8 takeaways from Canucks training camp scrimmage

Braeden Cootes heads into the defensive zone to support Kirill Kudryavtsev, and is right there to grab the chopped puck. Seeing Teddy Blueger coming in, Cootes dekes to his backhand and shovels the puck up the ice to Bains, to get it out of danger. The outlet pass is a bit behind Bains, but he makes a great play to spin around and get the puck a streaming Sherwood for a two-on-one with Cootes. Sawyer Mynio gets his skate in the way of the cross-ice pass, but Sherwood grabs the puck and fires it up high on Lankinen.

Team White’s second goal only happens because of Sherwood and Bains’ double team pressure on Hughes at the top of the zone. It probably helped that Hughes blew a tire and wasn’t able to fully catch up, but the two connected for their second of the game.

Their strong play continued throughout the game, with some solid forechecking and sustained pressure in the offensive zone. It’s likely not going to be a trio we see much of come the regular season, but the three came ready to play today.

Filip Chytil looks prime to make an impact

Chytil centred Team Blue’s top line with Evander Kane and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, often lining up against the Canucks’ projected top line of Jake DeBrusk, Elias Pettersson and Brock Boeser. While at first they were hemmed in their zone, as the game went on, Chytil got back into the groove of things.

His quickness was apparent, speeding through all three zones. But it also seemed he was a bit more cautious not to put himself in vulnerable positions. He took his short passes in the neutral zone when he could, and then used his speed to get open for a pass or a quick snap shot if the puck came his way. Chytil had a few shots on goal, including a penalty shot, but could not beat Demko or Tolopilo. He put his set of skills on display, which translated into some solid offensive zone time for his linemates.

As long as he can stay healthy this season, he’ll likely prove he can be a 2C in the NHL.

Aatu Räty’s hard work is paying off

There’s just something about Räty and Canucks training camp. Last year he was the runaway standout for his offseason progression. And in this year’s scrimmage he did a bit of the same. However, it was a bit different this time. It was the little things he did defensively and the hard work and determination he showed on every shift.

On two separate occasions, Räty was trying to defend Quinn Hughes, and was able to get his stick on the puck and strip the Canucks captain. One of those instances was in the defensive zone, and led to Team White clearing the zone.

Räty carried the puck through the neutral zone, and left the puck for Linus Karlsson standing along the boards at the blueline. Räty entered with speed and had his eyes set on Filip Hronek, skating towards him and locked him up to free up more space for Karlsson. Or so you thought. With Hronek trying to shed the pressure, Räty let him and scoots right past him with his stick on the ice heading toward the net and tips the Karlsson pass on net.

We know about his faceoff ability and how that and the Canucks’ lack of depth down the middle had him pencilled in to the opening night roster, but Räty looked the part of being ready to make the full time jump.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki improved in the areas he needed to

There might not have been any Canucks prospect that had their stock plummet as much as Jonathan Lekkerimäki did after Abbotsford’s run. However, he clearly had a target to work on some areas of his game to improve, and that he did.

Listed at 5’11”, 172-pounds, Lekkerimäki needed to get focus on bulking up this offseason. While he shared with CanucksArmy he did gain some muscle, it was evident on some of his plays today. He and Marcus Pettersson raced for a puck behind the net, with both players arriving at the same time. Surprisingly, Lekkerimäki out-bodied Pettersson and came away with the puck. On the same shift, Lekkerimäki had Pettersson draping all over him, and the young(er) Swede was able to drop his shoulder and use his body to shelter the puck.

Lekkerimäki did a bit of the same when he carried the puck into the offensive zone. He was met with early pressure, but was able to fend off two defenders to find some open ice in the high slot and fire a shot on net.

The only bad things to say about Lekkerimäki’s outing today was that he didn’t do a stick twirl for his shootout attempt, and that he beat Tolopilo, but not the post.

It’s more than likely that Lekkerimäki starts the year as the No. 1 option for the Abbotsford Canucks. But with his growth over the offseason, he’s taking the right steps to becoming a regular NHLer.

