Canucks Potpourri
The Canucks are 2-and-1 this preseason with three games remaining, including Sunday evening at the Edmonton Oilers. What else is happening in and around our world?
1) The Canucks came from behind to beat the Seattle Kraken 4-2 on Friday night in the first preseason game played at Rogers Arena. Head coach Adam Foote pointed out that with a mixed-bag line-up on home ice, the team was a bit too amped up and needed to shake off the rust.
The club settled down and “took over the game” a little after the midway point.
2) Thus far Evander Kane has brought his physical grit to the Vancouver line-up. A very welcome reality. Rookie Braeden Cootes and 21-year-old Swede Jonathan Lekkerimaki were lined up with him for the most part, and as Foote pointed out, Kane “gave them room”.
He also defended his teammates more than once, getting in the face of any Kraken who laid a big hit or took liberties around the crease; most notably young shift disturber Jacob Melanson.
Foote also mentioned Kane’s poise on the power play.
3) Speaking of Cootes, the Vancouver coaches and management have clearly been impressed with his efforts so far. Good news for a team looking for depth up front, particularly from a young player who has played and can play the middle. He has the proper brain for the game despite only being 18-years-of-age, and brings decent size for a kid who’s still growing.
He’ll likely get nine NHL regular season games before being returned to Seattle of the Western Hockey League. Some believe he’ll make the club outright.
4) There might be as much interest in Vancouver as there is in Newark as it relates to the New Jersey Devils trying to sign Restricted Free Agent (RFA) Luke Hughes. Without a signed contract, he’s not allowed at training camp. Where he goes, and if he goes, nobody knows.
Yes, the decision made by Canucks captain Quinn Hughes’s little brother could go a long way in determining “Huggy’s” future in Vancouver. It really feels like the brothers — ultimately it could be Quinn, Luke AND middle brother Jack, also currently a Devil — will all end up playing with the same NHL team.
If it’s not New Jersey, it will take a lot of manoeuvring by a couple of clubs to make it happen elsewhere. Starting with this season, Jack has five remaining on his contract with the Devils.
5) The Canadian Hockey League proudly announced the fact that this is the 50th season of its existence. Boy, that snuck up on us, didn’t it? That would be the operating conglomerate of the WHL, the Ontario Hockey League, and the QMJHL in Quebec and the Maritimes.
There’s a cool logo to honour it, and the league announced “as part of the celebrations, the CHL will launch CHL Moments, a storytelling series that will spotlight the most iconic, historic, and defining milestones in league history.”
6) Canucks Trivia Question: (answer at bottom above the video) Quinn Hughes is about to pass Alex Edler as the all-time leading scorer among Canucks defenceman. He’ll probably do it in the first game of the regular season. The two are tied with 409 points.
Who’s 3rd in career scoring among Vancouver blueliners?
7) Speaking of the CHL, the league announced the first three players named to Team CHL’s roster for the 2025 CHL vs. USA Prospects Challenge, set for November 25 at Calgary’s Scotiabank Saddledome and the next night at Lethbridge Arena.
Defenceman Ryan Lin of the Vancouver Giants is one of them, along with forward Ryan Roobroeck of the OHL’s Niagara IceDogs, and defenceman Xavier Villeneuve from the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada in the “Q”. They’re all top prospects for the 2026 NHL Draft.
8) Hockey Canada’s national women’s team will be competing in the 2026 Women’s World Championships between January 10th and 18th in Nova Scotia. The playoff and medal games will be played in Sydney while all of the preliminary round games will be played on First Nation land at Membertou.
The 1,250 seat Membertou Sport and Wellness Centre serves as the venue. That will be a very cool, intimate place to watch a major international hockey event unfold.
9) Cerebral prediction, not a gut one: The Canucks will make the playoffs, the Kraken will not. The Flames will be a nuisance.
Earlier Canucks:
— Canucks Coach: Top-3 NHL Swedes Ever
Of interest on the Seattle site:
— Seattle Kraken Injuries Piling Up
Trivia Answer: Mattias Ohlund is 3rd with 325 points.
