oilers, New York Rangers, Chicago Blackhawks and Columbus Blue Jackets. Of that group, only St. Louis, Edmonton, and Montreal were playoff teams last season, and only the Oilers secured a division postseason berth. So opportunity comes calling early and often among the team’s initial home outings.

It’s imperative that the Canucks figure out the reasons behind their sluggish starts on home ice on too many nights last season and find ways to reverse that troubling trend. Opponents opened the scoring in 20 of the 41 games at Rogers Arena last season, and the Canucks managed to come back to win just eight of those games. In the 21 games in which they scored first, the Canucks only won nine of those. So, protecting leads (and building on them) proved to be a problem as well.

Good teams are generally good both home and away. No one is expecting the Canucks to be a dominant force this season. However, with solid goaltending and a strong defensive corps, the team must find a way to generate more results on home ice than it did last season. That should go without saying.

And it really shouldn’t be too much to ask the team to pick up an additional five or six victories in Vancouver. Hold on to a few leads. Reverse fortune in a few overtime games. Get a handful of individual performances that tip the scales in the home team’s favour. It all seems simple enough. New head coach Adam Foote has his work cut out for him in many facets of the game, and putting on a better show for the paying customers is an area that needs to improve.

Anything less than 23-15-3 (49 points) this season would be disappointing for both the hockey club and its fans.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/whats-acceptable-home-ice-record-vancouver-canucks-this-season

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Cootes, Willander, and more Canucks prospects hit the ice in preparation for showcase vs. Kraken prospects

The Vancouver Canucks’ Prospect Showcase roster hit the ice for the first time on Thursday morning at the Abbotsford Centre.

#Canucks Prospect Showcase roster hits the ice at the Abbotsford Centre pic.twitter.com/KtaK7bJqc6

— Tyson Cole (@SpittinPicklets) September 11, 2025

Abbotsford Head Coach Manny Malhotra led today’s drills ahead of this weekend’s two-game showcase between the Canucks and Seattle Kraken.

All 23 of the Canucks’ showcase roster – 13 forwards, eight defencemen and two goaltenders – took the ice, including the handful of invitees.

Forwards: Vilmer Alriksson, Ben Berard, Josh Bloom, Braeden Cootes, Gabriel Chairot, Kieren Dervin, Jackson Kunz, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Aaron Obobaifo, Jakob Oreskovic, Riley Patterson, Nick Poisson and Cooper Walker

Defencemen: Parker Alcos, Joe Arntsen, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Sawyer Mynio, Elias Pettersson, Zack Sandhu, Xander Velliaris, and Tom Willander.

Goaltenders: Aku Koskenvuo and Aleksei Medvedev.

The most recent two first-round pick forward Canucks selections, Lekkerimäki and Cootes, were paired on a line with Alriksson during some line drills.

Lekkerimäki, Cootes and Alriksson skating as a line and break in on #Canucks’ latest second-round pick Medvedev https://t.co/zETppod53r pic.twitter.com/WSQ1XxtoRS

— Tyson Cole (@SpittinPicklets) September 11, 2025

Cootes spoke with CanucksArmy after practice and shared how this opportunity at the Prospect Showcase is a great stage to prove himself to the Canucks organization, and what he’s most looking forward to heading into the weekend:

“For sure. I mean, they’re gonna give me tons of opportunity this weekend, and I’m really excited. I’m gonna get to play a lot of really good players here. I mean, it’s more guys around my age, so [I get] a bit more of an opportunity, like I said, and just go out and play my game.
“Just getting to skate with those guys and learn from them. I mean, they’re playing in the NHL for a reason; the coaches too. Learn from the Sedins every day. I mean, not many people get that opportunity. So just trying to learn every day get better.”

After signing his first NHL contract, Willander outlined what he expects the biggest difference will be making the jump to the professional ranks, and what he changed and focused on more with his offseason training to prepare for the season ahead:

“I think the biggest difference is the amount of games. I think I had to take a bit of a different approach to my strength training. I had to dial that in a little bit more. I had a little bit more focus on, like endurance that I’ve had, like in the past years. Also, getting a taste playing against bigger bodies, I also felt like I had to dial in on my strength training so, but I feel that feels good now.”

The games will take place at 6:00 PM PT on Saturday, September 13, in Everett, Washington, and 4:30 PM PT on Sunday, September 14, in Seattle, Washington.

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/cootes...preparation-showcase-seattle-kraken-prospects

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Ray Ferraro confirms he’ll be back on Canucks broadcasts this season despite joining Kings broadcasts

Well, that was a scary couple of hours.

On Thursday morning, the retired NHLer-turned beloved broadcaster was named as part of the Los Angeles Kings’ broadcast team for the 2025-26 NHL season, leading to many Canucks fans wondering if Ferraro had moved on from his duties with Sportsnet on Canucks regional broadcasts.

Going live in 3… 2… 1…

Announcing our @FanDuelSN_West broadcast team and schedule for the 2025-26 season! More info

Tune in info https://t.co/B6zJyUitpb
Full release https://t.co/RSLE3inQZf pic.twitter.com/0VQpstLzN3

— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 11, 2025

Ferraro didn’t take long to quiet the noise, confirming he’d be back calling Canucks games this season in a post on X.

Nope… Just getting my schedule together, but will be back for sure with the Canucks https://t.co/GwsyubU0qj

— Ray Ferraro (@rayferraro21) September 11, 2025

Ferraro has a notoriously busy schedule. On top of working a handful of Canucks broadcasts, he’s also a mainstay on ESPN’s National NHL broadcasts. In fact, Ferraro called two games on the NHL’s opening night last season, needing to travel from Climate Pledge Arena in Seattle to Salt Lake City to call the inaugural game of the Utah Hockey Club later in the evening.

“I’m going to have a car waiting in the loading dock and as soon as the horn goes, I’ll scurry my way to the car,” Ferraro told The Athletic last year. “That car will take me to a plane somewhere and we’ll fly to Salt Lake City. Then there’ll be a car to take me to the rink. So they better not have overtime in Seattle.”

Ferraro was born in Trail, B.C., and grew up watching the Canucks. He’s lived in Vancouver for years and is married to Canucks assistant general manager Cammi Granato. After a successful playing career, Ferraro took the jump into broadcasting once his playing days were done, and it quickly became clear he was going to be great at that. After serving as TSN’s lead colour commentary voice for 14 years, Ferraro joined John Shorthouse and Dan Murphy on Canucks broadcasts beginning in 2023-24 following the departure of longtime colour commentator John Garrett. For the past two seasons, Ferraro has shared those duties with Dave Tomlinson, and it appears that will continue into the 2025-26 season.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/ray-fe...er-canucks-broadcasts-season-despite-la-kings

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Quinn Hughes hits the ice at UBC along with many of his Canucks teammates

For the first time this offseason, Vancouver Canucks captain Quinn Hughes joined his teammates for an informal pre-training camp skate at UBC on Friday morning.

After spending much of the week answering questions about his future plans at the National Hockey League North American media tour in Las Vegas, Hughes was back in his comfort zone, taking to the ice along with 11 other skaters and two goaltenders.

the captain has joined the UBC skates #Canucks pic.twitter.com/0uALqJCwgc

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) September 12, 2025

Looking as shifty as ever, Hughes participated in drills followed by a three-on-three mini game and then joined several teammates taking part in a post-practice shootout, trying – with little success – to beat Kevin Lankinen in head-to-head showdowns.

