Adam Foote on first day impressions, Pettersson and Boeser’s potential and managing Demko’s workload

Penticton, BC — On his first day as an NHL head coach, new Vancouver Canucks bench boss Adam Foote was reminded of every lesson he got from his coaching mentors, including the last man in charge in Vancouver.

“It was fun. I mean, you never know how that first practice is going to go,” Foote told reporters in Penticton on Thursday. “I’ve had great teachers behind me who have taught me certain things to do.”

“Tocc taught me, you’ve got to go over [the plan], I think we’ve gone over it 10 times. I felt like the pucks were in the right spot, so the players didn’t complain too much. They’re always going to press us a little bit.”

That ribbing from the players comes with familiarity, something Foote built as Rick Tocchet’s assistant over the last two and a half years. And while Foote isn’t putting too much weight into the results of one day, he liked what he saw from the team’s first three skates, particularly from the veterans.

“The leadership through Myers, Marcus and Pettersson, they were humming. Boeser had a really good practice, Petey looked good,” Foote said. “I liked the way we transitioned from each drill into tracking to rush and quick ups. So I thought it was really good.”

The first skate of the day saw Elias Pettersson lining up next to Jake DeBrusk and Brock Boeser, the team’s de facto first line. And while Foote was complimentary of all of them, it was Pettersson and Boeser that seemed to catch his eye most.

“You saw [Petey] and DeBrusk, I felt like they had a little bit of chemistry there today,” Foote said. “I thought Petey today, his energy, that practice he had today, it’s only the first day. I thought it was one of his best practices he had all last year. And I told him that, and he’s ready.

“And then Boes is so smart. He can read off them, whether he knows he has to be F3 or he needs a driver, he’ll read off those guys.”

When asked later which players might be in line for roles on special teams roles later in the week, Boeser’s name came up again, this time for the penalty kill.

“I think he’s so smart that he can kill. Our kill was very detailed up ice, we knew when to strike, we knew when to back off. In zone, he gets it,” Foote said. “We’ll see how his minutes go, right? We’ve got to manage his minutes when he’s going to be on the number one power play.”

With the second-line centre role up for grabs, Filip Chytil currently has the inside edge on that job. Foote is aware of Chytil’s injury history, but feels their new game plan will help minimize the risks for him in the neutral zone.

“We want to be more of a team that try to fill those three lanes and enter at level. A good inside drive, which will stop a lot of the movement at the blue line, where I think maybe he’s picked up some injuries as far as, you know, the east-west game,” Foote said of Chytil. “He’s got so much skill, he can skate, but we’re going to keep grinding on, you know, how we’re going to play as a group. Once he gets to those landmarks, then that skill set will take over.”

Another player who got an opportunity on Day 1 was 2025 first-round pick Braeden Cootes, who centred a line between Kiefer Sherwood and Arshdeep Bains. Cootes played just two periods of the team’s Rookie Showcase against Seattle due to injury precaution, but Foote wanted a look at him with regular pros.

“I just think when you get a high draft pick like that at that age, you don’t really see what they’ve got until they play with a couple of experienced guys,” Foote said. “And he’s a smart player. I saw on the rush especially, we did a lot of rushes where he was really good. He knows when to hold up, he knows when to stay level and come in as a unit of three, he knows when to drive, he knows when to be the scoot guy on the weak side. So I saw his brain today, which I liked a lot.”

One of Foote’s toughest tasks behind the bench will be managing the workloads of his goalies, Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen. Both have injury histories that need to be front of mind, but both are still going to want as much ice time as possible. Foote feels that Demko, the team’s 1A, is prepared to adjust his expectations.

“I think he’s in a real good mindset. He’s trying to take on more of a leadership role without overdoing it that would affect his game,” Foote said. “There’s times where you can just lead by example, and then if it’s an emotional time, I’m good with it as long as it doesn’t burn his energy for his next game, right? I think he’s matured a lot over the summer with that part of it.”

“When you’ve got a top five goalie, it’s like football. You have a top five quarterback, and you do a lot of things. You keep him healthy, but we’ve got a hell of a guy with him as well. That’s a nice tandem… So if we can keep Demmer in the right spot, right frame of mind, manage him and communicate with him, he’s in a good spot.”

Foote and the coaching staff are expecting to shuffle a few players between the A and B groups over the week, but no cuts are expected to be made until the preseason starts next week. Time will tell how much today’s starting lines will stay intact before the puck officially drops in October.