Tom Willander doesn’t look ready

Sorry to say this Canucks fans, but he needs some more time. It was always a long shot for him to make the team in his first year at the pro level, but it was evident he’s not ready.

There were multiple instances during some one-on-one drills where he was just out-bodied by other players. And that was evident in the game as well. Willander got beat in the corners a few times which led to extended offensive zone time for Team Blue. He made some solid plays with the puck, and he’s a tremendous skater, but his size might cause him too many problems to make an impact in Vancouver this season.

Assistant coach Kevin Dean shared his thoughts on the young defenceman post scrimmage:

“He’s an excellent skater, he has a good stick. I think he’s been coached well in college. I think his fundamentals are going to be good. But for him, pro hockey’s going to be a little bit different with the strength of the person he’s playing against and the structure of the game. But he’s got some really good tools.”

All of this is okay. He’s only 20 years old. All the tools are there for him to develop into a really good NHL defender, but it’s likely not going to happen in 2025-26.

Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young are third and fourth on the organization’s goaltending depth chart

Today’s scrimmage gave us the low-down on the Canucks’ goaltending depth chart. There were some questions as to who the two goaltenders Abbotsford would run with this season, and the scrimmage pretty much confirmed that for us with Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young coming out for the second period of the scrimmage.

Tolopilo had a fantastic showing in the second period, stopping multiple scoring chances as Team Blue put it on in the second period. And by now, we’ve all heard the organization’s admiration for Young and his development thus far.

But where does this leave Jiri Patera?

We can’t fully confirm that Jiri Patera was not on the ice at all today, but we did not see him even on the second sheet of ice when players who weren’t playing in the scrimmage were out there. He was listed as a goaltender for Team Blue, but Aleksei Medvedev was listed on Team White’s roster, and he was out with the players who were not participating in the scrimmage.

Again, we could have just missed him, or maybe he was just given the day off because maybe he’s starting tomorrow’s preseason game against the Seattle Kraken. But today’s scrimmage showed that Tolopilo and Young are the next two on the depth chart behind Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lakinen.

The neutral zone swarm and aggressive defensive structure is effective, but isn’t always

Through the first two days of camp, the Canucks put a heavy emphasis on rush offence and an aggressive approach in the neutral and defensive zone. While it worked on some occasions, like when Bains helped support Sherwood up high to knock the stick off of Hughes and turned it into a rush goal.

However, there were two other instances of note for Team White where it led to chances going the other way.

Willander stepped up to pressure Drew O’Connor at the blueline, which opened up the ice for him to sauce the puck over to Max Sasson, who left all alone with a shot off the rush. But the one that hurt the Canucks even more was when Marcus Pettersson came out to support Tyler Myers with Conor Garland, and another saucer pass sprung Blueger in to give Team Blue their first and only goal of the game.

Like right here:

If Myers did not step up on Garland, Pettersson wouldn’t have had to cheat over to Myers’ side in case he beats him. This now leaves Höglander with a ton of ice to throw a pass to the right, knowing that Blueger is coming in with speed, win the race to the puck, and get a breakaway chance.

As you can see from these examples, this strategy is high risk, high reward. Sometimes it will pay off and heading the other way, but on another occasions, you put your goaltender in a bad spot, having to make a one-on-one save. So, we’ll see if it works and how long the Canucks roll with this strategy. But one things for sure, this will lead to the Canucks being a more high-event hockey club.

Hughes is on another level – duh

This is obviously a little silly to say, cause any hockey observers can watch a minute of Canucks hockey and see that. But in today’s scrimmage, he didn’t even look like he was trying and he was by far the best player on the ice. He can’t help it. When he has the puck on his stick and sees a little bit of open ice, Hughes is going to make the a miraculous play, even breaking the ankles of Karlsson

With training camp nearly in the books, the Canucks hit the ice one more time before their preseason opener in Seattle on Sunday night. The Canucks who will suit up for the preseason opener won’t be on the ice in Penticton. So make sure to check back on CanucksArmy for who the absentees are, and who will in game action tomorrow.