Hughes, who is set to begin his seventh full season with the Canucks, was joined on Friday by Brock Boeser, Conor Garland, Kiefer Sherwood, Filip Chytil, Nils Höglander, Teddy Blueger, Drew O’Connor, Tyler Myers, Filip Hronek, Marcus Pettersson and Pierre-Olivier Joseph.

Lankinen and Thatcher Demko were the only goalies on the ice in the veterans’ only session.

Notables to take Friday’s skating session off included Elias Pettersson, Jake DeBrusk, Evander Kane and Derek Forbort, who all skated with the group earlier in the week.

A second session made up of NHL hopefuls and Abbotsford veterans also took to the ice on Friday at UBC, while a group of prospects practiced in Abbotsford ahead of weekend games against Kraken prospects.

All players are expected to report to Rogers Arena next week for physicals ahead of training camp, which begins next Thursday in Penticton. The Canucks have not yet released details on ice times or training camp groups. This much is known: the team will skate on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday at the South Okanagan Events Centre before opening their six-game preseason on Sunday, September 21st, against the Kraken in Seattle.

The Canucks regular season opener is set for October 9th at home against Calgary.

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/quinn-hughes-hits-ice-ubc-along-many-vancouver-canucks-teammates

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Dave Hall helps preview Canucks vs. Kraken prospect showcase: Canucks Conversation

On today’s episode of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Harman Dayal were joined by Dave Hall to preview the Vancouver Canucks’ upcoming prospect showcase against the Seattle Kraken. With a mix of excitement and curiosity, the trio dug into key storylines and players to watch.

“There’s a brisk feeling in the air, it’s hockey season, and it’s time to get too excited about everything,” Hall said. “That top line of [Jonathan] Lekkerimäki, [Vilmer] Alriksson, and [Braeden] Cootes, I’m especially excited to see Cootes, but that line is too good to pass up.”

Harm pushed back against what he sees as premature skepticism surrounding Vancouver’s 2022 first-round pick.

“People are underestimating Lekkerimäki a tad bit on his overall potential,” Harman said. “He’s a smaller winger who needs to beef up, when we saw him at the NHL level he’s clearly a work in progress. But when I step back and look at his age 20 season, he scored more than half a goal per game in the NHL, and players who do that usually become top-six players in the NHL one day. Even just to stick in the NHL at 20 and hold your own, his defensive game wasn’t a worry. I think there was a lot more to be excited about from Lekkerimäki’s season last year than the market realizes.”

Dave reminded fans not to lose sight of his age. “People seem to forget he just turned 21 this summer. That was by far the longest season he had ever played, and that’s a big physical jump going from the Swedish league to the NHL and AHL. People forget that there’s still time for him to grow and adjust. He was scoring goals at a clip that was pretty unparalleled compared to other 19- and 20-year-olds in the league. I don’t think we’re anywhere near close to pushing the panic button. He may not be ready this fall, but that’s not out of the ordinary. Everything is fine in my opinion. Let’s hope he stands out this weekend and has a nice tournament, because these are the showcases you do want to see him pop in.”

Hall also shared his expectations for Aatu Räty, who looks poised to graduate into a full-time NHL role.

“He’s a shoe-in to make the team — he’s a faceoff ace, can kill penalties, and obviously the waiver status complicates things,” Hall said. “He’s going to make the team, I don’t know if he’s going to hit that 40-point plateau, if for nothing else but the fact he won’t get that kind of opportunity. He might sniff PP2 perhaps, but I see him as a third, if not fourth-line player this year. Typically, it’s hard for those players to eclipse 40 points, especially as rookies. I would guess he’d be somewhere around the 20–30 point mark.”

Hall added that there are still areas to watch in his game. “There’s still some stuff to work on, and he suffered an injury last year so his offseason has been super short to work on that skating that we all know he needs to improve.”

Hall pointed to one under-the-radar player he’s excited to monitor.

“I want to see what Riley Patterson does this weekend and this year,” he said. “He was just traded to Niagara, and it seems like they’re going to give him more of an opportunity to play up the middle. He’s a right-handed shooter, if he can move into the middle and carve out a nice niche there, that instantly props him up higher in the prospect pool. He hadn’t been given the keys in the Barrie Colts lineup, so I’m hoping he can ease into that top-line role in Niagara and have a big, bust-out season.”

Hall also touched on Vancouver’s 2023 first-rounder, Tom Willander.

“Willander is that ‘I’m going to beat you at all costs’ kind of guy,” Hall said. “He’s not so much a systems guy as he is pure will and heart. If a guy gets by him, he’s going to do what he can and use that skating ability he has to get you out of that spot. He has some tweaking to do, which goes for most of his game, not just defensive. There was an adjustment already for him going from the Swedish level to the NCAA, now he’ll have to do that for the pro level. That comes with adjusting to the number of games, much like we saw with Lekkerimäki last year. I think there’s going to be a transition. The Canucks will give him every opportunity to make this team, but I would not be shocked to see him in Abbotsford to be that number one guy and working on his systems.

You can watch the full segment below!

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/dave-h...kraken-prospect-showcase-canucks-conversation

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Braeden Cootes exits with injury as Canucks prospects fall 5-3 to Kraken

Vancouver Canucks hockey is back.

At least somewhat.

The team’s prospects were in action for the inaugural Prospect Showcase matchup against the Seattle Kraken prospects.

Game 1 was hosted at the Angel of the Winds Arena in Everett, Washington.

With a slow and sloppy opening period, a rejuvenated second period, and a blown lead in the third, boy, did it ever feel like Vancouver Canucks hockey.

Vancouver Canucks lineup​

Alriksson – Cootes – Lekkerimäki
Bloom – Patterson – Chiarot
Kunz – Dervin – Berard
Poisson – Walker – Oreskovic

Petterson – Willander
Mynio – Kudryavtsev
Arnssten – Alcos

Medvdev

Captains: Jonathan Lekkerimäki (A), Kirill Kudryavtsev (A) and Cooper Walker (A)

Seattle Kraken lineup​

how we're lining up in Everett pic.twitter.com/Jwzd15LEIT

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) September 13, 2025

First period​

The Canucks came out with energy, resulting in a few standard hits in the neutral zone and off the rush.

Otherwise, it was filled with various unnecessary giveaways and sloppy play, particularly from the team’s backend.

Despite being a sturdy blueline, one of the sturdiest you’ll see in a prospect game, giveaways and errand passes were a storyline through the first 20 minutes.

But let’s be real, it’s game one of the mid-September slate. Rust is expected and bound to play a factor.

Riley Patterson picked up what was likely the team’s best scoring opportunity in the frame, taking a Parker Alcos feed after a slow change from the Kraken blueline. He rang off a heavy slapshot, which was gloved down by the Kraken netminder, Nikke Kokko.

Likely the best scoring chance of the period came courtesy of Riley Patterson, who was sprung by Parker Alcos after a slow Kraken change. pic.twitter.com/QM0nDp5xTX

— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) September 14, 2025

Although his play did not amount to any offensive looks in the first period, Vilmer Alriksson was likely the Canucks’ best skater in the period. Thanks to a few potent finished checks using his heavier-than-most frame, he was a bright spot in Everett.

Late in the period, the Kraken appeared to have opened the scoring courtesy of a follow-up rebound from Berkly Catton. Aleksei Medvedev got a piece of the initial shot, before Catton managed to tuck one under the bar – or so we thought.

