Tonight, the Vancouver Canucks will take on the Edmonton Oilers in their final game of the NHL preseason. The NHL’s deadline for its 32 teams to submit their opening night rosters is on Monday at 2 PM PT, meaning tonight will be the Canucks’ final opportunity until then to use a game environment to help influence four big decisions they still have to make.

It’s the battle we’ve had our eye on since the offseason: Which forwards will win the battle for the Canucks’ final roster spots? Vitali Kravtsov, who the Canucks placed on waivers on Thursday, is officially out of the running, but Max Sasson, Arshdeep Bains, Aatu Räty, and Linus Karlsson all remain. Each of these players has shown different flashes during the preseason action they’ve gotten into, but there’s not exactly a clear frontrunner based on the performances we’ve seen.

It is worth mentioning that Räty skated on the fourth line wing with Teddy Blueger at Thursday’s Canucks practice. Not only would Räty have to clear waivers if he were sent down, but the Canucks would be losing something valuable that nobody else in this conversation brings, and that’s Räty’s ability in the faceoff dot. That skill in the dot proved helpful down the stretch of last season for the Canucks, when Räty played some of the best hockey of his life. That, along with the fact that Räty would almost certainly get claimed off waivers if he were sent down, likely means he’s making this team.

Now the others. Despite a strong playoff run with Abbotsford and some high expectations, it’s been a relatively quiet preseason for Linus Karlsson. But does the club want to risk losing Karlsson on waivers? And how about Arshdeep Bains, whose offensive upside at the NHL level has been limited to this point, but has shown promise at every level. Does the club want to risk losing him on waivers? Does Max Sasson, who looked especially good in the Canucks’ 8-1 win over the Calgary Flames on Wednesday, find himself back in Abbotsford for the simple reason that he doesn’t require waivers to be sent down? That waiver exemption status certainly doesn’t help his case.

Speaking of battles we saw coming in the offseason, there still hasn’t been a clear winner when it comes to the battle for the coveted spot of being the sixth defenceman on this Canucks blueline. Assuming Derek Forbort serves as the LD on the third pair and that PO Joseph is the Canucks’ choice for 7th defenceman, Victor Mancini, Elias Pettersson, and Tom Willander are duking it out for one spot.

While Pettersson, who showed well in the 28 NHL games he played last season, was likely viewed as the favourite to win the job heading into the preseason (with first-year pro Tom Willander serving as the pretty clear dark horse candidate), Victor Mancini has certainly made a compelling case for himself. Mancini scored goals in back-to-back preseason games, but after both games, Canucks head coach Adam Foote couldn’t help but point out some of the reckless abandon that Mancini was playing with. Being a rover and an offensive threat who can make exciting plays is obviously great, but the Canucks need more defensive stability and reliability from the defencemen playing on the third pair, no matter how old they are. Which is why it was great to see Mancini turn in a phenomenal performance on Wednesday in Calgary, where his reads on when and when not to pinch were nearly perfect, and his poise with the puck was as impressive as it has been all preseason.

With Jett Woo out month-to-month, whichever young defencemen go down to Abbotsford will get plenty of playing time in all situations. Obviously, that’s a good outcome for Tom Willander, but it will be interesting to see if it’s Mancini or Pettersson joining him down on the farm.

This one is simple, really. Nils Höglander’s injury has left a gaping hole in the Canucks’ top nine forward group, and as we wrote recently, Jonathan Lekkerimäki being able to play in the top six gives the Canucks the option to move play driving winger Conor Garland down to the third line, giving the team three dangerous scoring lines instead of two. He should probably make this team based on his last two preseason performances, but Thursday’s practice lines — where Lekkerimäki skated on the fourth line alongside Teddy Blueger and Aatu Räty reminds us that this is far from a foregone conclusion.

Arguably the most exciting and most surprising story of Canucks training camp and the preseason has been the arrival of 15th overall pick Braeden Cootes. Cootes has had plenty of praise heaped onto him by teammates, coaches, fans, and basically anyone who has watched him in a Canucks preseason game. Despite his smaller frame, Cootes has been a dog on a bone when it comes to forechecking, and his hockey IQ and skill with the puck has allowed him to excel in the preseason. He’s put up points and hasn’t looked out of place in the slightest.

He’s likely earned himself a nine-or-fewer game audition — playing more than nine NHL games burns a year off his entry-level contract — based on his performance to this point (and the fact that he skated as the Canucks’ 3C at practice yesterday). It’s still not a certainty that he’ll make this team, but if he does, the question then becomes: for how long? The rigors of an 82 game NHL season won’t make themselves apparent through a nine game audition, and going back to junior after a brief NHL taste is likely still the best path forward for Cootes and his development. But the fact we’re even having this conversation is a testament to the work Cootes put in and how good he’s looked in his first NHL training camp.