Scenes from practice: Cootes & Lekkerimäki among Canucks game group expected on Sunday vs. Oilers

Conor Garland looks poised to make his preseason debut after missing a practice and his scheduled appearance in the team’s midweek game in Abbotsford. The veteran winger skated on a line with Filip Chytil and Drew O’Connor.

Fresh off his first goal in a Canucks uniform against the Kraken, Braeden Cootes appears to be in the plans for the game against the Edmonton Oilers. He skated on Saturday with Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and Max Sasson slid to the wing for the first time in training camp and the preseason. That may be an audition for Sasson, given Friday’s news about Nils Höglander being out week to week with an ankle injury.

Aatu Räty will suit up for the third straight game, looking to show more than he has to this point in the preseason. Räty found himself on a line with Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson at practice while Kiefer Sherwood was on a line with Nils Aman and Joseph Labate.

On defence, the Canucks will go with a mix of veterans and hopefuls. Filip Hronek was paired with Elias Pettersson while Derek Forbort skated alongside Kirill Kudryavtsev. Marcus Pettersson and P-O Joseph formed the third pair. Both Kudryavtsev and Joseph are left-handers who are being asked to slide over to the right side.

The Canucks had three goaltenders on the ice for the early session. Thatcher Demko took the bulk of the reps in drills while Nikita Tolopilo and Aku Koskenvuo swapped in and out.

The Canucks also showed power play formations before practice. The first unit featured Chytil, Garland, Räty, Lekkerimäki, and Hronek, while the second unit had Cootes with Bains, Sasson, Karlsson, and Kudryavtsev.

Second group

The second group of the day featured many of the veterans who saw game action on Friday night. Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Jake DeBrusk were all part of that group along with captain Quinn Hughes, Evander Kane, Teddy Blueger and Kevin Lankinen. Tyler Myers was absent for a third straight day after playing in Abbotsford on Wednesday.

What we heard

Assistant coach Kevin Dean on the ongoing evaluation of young defenders still on the roster: “They’re playing hard. You can see that they want to make the team. I do want to see some better breakouts. They’re grabbing the puck and they’re looking to get it off their stick too quickly in my opinion. I’d like to see them take a couple of strides, open up a seam, open up a lane and then make the pass. But it’s to be expected.”

Conor Garland looking forward to his first preseason action: “Yeah, excited to play. Just trying to get better every day and hopefully we get a good effort tomorrow.” When asked about whatever it was that kept him off the ice earlier in the week, Garland added: ‘Just being cautious.”