Welcome to the latest edition of the Vancouver Canucks Stock Market, a series that focuses on analyzing the recent performance of all things related to the Canucks, including players, coaches, management, prospects and more.
The Canucks will have a number of difficult decisions in the coming days to resolve their training camp schedule to slightly more manageable. The young guns did not make it easy for them, with their last three picks in the first round to perform admirable during the preseason. Although it is a good problem to have, it does not make the decisions easier, especially when other prospects such as Elias Pettersson, Victor Mancini, Arshdep Bains, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson and Aatu Raty have not played themselves out of the mix.
Related: Canucks’ preseason Blueprint for Success includes depth and demk
Let us concentrate this stock report on a few bubble players who hope to see their name in the opening night schedule before the first game of the Canucks on October 9.
Up – Braeden Cootes
What else can you say about Braeden Cootes right now? He has done nothing but impression Since the preseason started, it seemed lake at 25 years old instead of the young person 18 who is on his driver’s license. Although we have to pump the brakes on his star row, he did not look overwhelmed on NHL Ice and he even had an impact on the scoreboard with two goals and three points so far. Yes, those two goals entered him and the skate of Mattias Ekholm respectively, but they all count at the end. He received praise from his NHL teammates and coaching staff at every turn, because they have caused his high-end Hockey IQ, Grit and Work Ethic. Veteran Kiefer Sherwood even went as far as predictive that he will become a stud When he is in his prime.
“I mean, 18 … The child becomes a stud … He has already been composed and plays in the right way, and he has some grit in his game, so it becomes exciting to see him continue to work.”
The debate will rage about whether it is the right step for the organization – and for Cootes – to make the team at the age of 18. But you cannot deny that he earns it with his performance in the preseason to date. Whether he plays with veterans such as Sherwood and Evander Kane or other first rounders such as Jonathan Lekkerimaki, he did not look out at all. What is the hurt to give him nine games to start the season? It absolutely does not look like he would be a disadvantage for the Line -Up. In fact, he can turn the Canucks into a better team.
Up – Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Lekkerimaki was really performed during the last two preseason matches and seems able to anchor a winger in the top names, possibly even the top six-zes. In the last two games he has a goal and an assist, including a surprising team-high six hits against the Seattle Kraken on Friday. That is important, given Sherwood, the runner leader for hits last season, was in the line -up.
Related: Braeden Cootes forces himself to the future of the Canucks
But in the last match against the Edmonton Oilers, Lekkerimaki showed more of what he is known for, his shot, in particular his One-Timer. With the Canucks to 3-1 and the goalkeeper pulled, he took a brilliant Cross-ice cream from Filip Chytil and a perfect one-timer Beyond Stuart Skinner to draw his team within one. It was hasty on and out of his stick and was a seductive memory of why he was selected so high in the 2022 design – and why he will score 30 goals in the NHL one day.
Now that Nils Hoglander is 8-10 weeks and does not return until the end of November at the earliest, Lekkerimaki has a huge opportunity for him. He has shown a chemistry with Chytil, so it would not surprise me to see him start on the second line with him and Kane. His elite recording and One-Timer can make a huge difference with that duo and push the versatile Conor Garland Assuming he is healthy To start the season – until the third line, making the Line -Up of the Canucks much more dangerous.
Down – Vitali Kravtsov
Maybe it was Wishful Thinking, but I really thought Vitali Kravtsov would stand out a little more than he has so far. After two solid seasons in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), the hope was that he would be in a training camp and exceed the prospects and bubble players. Unfortunately, so far, he has been surpassed by people like the aforementioned Cootes and Lekkerimaki, and he threatens to be placed in a few days in a few days. I would even say that Sasson, Karlsson and Bains have been more effective than he, and that is not a good sign for a player who probably should be in the top nine to be effective.
Related: Canucks 2025-26 Player Previews: Vitali Kravtsov
The good thing is that with his average performance, Kravtsov will probably delete exemptions and be sent to Abbotsford, where he should get first minutes in the top six. Hopefully he will use that time wisely and prove to the coaching staff that he should be the first call-up if injuries inevitably strike in Vancouver.
We may actually see more youth on the blue line than we think this season. There is talk that head coach Adam Foote will manage Tyler Myers And Derek Forbort’s minutes this season, which can mean more opportunities for Pettersson to get into the line -up. He did nothing to earn it to be sent to the minors, because he looked just as ready as last season and his offside do not play less. He has been physically, mobile and especially, quiet there, more and more proven that he has the future of a Mattias Ohlund when he touches his prime. At the moment I am not sure if you can take him off this team, given his versatility and the fact that he can kill punishment.
Up – Victor Mancini
So far, Mancini has been the most impressive of the young defenders. With two goals in the preseason, he has felt his presence with not only his mobility and attacking instincts, but also his physicality. As I said in his player Preview, he is probably the leader in the battle for a place in the opening night schedule. At one point he can even enter the top four alongside Marcus Pettersson, given the aforementioned load management that the coaching staff could use this season.
Last adjustment this week
The preseason of the Canucks closes this week with games against the Calgary Flames tonight (October 1) and the oilers on Friday (October 3). Both will prevent Near-opening night line-ups With line combinations we will probably see on October 9 when they are confronted with the flames for storing. We will see how the stock market fluctuates in the coming days as the last cuts are made, and the Puck is getting closer to falling in Rogers Arena for the first game of the season.
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