The referees had the perfect look, and after a quick review, the play was deemed no goal.

Despite a less-than-stellar opening period, the Canucks walked away unscathed with a 0-0 slate.

“You can kind of chalk that up to summertime, getting the rust out and just feeling their way through the process.” Head Coach Manny Malhotra reflected on the poor start after the game.

Shots: VAN 4, SEA 10

Second period​

Was it something Manny Malhotra said in the dressing room?

Whatever it was, it worked.

The Canucks awoke in the middle frame, turning those hits into sustained pressure.

Medvedev, who was one of the (CanucksArmy) stars of the game, got things started with his first, of a few, 10-bell saves. Unfortunately, it came thanks to sloppy defensive play by Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson, who left two Kraken forwards uncontested in the slot.

Great read and react. #Canuckshttps://t.co/7wDMNoRyRZ pic.twitter.com/dVOQHEdYKl

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 14, 2025

The Russian netminder showcased his athleticism, sliding over to get his blocker on the puck and keep the game scoreless.

Then, Vilmer Alriksson showed up.

The towering Swede was one of, if not the best, skaters at last year’s prospect event, and tonight, he doubled down on that sentiment.

After taking the game’s first penalty for what we are calling two minutes for being big – it was a holding penalty – he went down the ice to deliver a patented puck protection move, utilizing his length to will it past Kokko to open the scoring.

How 'bout those mitts from Vilmer Alriksson? pic.twitter.com/HYfvhFXduc

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

It was a power move, kicked off by a beautiful feed from Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Braeden Cootes picked up the secondary assist for his first unofficial point as a member of the Vancouver Canucks.

It didn’t take long for the Canucks to double their lead.

In fact, as the building was announcing their initial goal, Gabe Chiarot (2025 sixth round, 175th overall) collected the puck from the top of the circles and fired home his first (unofficial) goal as a member of the Canucks.

Flick of the wrist from Gabriel Chiarot. pic.twitter.com/rrQi70T0yy

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

Later in the period, another 2025 draftee contributed to the scoring, as Kieren Dervin (2025 third round, 65th overall) worked hard in the corner to dish out the puck before finding Elias Pettersson cross ice.

Without hesitation, the Swedish rearguard found Nick Poisson, a 24-year-old invitee, with the perfect back-door tap-in to triple the team’s lead.

D-PETEY POISSON pic.twitter.com/TVp4GPO43y

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

And just like that, the Canucks were off to the races after a slow opening period.

At the other end, Aleksei Medvedev was holding up his end of the bargain.

The Kraken finally beat him for their first goal of the weekend, but it wasn’t without another tremendous effort from the netminder.

After tracking the first shot, he sprawled out to rob Jani Nyman of the rebound. Unfortunately, Jagger Firkus managed to pounce on the rebound to shovel it past the London Knight goaltender, who was hardly to blame after a tremendous effort.

The #SeaKraken finally break through on Alexei Medvedev and cut the #Canucks lead to 3-1. pic.twitter.com/ybFGKj4Psz

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 14, 2025

After a slow start, the Canucks found a spark for a much-improved period and a two-goal lead heading into the final frame.

Shots: VAN 15, SEA 23

Third period​

The big news of the third period was the absence of their 2025 first-rounder, Braeden Cootes. While details of his absence were vague, there were a few plays in the second period where he was tangled up that could have resulted in a tweak.

“Well, it’s just that time of year,” Malhotra responded when asked about Cootes’ absence. “There are always bumps and bruises and precautionary reasons. We don’t want to push anything, so he left the game and we’ll evaluate and see how he feels tomorrow.”

Back on the ice, the wheels were in the midst of falling off.

The Kraken scored four unanswered goals in the third period to mount the comeback to defeat the Canucks prospects by a 5-3 score.

The #Canucks rookies have blown a 3-0 lead, Berkly Catton manages to get the puck through Medvedev juuuust barely. pic.twitter.com/G6oBtqiRVe

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 14, 2025

Despite a late push, which included a last-minute power play, the Kraken sealed the game with an empty net goal to finish off the comeback to drop Game 1 of the two-game set.

Final shots: Unknown

The Vancouver Canucks prospects will take on the Seattle Kraken prospects for Game 2 of the Prospect Showdown on Sunday afternoon. Puck is set to drop at 4:00 pm PT at the Kraken Community Iceplex.

PRESENTED BY 6IX INNING STRETCH PODCAST​

Love baseball? Don’t miss The 6ix Inning Stretch — the brand new podcast from The Nation Network, presented by Betway. Hosted by Toronto sports reporter Lindsay Dunn and 3-time MLB All-Star Whit Merrifield, this weekly show delivers insider stories, unfiltered Jays talk, player interviews, and expert analysis from around the majors. New episodes drop every Wednesday — listen on your favourite podcast platform or watch on the Bluejaysnation YouTube channel.

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/braede...ver-canucks-prospects-fall-5-3-seattle-kraken

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Prospect Showcase: Canucks defeat Kraken 3–2 behind strong outing from Aku Koskenvuo

Looking to bounce back from Saturday night’s 5–3 loss in Everett, the Vancouver Canucks prospects travelled to Seattle for Game 2 of the inaugural Prospect Showcase, taking on the Kraken at the Kraken Community Iceplex.

Notably absent from Vancouver’s lineup was Braeden Cootes, who did not return for the third period in Game 1.

The club later confirmed he was held out for precautionary reasons and is expected to make the trip to Penticton for main camp beginning September 18.

Crisis averted.

Vancouver lineup​

How we're linin' up against the Kraken! pic.twitter.com/SMxttzJI93

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

Seattle lineup​

how we're lining up ahead of our 4pm puck drop pic.twitter.com/60UPyoTZpB

— Seattle Kraken (@SeattleKraken) September 14, 2025

First period​

The Canucks came out with a far more composed and structured approach compared to their opening effort, limiting mistakes and showing more attention to systems early.

Thanks to that, they were rewarded with the game’s first goal for the second consecutive night.

Tom Willander, bouncing back after a shaky opener, made a smart pinch to keep the puck alive in the offensive zone.

Riley Patterson, elevated to the top line in Cootes’ absence, beat his check to the puck and fed a one-handed pass to Jonathan Lekkerimäki, who made no mistake going top corner for his first goal of the weekend.

We Lek what we see. pic.twitter.com/hBQuMnEYdZ

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

After being held off the scoresheet in Game 1, it was a welcome sight to see the team’s go-to sharpshooter find the back of the net.

pic.twitter.com/RAmDo1JdbX

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 14, 2025

The remainder of the period saw modest back-and-forth pressure, with each side trading low-danger chances.

Aku Koskenvuo, making his first unofficial start as a Canuck, wasn’t overly busy but did have to stay sharp on a few tricky shots. He stopped all six shots he faced to help preserve Vancouver’s 1–0 lead through 20 minutes.

“We were able to apply much more pressure,” Head Coach Manny Malhotra said post-game. “We got some shots than that early, which is one thing that we wanted to establish.”

Shots: VAN 9, SEA 5

Second period​

Seattle struck quickly to even the score in the second.

Following a failed clearing attempt by Lekkerimäki, David Goyette got two chances in the slot and slipped the second attempt through Koskenvuo’s five-hole to tie the game 1–1.

