It stands to reason that two of the three Vancouver Canucks first-rounders in attendance were among the best players in Thursday’s end-of-summer development camp scrimmages at Rogers Forum in Abbotsford.

Braeden Cootes was by far the best player on the ice while Adam Novotný separated himself from the pack, as well. Cootes, the club’s 2025 first-round selection, commanded the puck on every shift of the three-on-three contests. He scored once in all four games he played and likely could have added a few more. He looked quick and assertive and caught the eye of Canucks development coach Mikael Samuelsson.

“He’s impressive,” Samuelsson told the media following the scrimmages. “He looks like he’s on a mission to go somewhere else than staying at the development camp, that’s for sure. You guys see what I see, too. He plays high pace, very skilled and he wants to be a difference maker out here. It’s fun to see. He’s been like that the whole week. Standing first in lines, even it it’s only skating drills, he wants a little more. He wants to have the puck around him. He likes to be out there.”

As for Novotny, the team’s second first-rounder at 24th overall in last week’s draft, he acquitted himself nicely in Thursday’s scrimmages, scoring twice and using his vision to set up a tap-in goal for teammate Aiden Celebrini.

“First of all, his awareness and his skating ability looks really strong with a good posture,” Samuelsson explained. “He’s skating around there with a smile on. And you can’t forget about that. Some guys get tight, but he seems to enjoy it, he seems to love what he does and that’s a good start.”

The scrimmages were played in front of an appreciative crowd of approximately 1,5oo. The session ended with a shootout followed by all of the prospects tossing pucks to the fans.

Third overall pick Caleb Malhotra had his moments during the Thursday games. He scored a breakaway goal in his first scrimmage and added a second goal in a later game. Last year’s second-round selection Andrei Medvedev was the best of the three goaltenders on the ice.

Development camp concludes with exit meetings and a team barbeque on Thursday evening. The players will head home for the summer on Friday.