Canucks Weekly: Preseason Opener, Battles to Watch & Cootes Debate

The Kraken played a lot of their young players and prospects too, but they did have their starting goaltender for two periods, which makes a difference against an inexperienced team. Regardless, the Canucks battled hard, clawing back to 3-2 after falling behind 3-0. Braeden Cootes broke through in the third with his first of the preseason, snapping a shot by Nikke Kokko, and Arshdeep Baines followed on a 5-on-3 power play with the goalie pulled, doing his best Leon Draisaitl impression.

In the end, that’s all the Canucks could muster as Jake O’Brien extended the Kraken’s lead back to two with 2:35 left in the game. They couldn’t gain possession long enough to pull the goalie again and fell 4-2.

3 Battles to Watch Over Final 3 Preseason Games

Now that the opener is in the books, we can look forward to more NHL-heavy lineups for the rest of the preseason. While everyone can only play a max of two games, we will still see something resembling an opening night roster rather than an AHL one. So, there will be several battles to watch as we march closer to Sept. 29. Here are three of the major ones up front.

Right Wing on Elias Pettersson’s Line

Every year, it seems like I have this as one of the battles. Elias Pettersson needs to find some consistent (hopefully bordering on elite) chemistry with someone this season if he hopes to bounce back to his former 102-point form. He hasn’t really had that since Andrei Kuzmenko, the winger he clicked with during that career season.

Considering Malhotra has put Jake DeBrusk on Pettersson’s left wing to start training camp, we can assume he will stay there. So, that leaves the right wing. The Canucks have tried quite a few players there since Kuzmenko was traded. The latest is fellow Swede Linus Karlsson, who broke out last season with 15 goals and 35 points. He has lined up with Pettersson and DeBrusk since camp began, so we will likely see that combo in one of the preseason games. That doesn’t mean he will stay there, though. I would like to see Lekkerimaki and Brendan Gallagher get some looks as well, especially Gallagher, since his work ethic could rub off on Pettersson.

3rd-Line Centre: Filip Chytil vs. Aatu Raty

With Chytil healthy and looking good in training camp, he has been penciled in as the third-line centre alongside Boeser and Paul Cotter. However, Raty, who is hands-down the Canucks’ best faceoff man, with an early 59.3 career faceoff percentage, will be battling to replace him. He already has a preseason game under his belt, and while it was mostly against AHL centres, he won 66.7 percent of his faceoffs, further cementing his reputation as a specialist.

Raty will definitely be in the opening night lineup, but the question is, as the third or fourth-line centre? Chytil could move to the wing alongside Rossi or even Raty, and push Cotter down a line. Whatever the case, this will be an interesting battle to watch, but given Raty only has one more game to usurp Chytil, he has his work cut out for him.

Marco Rossi’s Wingers

Marco Rossi is written in pen as one of the top-six centres. But his wingers are not. Lekkerimaki and Liam Ohgren have started with him in training camp; however, even though Malhotra wasn’t the head coach at the time, the Bro Line should still be in his back pocket. I understand trying Lekkerimaki there with his past chemistry with Ohgren, but if that doesn’t work out, Boeser should reunite with Ohgren and Rossi, considering they were often the Canucks’ most dangerous trio in the latter part of 2025-26. Gallagher, Filip Chytil, Paul Cotter and even DeBrusk could be in the mix as well.

Braeden Cootes Should Start in the AHL

Cootes got off to a running start with a couple of points, but one preseason game doesn’t earn him a roster spot. There is a logjam of forwards on the Canucks right now, especially down the middle, making it tough for him to crack the opening night lineup.

At this point, Cootes should start in the AHL, gain some confidence as a top-line centre in a pro league, and play a ton of minutes in all situations before heading up to the NHL. Right now, he would only get limited ice time in the bottom six, maybe not even as a centre. Regardless of how he plays over the rest of training camp and his only other preseason game, he should be heading to Abbotsford to play for Ryan Papaioannou as one of his top forwards.

Canucks’ Upcoming Schedule

• Sept. 22 @ Calgary Flames
• Sept. 24 vs. Edmonton Oilers
• Sept. 26 vs. Seattle Kraken