David Goyette ties the game for the #SeaKraken at 1 apiece. pic.twitter.com/bils43G2TG

— Lachlan Irvine (@LachInTheCrease) September 14, 2025

Midway through the period, things got a little hectic as the Canucks found themselves on their heels for a stretch, surrendering a few odd-man rushes. However, the defence settled in, and Koskenvuo stood tall, notably shutting down a high-speed breakaway to keep the game even.

Aku Koskenvuo says no on the breakaway! pic.twitter.com/PoyTsHk6jJ

— Canucks Insider (@CanucksInsider) September 15, 2025

Eventually, Vancouver pushed back.

The “invite line” of Aaron Obobaifo, Matthew Oreskovic, and Nick Poisson created extended zone time before the puck found Oreskovic down low. The Vancouver Giants forward slipped the puck to his junior teammate Obobaifo, who showed patience to outwait the Kraken netminder before sliding the puck home to restore the lead.

Alone in front, Aaron Obobaifo makes no mistake!@WHLGiants | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/lhq4odEXO0

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 15, 2025

That goal seemed to energize the line, who followed it up with another strong shift, pinning Seattle deep in their zone.

They played a strong game, capping off a solid weekend for the trio of invited forwards.

Despite the early second-period goal, the Canucks enjoyed a one-goal lead after 40 minutes of play.

Shots: VAN 21, SEA 12

Third period​

Parker Alcos did not return to the bench to start the third period. Like Cootes, Malhotra later confirmed that he was held out for “precautionary” reasons given the nature of the event.

The Canucks rotated their defensive pairings as a result.

The so-called “invite line” contributed again midway through the period. Oreskovic broke up the ice and found a trailing Riley Patterson, who had just stepped onto the ice.

Patterson fired a quick release from the slot to beat the goaltender upstairs and extend the lead to 3–1 for his second point of the game.

Riley Patterson right on the money to make it 3-1! pic.twitter.com/Lnq4ZpfJYG

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 15, 2025

Seattle made it interesting later in the frame when Blake Fiddler — a teammate of Alcos with the Edmonton Oil Kings — cut the lead to one.

From there, however, it was the Aku Koskenvuo show.

He turned away multiple high-quality chances, including several strong looks from Jagger Firkus, Seattle’s most dangerous forward from the night.

Late in the game, Elias Pettersson was assessed the only penalty of the night after delivering a hit from behind in the corner. The Kraken pulled their goalie for a 6-on-4 advantage, forcing Koskenvuo to hold the fort.

And that he did.

The Finnish netminder stopped everything thrown his way in the final minutes, securing the win in his first unofficial appearance in Canucks colours.

He finished the game with 21 saves, as the Canucks and Kraken split the weekend series to put a wrap on the inaugural Prospect Showcase.

“He did a great job, especially down the stretch,” Malhotra said post-game. “He came up with some huge stops as the course of the game went on. He looked far more comfortable in the net in terms of rebound control and just being big and square in the net, but he did a fantastic job, obviously, on this back-to-back getting his opportunity. He made the most of it.”

"It was exciting getting my first Canucks game in a Canucks jersey."

Rinkside Reporter Olivia McDonald with goaltender Aku Koskenvuo who made 21 saves in the win over Seattle. pic.twitter.com/eLzpXQrsZz

— Canucks Insider (@CanucksInsider) September 15, 2025

Final score: VAN 3, SEA 2
Final shots: VAN 30, SEA 23

What’s Next​

With the Prospect Showcase now wrapped, the team will shift its focus to the main training camp in Penticton, BC, running September 18–21.

Follow all of the action here at CanucksArmy, as we will have full coverage of Training Camp throughout the week.

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/prospe...eattle-kraken-3-2-strong-outing-aku-koskenvuo

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

NHL Notebook: DeBoer speaks out after firing, Fleury signs PTO in Pittsburgh, and more

Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!

We can say hockey is back as much as we want, but it truly felt that way when we saw Canucks prospects back in action this past weekend at the Prospect Showcase. But it’s this weekend’s festivities that should really get Canucks fans excited. Training Camp will be the first glimpse into how the team will perform with its new players and coaches for the upcoming season.

But as we approach the new season, we have some extensions, some comebacks and a former NHL coach speaking for the first time since being fired:

Peter DeBoer speaks out after ugly ending in Dallas​

Peter DeBoer met with NHL.com’s Mike Zeisberger to discuss various topics, but everybody wants to hear more about DeBoer’s exit from Dallas.

Following their second straight loss to the Edmonton Oilers in the Western Conference Finals, DeBoer let his frustration show in his postgame interviews, when he put most of the blame on his goaltender, Jake Oettinger.

After his team allowed two goals in the first seven minutes of Game 5, DeBoer called a timeout, hoping to simmer down his group. However, he proceeded to display his anger by yelling at his bench. When Oettinger attempted to return to his net, DeBoer yanked him from the game in what the Stars netminder would later describe as embarrassing.

Due to his postgame comments, DeBoer was let go, ending his Stars career with a 149-68-29 record in three seasons. This interview with Zeisberger was the first time he spoke on the incident since he was fired:

“Listen, we were all to blame for coming up short again, and it starts with me,” DeBoer candidly said in an exclusive sitdown with NHL.com, his first public comments since being fired by the Stars on June 6. “It was on me, it was on all the coaches, it was on all the players, it was on the organization as a whole. We all created the disappointment. We were all to blame, not just one guy.

“When all the questions at the postgame press conference were about Jake, I should have redirected the topic to reflect that this wasn’t just about him; this was about all of us. We – and I stress the word ‘we’ – did not get the job done. We were on a run in which we’d lost six of our past seven games against Edmonton in the third round dating back to 2024. In one of my answers, I said he’d lost six of seven to them. But it wasn’t just him. It was all of us. That’s not on just one guy. I should have made that clearer.”

DeBoer has made the Western Conference Finals in five of the last six seasons, but has zero Stanley Cup Final appearances to show for it. He will be a strong consideration for teams needing a new bench boss next offseason.

Spencer Knight extension​

On Saturday, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they’ve signed Spencer Knight to a three-year, $17.5 million contract extension, carrying an average annual value of $5.83 million.

Chicago's Knight in shining armor.

Spencer Knight has signed a three-year deal with the @NHLBlackhawks! pic.twitter.com/2R9jm7ht5a

— NHL (@NHL) September 13, 2025

Knight, 24, was drafted in the first-round (13th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers. Looking back on it, this was an odd pick, considering the Panthers would go out and spent big money on Sergei Bobrovsky just a few days later in free agency. Knight has backed up Bobrovsky for four of the last five seasons, but it was clear there wasn’t much room for Knight develop, so they made him expendable.

A March trade saw the Panthers send Knight and a 2026 first-round pick to the Blackhawks in exchange for Seth Jones and a 2026 fourth-round pick. In 15 starts for the Blackhawks since the trade, Knight finished with 5-8-2 record, with 3.12 goals against average and a .896 save percentage. However, the 6’3″ netminder has proven he can be a solid goalie in this league, as he had 2.40 goals against average and a .907 save percentage in 23 starts before the trade.

Chicago still has a few years left in their rebuild; however, locking up their goaltender of the future is a great start for the Blackhawks to turn the ship around.

Corey Perry injury​

The Los Angeles Kings provided an update on Corey Perry on Saturday morning.

