Vancouver Canuck’s first round pick from this past design, Braeden Cootes, made an impression under the entire organization during the training camp and the preseason. His smart, hockey feeling and self -confidence have been completely visible, and he even scored his First presidence goal Last night against the Seattle Kraken. Many believe that he is now NHL-ready, but if he makes the Canucks main roster directly out of the camp, that will be a big mistake for both the Canucks and Organization and him as a developing young player.
Cootes needs more time
Cootes will certainly be a great NHL player in his career at a certain moment. I have no doubt that he will become an impactful player at this level. But this is not its time to be on an NHL selection; That time will come, maybe next season or the season afterwards. I believe Cootes has a very high ceiling; He could be on Vancouver’s second line in a season or two. He has all the tools.
If he now made the Canucks schedule, he would probably be lashed in the third line position, because there is a logjam in the middle with Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil. This is not a bad place to be in, but it would be better suited in the Western Hockey League (WHL).
If you send him back to the Seattle Thunderbirds, he can work more on his game among his colleagues and come back next season and impress the staff of Canucks even more with what he has learned in the WHL. But keeping him on the roster while the third line center in the docking to a place that is needed, but a place that keeps him lower in the line-up and does not let him show off with his great skills and skills that made him the 15th general choice. Let him go back to the Thunderbirds and the WHL tearing up and potentially the World Juniors, and he can come back next training camp and show what he has learned.
Canucks have better options
There are currently better options for the Canucks on the third line of the middle position other than Cootes. There are players within the organization that are older and are more experienced than Cootes that may fit better with that role at the moment. Someone like Ty Mueller, who had a great season with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2024-25 and was a large part of them Run to the Calder Cup With 12 points in 24 play -off games. He even came in two games with Vancouver towards the end of last season. For me it is a much better option than Cootes because the third-line roll of the center is perfect for Mueller, because that has become his specialty.
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Mueller is not the only player who could play that role above Cootes. Max Sasson also comes up in me as someone who can flourish in a third line role. His speed and the ability to move the puck are necessary raw materials for the third line. He also has more experience under his belt than Cootes, because he is 25 years old and came from a good season in 2024-25, where he split the time between Abbotsford and Vancouver. Having him in that lock is much more logical for me than Cootes.
Giving other players the opportunity to play in this role will give Cootes more time to develop among his colleagues in the WHL and to further improve. He has a big future for him in the NHL, but his time is not there yet. There is nothing wrong with sending him back to Seattle and having other, more experienced players take it for this season. Next season Cootes can enter the camp and hopefully play a bigger role in the team than originally expected from him and one of the top players of Vancouver.
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