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

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.

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.