Update on #10 Corey Perry:#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/XQVKqenwNx

— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 13, 2025

The 40-year-old forward signed a one-year, $2 million contract with the Kings this past offseason. Perry has spent the last two seasons as a member of the Edmonton Oilers, where, in typical Corey Perry fashion, lost back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals. But Perry has proven that age is just a number, as just last season, he scored 19 goals and 30 points 81 games. He also added 10 goals and 14 points in 22 playoff appearances, playing up and down the Oilers’ lineup.

Unfortunately for Perry, he won’t make his Kings debut for the next 6-8 weeks after undergoing successful knee surgery. The Canucks don’t face off against the Kings until the end of November, where Perry should be back in game action.

Marc-Andre Fleury signs PTO with Penguins​

The legend of Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh will continue. Well, for at least one more game, as the longtime Penguins netminder has signed a professional tryout contract with the team that originally drafted him first overall in 2003 – the last goaltender to be selected first overall.

Marc-Andre Fleury is headed back to Pittsburgh!

Flower will return to the ice and play parts of the @penguins' preseason game on September 27. pic.twitter.com/bvXQCYDC6r

— NHL (@NHL) September 12, 2025

Typically players will sign a one-day contract with their team to retire as a member of the organization. However, Fleury is going to be suiting up in a Pittsburgh uniform one last time in the preseason before officially hanging up the skates.

After 21 NHL seasons split between the Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, Chicago Blackhawks and Minnesota Wild, Fleury has started over 1,000 games, finishing with a 575-339-97 record, a 2.60 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and 76 shutouts. Fleury sits second in games played and wins in NHL history, narrowly edging out former Canucks netminder Roberto Luongo.

It sounds like Fleury will make his final start on Saturday, September 27 against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/nhl-no...ing-fleury-signs-pto-pittsburgh-penguins-more

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Canucks fans react to JT Miller being named New York Rangers captain

On Tuesday morning, the New York Rangers named JT Miller as the 29th captain in franchise history.

Acquired by the Rangers in a late January trade with the Vancouver Canucks, Miller tallied 35 points in 32 games with the Rangers. The trade came on the heels of rumours of a locker room rift between Miller and Elias Pettersson, which were confirmed by Canucks president Jim Rutherford, who said there was “no good solution” to keeping the Canucks’ core together.

And so Miller was traded, and now, he’s been named captain of one of the NHL’s original six teams. How are Canucks fans reacting to the news this morning? Let’s find out.

CanucksArmy comment section​

Mean Gradin: This is going to be entertaining. I can’t wait to come back later.

Jibsys: Looks like the Rangers went an identity and a culture that wants to win. Good for JT.

defenceman factory: Congratulations to JT Miller. He is well suited to lead a team into battle. I hope the assignment helps him find some emotional maturity so he can be successful in the role. Some real risk this doesn’t go well.

Big BA: Surprise, surprise, an old school manager names a old school player the C… Lets see how this turns out. IMO, it won’t end well. This is a player who caused so much drama with the Canucks and quit on his team mates when he was called out by his coach and gave management one team he was willing to be traded to and yet so many dinosaur fans think he is a great guy…what is wrong with this world? Hmm, Im wondering if Chris Drury wants to go scorched earth and he thinks doing this will speed up the process…only thing that makes sense to me

Matthew White: This is an incredible promotion after playing only 32 games with the Rangers last year, following a half-season with the Canucks where he divided a clubhouse, was benched twice for uncommitted play, and took a 10-game leave to deal with personal problems we’re never going to know anything about, but were very obviously affecting his game. Seeing his impatience with his own teammates over what he appears to view as weakness doesn’t bode well for a captaincy. I loved JT and really believed he would be the first Canuck to raise the cup, but last year he sabotaged the momentum the team carried from the ’23-’24 season. He showed up looking dishevelled, manic, and wildly inconsistent, and when he was finally traded, he had only 9 goals to show for it. I don’t think a guy with a reputation for losing his temper can be an effective captain unless he changes his ways.

Twitter/X​

Different players thrive under different types of leaders.
Remember the Kessler/Henrik debate? The #Canucks had their best years with Hank as captain.
Maybe it works for the Rangers, maybe it doesn't. It wasn't working here.

— Dragon Was Slayed (@522IntoOvertime) September 16, 2025

Happy for him, he's a leader, we traded the wrong guy

— Dre (@PatrickRamapo) September 16, 2025

Not surprised they guy hates losing and is willing to put his body on the line to win.

— -BK- (@BBKelly99) September 16, 2025

Better player than leader.
Gets more upset about other players mistakes than his own.
Does not always lead by example.
Likely a bad choice.

— Stephen Rowe (@Stephen86301158) September 16, 2025

It’s awesome. JT is a flawed player at times, but an incredible 100 point leader who will put his team on his back. He’s a warrior.

Shoutout to the people calling him quitter who would chant his name!

— Demko’s kneebones (@BluelineBardown) September 16, 2025

I loved JT but he sabotaged his and the Canucks success last year. He could have been a leader but he chose to be a menace. His tendency to pounce on his own teammates' vulnerability is something he needs to ditch if he wants to be an effective captain.

— MDWhite (@White3D64197) September 16, 2025

Facebook/Instagram​

Chris Gutierrez: Interesting decision. We know how things went down with him here…but perhaps this responsibility is what he needs to bring his maturity up. We know that he has the leadership qualities.

Mike Herrewig: A player that demanded effort, accountability and success was not a fit in Vancouver.

Lance Arnt: A majority of people posting about this news on all sites feel the Rangers have made a big mistake. This includes Rangers fans sites.

Phil Chang: Hughes carried the entire team on his back with his play for the entire season, even with all the drama. That’s our Captain. Miller couldn’t even carry his own baggage.

Brian Kavanagh: He should of been Vancouver’s Captain.

Bill Welsh: Who cares.

Mike Petrie: Don’t care.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-fans-react-jt-miller-new-york-rangers-captain

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

WWYDW: Who ends up on Elias Pettersson’s wings coming out of Canucks Camp 2025?

Welcome back to WWYDW, the only hockey column on the internet with a healthy fascination in cryptozoology.

Speaking of things that aren’t yet confirmed to be real, the Elias Pettersson comeback. It’s been discussed, it’s been hoped for, and it’s been said that the Vancouver Canucks’ entire 2025-26 season hinges on it. But until we actually see it, it’s nothing more than a theoretical construct.

Whether or not Pettersson bounces back, however, he’ll still enter the 2025-26 campaign as the Canucks’ top centre – by default, if by nothing else. With questions abound about Filip Chytil and/or Aatu Räty’s ability to be the 2C, neither is in the running for 1C. That’s Pettersson’s job to keep, not lose, and the only real question is how he performs in the role.

Another question of great importance is who will be joining Pettersson on what has to be the Canucks’ top forward line. Centres aside, the entire top-nine is unsettled, and there are at least six good candidates to flank Pettersson heading into camp – Brock Boeser, Jake DeBrusk, Evander Kane, Conor Garland, Nils Höglander, Jonathan Lekkerimäki – and maybe more.

Line-shuffling is inevitable, and no roster arrangement is permanent. But two wingers are still going to skate out of camp and onto Pettersson’s wings for that season opener on October 9.

So who’s it going to be?

This week, we’re asking you:

Which two wingers will end up on Elias Pettersson’s wings coming out of Canucks Camp 2025?​

Let it be known in the comment section.

