Sherwood talks playing with Cootes, Canucks new systems, and more

“It’s always fun to play an intra-squad scrimmage, try to apply a couple of things that we’ve been working on in practice,” Sherwood said. “I think it’s a continuation of the first two days of camp that have gone pretty well.”

Sherwood’s first two days have gone more than “pretty well”. At first, people were surprised to see Sherwood paired up in camp with Braeden Cootes, a rookie centre, and Arshdeep Bains, a winger on the bubble, as opposed to more bona fide NHLers. But that only seemed to make Sherwood and his linemates hungrier to impress.

They impressed most during the second period, when Sherwood and Bains swarmed Quinn Hughes as he tried to cut through the middle of the ice, forcing a rare turnover from the Canucks captain. On the ensuing 2-on-1, Sherwood fed Bains the pass across perfectly, setting up the eventual scrimmage winner.

Pair that with the efforts of their centre Cootes, and Sherwood’s line has put together one of the most impressive efforts of the weekend. “We’ve been making plays and trying to find each other all camp,” Sherwood said. “So it’s nice to do it in a game and just try to work on supporting the puck a little bit and try to get Cooter the puck and let him do his thing. Bainsey [had] a couple of good plays and showed off what he’s got.”

Sherwood only learned Cootes was the sole member of the 2025 draft class during the scrimmage while they were on the bench. “Obviously it’s getting his feet wet early, but the guy’s a player and showing what he can do,” Sherwood said of the rookie.

The odds of this trio getting into a preseason game together are high, perhaps as soon as Sunday in Seattle against the Kraken. Sherwood is looking forward to building off the work they’ve put in over the week, regardless of when he gets into action.

“You want to try to go against someone else, and not our own team,” Sherwood said. “It was a good first few days, and I think the guys are having a good camp and taking a lot of the lessons that the staff is implementing.”