Last week, we asked:

Who is your pick for surprise standout who could make the team and surprise cut out of Canucks Training Camp 2025?​

You answered below!

defenceman factory:

There are a few potential surprises. It would be a surprise if Kravtsov, Lekkerimäki, or Willander makes the starting roster. For every surprise of a player making it, there is also a surprise of an unexpected cut which has to be made. It won’t be a surprise if Åman and Bains are cut, but it would be if Karlsson is.

I’d be surprised if EP25 is cut, although him playing top-pairing minutes and first unit PK in Abbotsford wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing. He would be the first injury call-up and still get plenty of games in the NHL.

While they may end up all being sent to Abbotsford there are a few players who may put in a surprising performance at training camp and preseason. Really interested and looking for good things from Alriksson, Kudryavtsev, Ravinskis, Mueller, and Stillman. The book on all four has been they have a ways to go but a new chapter is often written over a long offseason.

RDster:

He’s not shown on the CanucksArmy / DailyFaceoff organization chart at the moment but I will go with Karlsson in at RW, O’Connor moves to LW, and Sasson goes to Abby. For surprise cuts – might not happen now, but could happen by Christmas if he’s scuffling again – I will go with Kravtsov in and Högs Nilander given away to a sweathog team like Blackhawks or Sabres for a token 4th, Dakota Joshua style.

calderkidpetey:

I would love to see Räty take the #2 centre, and Mancini make Myers drop down in pairings.

RagnarokOroboros:

I think it would be a surprising if Lekkerimäki made the team and if D-Petey was cut from the team.

I fully expect Lekkerimäki to be sent to the AHL for another year of marinating, since he only had a half year in the AHL last year. I want Lekkerimäki to develop leadership and be the go-to guy who is consistent every night. He is not there yet.

I wanted to say I would be surprised if WIllander or Mancini were cut, but I could see a situation where either of them could be cut depending on how well the other played. IE; Canucks could keep Mancini and send down WIllander, or keep Willander and send down Mancini. My current expectation is that they both make the team.

kanucked:

I like defencemen factory’s answer of Kravtsov as someone who could surprise and make the team. Keeping my rose-coloured glasses on, I think Pierre-Olivier Joseph is cut because Willander and EPD show really well.

Doug Perry:

If two good things happen and nothing really bad happens, we could be a Finals threat.

If Petey returns to 100 point form, we will make the playoffs. He was the reason we fell just short last year.

If Willander is a legitimate Calder candidate, that would make our defense the best in the League.

And if there are no catastrophic injuries or slumps. That applies to everyone. If McD or Drai have a disastrous year, Edmonton could miss the playoffs.

Harold Snepts4:

I think Mancini and Willander will make the team out of camp. I would be very surprised if Chytil can stay healthy for the first 20 games, so his spot will be open soon.

Craig Gowan:

My surprise candidate to make the team is Tom Willander. My surprise cut would be Linus Karlsson.

Hockey Bunker:

(Winner of the author’s weekly award for eloquence)

Surprise making it could be Stillman, and surprise cut could be O’Connor placed on waivers.

Don’t think either will happen, which is why they are surprises!!

Killer Marmot:

Filip Chytil will be a stand out.

At 26 years old, there’ll never be a better opportunity for this 23rd-overall pick to claim the second-line center slot. His career up til now has been held back by injuries, but in training camp he should be healthy and hungry.

Stephan Roget:

A good one for the author to put money-to-mouth.

For ‘surprise team-maker,’ let’s go with Kirill Kudryavtsev. If the left side of the depth chart weren’t so stack, and if Elias Pettersson II didn’t have such a louder glow-up last year, we would not be shutting up about what Kudryavtsev accomplished. The trend since his draft year has been so steeply upward that it’s hard to know when it will taper off. Not outside the realm of possibility that Kudryavtsev outperforms EP25 and Derek Forbort at camp, even if his waiver status works against his actually making the cut.

For ‘surprise cut,’ it’d be a little redundant to just say EPD here, so we’ll go with a forward. And it’s Teddy Blueger. An incredibly useful and versatile depth forward, but not so skilled or entrenched that he couldn’t be outcompeted by someone below him on the depth chart, especially as others get looks on the penalty kill in preseason. To be clear, Blueger would be traded instead of ‘cut,’ but same idea.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/wwydw-...sons-wings-coming-vancouver-canucks-camp-2025

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Notes from Allvin, Rutherford, and Foote’s first availability of the year ahead of Canucks training camp

Vancouver Canucks brass were made available for the first time ahead of this weekend’s training camp in Penticton.

President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford led the availability with an opening statement regarding turning the page from last season and focusing on the season ahead with new head coach, Adam Foote:

“Welcome to the start of the 2025-26 season. We’re really looking forward to it. We’ll say the obvious, that we’re happy that the book’s been closed on last year. I feel very fortunate [with] the way the coaching situation played itself out after Tocc [Rick Tocchet] decided he was going to move on, and Patrick and I looking at different people to become the next head coach of the Canucks. Adam Foote did a terrific job in his interview. We already knew him. We knew what he’s capable of doing, and then from there to be able to get the assistant coaches that we got, I’m really excited about it. I’m really impressed with his coaching staff. I know Adam doesn’t have a lot of head coaching experience on an NHL bench, but I view him as taking the same pathway as Rod Brind’Amour did. I know Rod Brind’Amour very well. I’m the one that hired him after he retired as a player, and I knew he was going to be a good head coach; I feel the same way about Adam. Adam is well prepared. He’s had a very good offseason. I don’t think our players could be more prepared for training camp in the start of this season with all the things that Adam his coaching staff and that the players have bought into. So we are excited that the guys have done what they need to do to have a good start, and now we’ll find out for real. That’s why we have camp. That’s why we play the games.”

The big takeaway from his opening statement was turning the page on last season. There were far more downs than there were ups. But with a new head coach comes a fresh start, which is what Foote tackled from the jump with the Canucks leadership group:

“I mean, the first thing for me that I wanted to take care of was getting Petey [Elias Pettersson], [Thatcher Demko and [Quinn] Hughes together. And it happened quick. You know, I asked Petey, I think it was on a Saturday, to come down on a Wednesday, and he stopped what he was doing and made that commitment, which I found was really big. We met in the Detroit area, because Demko lives there, he had a new baby, and Huggies from there. It made sense to go out and get together and have a couple days together. We played some golf. But it was a good time to get together to talk about what they wanted to discuss. I call it working on our contract together, of our leadership group; how we’re going to carry ourselves as a group, as a team, and what we want to start throughout the summer and how we wanted to approach our season.”

Foote later discussed the systems he would be bringing to the team, with the main focus being on adaptability. Read his full thoughts here!

No questions about it, Elias Pettersson has been the biggest talking point of the entire offseason. After struggling out of the gate last season – likely due to lack of offseason training – many Canucks fans have been wondering how the highest-paid players’ offseason training went. But more importantly, how he’s looking heading into the season.

Rutherford shared he did not see much of Pettersson this summer, but mentioned he has only heard positive things:

“I know he put the work in, and I think we also know he didn’t a year ago. Success comes with preparation. And I believe all of our players, especially Petey, has worked very hard this summer. So now, the test starts tomorrow. That’s why we have camp, why we play the games. But I do believe he’s committed to being the player that we all expect him to be. We’re all hoping that that starts right from game one.”

Having seen Pettersson this summer, Foote would chime in regarding his No. 1 centre:

“Yeah, I mean Petey, like for me, coming over within four days, that commitment, having those conversations, open book, he really wants to continue to grow. Obviously, you see maturity happen throughout. The first test he did very well, and it’s a type of test that, if he did the work in the summer compared to last year, he might not. He had to do the work to get the number. It’s a great start. I’m looking forward to working with them. I think his teammates too, the leadership group, they’re all pulling for each other and helping each other get through this and understand this process. And I think it’s a good start for everyone to see that.”

After the pure dominance he’s displayed in just 433 NHL games, Quinn Hughes has proven there’s really no cap to his ceiling. While recognizing he is already at the top of his position, Foote shares that Hughes is still dedicated to perfecting his craft and improving, with a recent conversation between the two:

“He’s a young guy; he’s going to continue to grow. We had a great conversation recently that he’s happy, he’s ready to play, ready to go, and he called me and said he’s fired up and can’t wait to get back and get on the ice. His head’s clear. So very positive for me. He asked me, ‘I want you to keep teaching your staff, teaching me how to win a Game 7’. It’s huge to hear that come from him, that he knows there’s growth there, and we all keep getting better. I mean, if you’re lucky enough to play for 15 years, 20 years, you have that mindset. The great players have a mindset to be a sponge. And I think he’s maturing into that where he knows he can continue to grow. He’s got great coaching around with Dean. So Huggy is in a good spot. [I’m] Real happy with our last conversation.”

Switching from defence to goaltenders. Allvin was asked just how confident he is heading into this training camp, compared to last season, given the uncertainty surrounding Thatcher Demko’s health and without Kevin Lankinen even the roster.

“In my opinion, they’re [Demko and Lankinen] the best goalies goalie tandem in the league, which gives us a chance to win every night, and it gives the confidence to the group. We have the luxury in the condensed season, a lot of games and traveling and all that for Adam to kind of managing his starter. Adam brought up a good point that I think Lankinen was the best goalie in shootouts over the last couple of years, and Demko was number two. I think that just calms the whole team down. We’re excited to see the camp and how it’s going to play out.”

Allvin also spoke highly of the entire goaltending pipeline:

“I truly believe that with the addition of [Aleksei] Medvedev this summer, our goalie pipeline is probably the strongest one in the National Hockey League. To be able to add a goalie like Medvedev, and we all saw his game in Seattle over the weekend. So he will get his taste here at camp. I think that Jiri Patera is a great, great goalie. We’re very, very pleased to have him here. He got injured last year didn’t play many games. Koskenvuo coming in from Harvard, I think we’re really strong in that position.”

You knew this question was coming: have you made any progress on a practice facility?

“Yes, we are closer,” Rutherford shared. “We do have a few legitimate options now. We are in conversations with those options, and if I say anything beyond that, you’re going to laugh at me. We should be able to get this done at this point.”

At the end of the season media availabilities, Canucks management said that acquiring a second line centre would be expensive, but it would be even more expensive not to do so. Through reportedly numerous attempts, the Canucks brass was unable to land one. However, the club has not shut the door on that heading into the 2025-26 season, going as far as to say that they are open for business:

“Well, it’s based on what’s available too. I think even going back a couple of years where we identify a guy like Filip Hronek being somehow available to strengthen or D-corps and were able to execute a deal there. Same thing last year, when we were identifying [that] our top four needed another left shot defenceman and part of the leadership and addressing it with Marcus Pettersson. I think we will continue to watch and see here and again, since I get in and the support from Jim, we’re not waiting if anything comes up and make our team better. I think we have enough assets in our organization. We have draft capital if that’s needed, and we’ll see here how Adam want to utilize his players and how the players will fit together during camp and early part of the preseason.

“We’re definitely, we’re definitely not waiting for the purpose of waiting. We were open for business.

Watch the full media availability below.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/notes-...ty-year-ahead-vancouver-canucks-training-camp

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Canucks Notebook: 3 takeaways from Day 1 of training camp

Penticton BC – Before the Vancouver Canucks embark on a new season, there are still questions to be answered – especially when there’s a new bench boss.

Sessions were divided into three separate groups, with Group C – comprising invitees and other AHL players – leading off the day. Following them were notable names from Groups A and B, such as Quinn Hughes, Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser, and Thatcher Demko.

With Adam Foote leading his first NHL camp, Day 1 was a lot more about implementing new systems, rather than noticing any particular standout players.

Here are three of the takeaways from opening day of the Canucks 2025-26 training camp.

Foote’s systems​

On Wednesday, Foote touched on what the typical ‘Adam Foote hockey‘ entails, emphasizing being adaptable, explaining that his outlook on each game depends on the opponent they’re playing. However, on Day 1 of camp, Foote placed a strong emphasis on the rush offence, quick transitions, and an aggressive style of defensive play.

Rush offence and quick transition

The day started with some drills involving two players. One player went into the corner to retrieve the puck, quickly turned, and found the other player on a breakout pass, allowing them to exit the zone quickly and head up ice. Then, the two had to dodge some development staff and head in on a 2-0.

Last season, the Canucks were one of the lowest teams in rush goals. So putting an emphasis on fixing that with a quick transition game early in camp was an encouraging sign that they will hopefully improve in that area under Foote.

They later also worked on a 5-on-1 drill. Which NHL teams won’t find themselves in that situation much – if at all – in game action, but this drill was more to work on neutral zone breakups.

One white jersey player would head up the ice along the wall through the neutral zone. He was then met by that side defender, who would get support from the F3 (defensive forward) with the other support defenceman hovering around in case the loose puck crept into the middle of the ice. Once they turned the puck over, they quickly sent the puck north to the wingers, and head in on the attack.

Again, this was a 5-on-1 drill. They had the man power to strip the puck and an easy avenue quickly turn up ice. This was more showing how the Canucks might be attacking their netural zone defence, with multiple guys swarming over the puck carrier and instead of re-grouping, fire the puck up the ice and transition into attack mode.

Very aggressive in the defensive zone

This is where the Canucks mind find themselves in trouble next season.

They went through a drill where skated into the defensive zone and would have areas in which to stop, putting an emphasis on maintaining proper positioning. Once the puck was passed from down low to the blueline, the winger on that halfway’s job was to give the defenceman little to no space whatsoever. The defenceman sent it D-to-D, where now the other winger met the new defenceman puck carrier met him tight to the blueline.

When this works, it can cause a quick turnover and wingers who are in line to head up ice on the attack. But when this doesn’t work, it opens up so much in the middle of the ice for the opposition to work with, and a high chance of ending up in the back of your net.

The defensive zone scheme should be high risk high reward. If this is something the Canucks roll with this heading into the season, then maybe the team will be more high event hockey than the low event Canucks fans saw in 2024-25.

Who was lined up with who? And why?​

The notable forward lines for Group A were:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Bains-Cootes-Sherwood
Kravtsov-Räty-Karlsson

And here were the forward lines for Group B:

Kane-Chytil-Lekkerimäki
Höglander-Blueger-Garland
O’Connor-Sasson-Klimovich

What does this tell us?

Well, it appears that Foote is inclined to head into the preseason with DeBrusk, Pettersson and Boeser as his top line. DeBrusk was brought in to be Pettersson’s winger, while Boeser is the top right wing option. So this made sense.

The presumption would be the top line of Group B would be second line. Kane and Chytil look like a duo that Foote wants to test out. But seeing Lekkerimäki up there indicates that Foote wants to give the young Swede every chance to impress in this camp and see if he can crack the roster.

This leaves Garland on a potential third line with Höglander and Blueger in the middle. Garland and Höglander flashed chemistry in last years training camp. However, what was a little confusing was seeing Blueger centring them, and not Räty. Last seasons biggest standout was Räty, who was centring Garland and Höglander. So, seeing him not get the Day 1 shot to re-establish that chemistry that was so good one year ago was surprising.

The other three lines were a hodge podge of players. Of course, Sherwood and O’Connor will be on the roster. But the other two spots are no guarantees. Many view Räty as a lineup lock and a hopeful 3C, but he did not skate with any NHL players.

These lines can of course change over camp with Foote wanting to see looks from other combinations of players, but some interesting takeaways from opening day lines.

Braeden Cootes​

The Canucks’ 2025 first-round pick made an impression on opening day. While it’s never great to look into how most NHL players perform on the first day of camp, it it excited to see how the rookies and NHL tweeners pushing for an NHL spot pan out.

Cootes centred a line with Bains and Sherwood, and didn’t look out of place. But where he really impressed was on the one-on-one drills. He would often come out of the battle with the puck and was able to bury his chances. Something that came as a surprise was his shot and his ability to pick corners in tight spaces to find the back of the net.

It’s a long shot for the 18-year-old to make the roster, but his chance at getting a few tester games to open the season grew from before camp.

Make sure to tune into CanucksArmy tomorrow for Day 2 action.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-notebook-3-takeaways-day-1-training-camp

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Canucks training camp 2025 day two live blog

Penticton, BC — Day two of Vancouver Canucks training camp is officially underway from the South Okanagan Events Centre in beautiful Penticton, BC. We here at CanucksArmy are going to be bringing you everything you need to know all week long.

As you read in yesterday’s live blog, day one of camp was focused on some new systems the Canucks would like to try out. We saw drills with defencemen jumping up in the rush to serve as the triggerman, zone entries with control, the club’s defensive zone pressure tactics cranked way up, and more.

Another thing we saw was our first taste of line combinations. With a shorter camp, will the Canucks change any of these lines today? Or will we see the same-looking groups rolled out as they prepare for their first preseason game in Seattle on Sunday night? Head coach Adam Foote said the Canucks wouldn’t be making any cuts from their preseason roster in camp, so don’t expect to see junior/AHL players sent home before this year’s shorter camp concludes.

But will Jonathan Lekkerimäki still get a shot to play with Filip Chytil and Evander Kane? Chytil looked very good on day one of camp, and perhaps that trio can click with Lekkerimäki serving as a lethal shooting threat, while Kane serves as a bigger body and a legitimate scoring threat off the rush.

That group will be the second one to skate today, so keep checking back here for updates!

Day Two Schedule​

Back at the @SOEC for day two!

TICKETS | https://t.co/bGW9qAVVnJ pic.twitter.com/TobxWmY3oG

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 19, 2025

The only change to the day two schedule from day one is that Group B will skate at 10:30 AM and Group A will go at noon. Group C — made primarily of AHL and junior players — skates first today.

A reminder of the groups:

Groups for first day of camp! pic.twitter.com/glNZrI6i2M

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 18, 2025

FIRST UPDATE — 10 AM: Lankinen’s late arrival​

As Group B’s goalies are spilling onto the ice, there was no sign of Kevin Lankinen as Ty Young and Jiri Patera got work in with Marco Torenius. Thatcher Demko shared yesterday that Lankinen was expecting the birth of his first child “in the next couple of days”, so while it seemed like that could have been where he was, Lankinen eventually joined the group, albeit late.

SECOND UPDATE — Drills focusing on shooting off the rush​

The Canucks began the day with a drill focusing on transporting the puck through the neutral zone and another where rush offence was once again the focus. Here are videos of the drills:

First drill of the day for Group B on day two of Canucks training camp pic.twitter.com/D5HapMu8iX

— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) September 19, 2025

Drill 2 on Day 2: more time being spent focusing on shooting off the rush pic.twitter.com/x79I2Tznql

— David Quadrelli (@QuadrelliD) September 19, 2025

Group B’s line rushes were unchanged from yesterday. As a reminder:

Kane-Chytil-Lekkerimäki
Höglander-Blueger-Garland
O’Connor-Sasson-Klimovich
LaBate-Aman-Stillman

Hughes-Hronek
E. Pettersson-Alcos
Knyzhov-Mancini
Arntsen-Lee

Check out our first raw footage of the season below!

Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/vancouver-canucks-training-camp-2025-day-two-live-blog

 

[Vancouver Canucks]

Aatu Räty says Abbotsford playoff injuries didn’t affect proper preparation for Canucks camp

Penticton, BC – As much as he would have loved to have been a key cog in the Abbotsford Canucks final push to the Calder Cup last spring, Aatu Räty had no choice but to apply long-term thinking to his recovery from a pair of charley horse injuries suffered during the American Hockey League post-season.

The 22-year-old Finn was initially hurt in Game 2 of the second round against Coachella Valley and worked diligently to get back in the line-up four weeks later. His return, however, lasted less than a period, as Räty re-aggravated the initial injury in a May 31st game against Texas. He wasn’t seen again on the ice until he joined his teammates for their championship celebration in Charlotte on June 23rd.

Even though Räty was nearing full health for a second time, he knew he was never really an option for Manny Malhotra.

“I think I was just getting back on the ice, but I knew I wasn’t going to play again just because of the fact that if I re-injured it for a third time, obviously, I was going to miss a big part of the summer,” Räty explained after Thursday’s opening day of training camp. “I had a four week injury and I couldn’t have it be four more. So I knew when I reinjured it, I wasn’t going to play.”

While his teammates battled for the AHL title, Räty was busy putting in hours with the team’s medical staff and in the gym. As much as he wanted to suit up, the young centre’s focus and mindset shifted to the summer months to ensure that he was fully healthy and able to train like he wanted to.

Certainly the off-season was brief for everybody associated with Abbotsford because the team played into the third week of June, however Räty insists that he was able to do the work necessary to be ready to push for a job with the big league team.

“With every injury, most of your body is healthy, so I was able to do everything and I think it was five days after I got back (home to Finland) that I started my workouts, so it was done quickly,” he said. “I got a lot of training time. Missing as much time as I did, I was ready to start the off-season and get to work right away. Even though we went all the way, I still had a lot of time to get better and I definitely know I did.”

Through the first two days of camp, Räty has skated on a line with Vitali Kravtsov and Linus Karlsson. All three should be highly motivated to prove they belong on the big league roster when the team breaks camp and opens its six-game preseason on Sunday in Seattle.

Räty was one of the best news stories at training camp last season and his hard work was rewarded with a spot in the Canucks opening night line-up. So he returned to the South Okanagan armed with a blueprint that worked for him a year ago. He’s hoping to apply that strategy again this week.

“Yeah, oo the things that I did well last year and try to do them as I did,” he said. “And then, think about a couple of things I could have done better and obviously do that. Overall, I think I’m a notch better at everything, too. So that’s going to help. And it’s a big confidence boost knowing that doing my thing, I can make the team.”

With a big body and face-off acumen, Räty possesses many of the traits the Canucks can use down the middle. While injuries cost him a chance to contribute to a championship last spring, Aatu Räty did everything in his power to ensure those same injuries wouldn’t hamper his efforts to show the coaching staff he belongs in the NHL on a full-time basis. It truly was a case of short term pain for long-term gain.

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Source: https://canucksarmy.com/news/aatu-r...ies-proper-preparation-vancouver-canucks-camp