The Vancouver Canucks have barely begun the 2026-27 season, and so it might seem more than  early to be talking about next year. But the nature of a rebuild means that our eyes must always be fixed at least a little bit down the road.

Last week, we talked about the fact that the Canucks are a rebuilding team without a single rookie on their roster, and whether or not that was a problem. It’s not, really, and part of the reason it’s not a problem is that the rookies should be arriving both soon and frequently. That process probably starts sometime later this year, and absolutely by the start of the 2027-28 campaign.

With that in mind, we thought it was a fine time to take a look at what rookies might be arriving in the near-ish future. Not simply to get ahead of ourselves, but in an attempt to anticipate the sorts of roster moves the Canucks might make over the course of the next year. After all, those rookies will need spots in the roster that are currently occupied by other players, and that will require the making of some room.

First, the rookies themselves…

Braeden Cootes: It’s hard to imagine Cootes not pushing extremely hard for a roster spot in his third Canucks training camp. Chances are, in fact, that he’ll have about nine games worth of cameo appearances throughout the rest of the 2026-27 season already under his belt at that point, and should be raring to go.

More time in the AHL will be possible for Cootes, but unlikely. His arrival likely necessitates the opening up of a spot at centre.

Caleb Malhotra: It’s not a guarantee or a necessity that Malhotra makes the team next year. But given his status as the most recent third overall selection, it’d have to be considered at least a little disappointing if he didn’t. Malhotra will be eligible for AHL deployment next year, if he so chooses, but NHL time has to be the plan until proven otherwise. There’s a strong possibility, actually, that Malhotra signs his ELC and finishes this current year with the Canucks, and then never leaves.

Should both Cootes and Malhotra push for spots next year, that would require the Canucks to open up two different centre spots on the roster. 

Adam Novotny: No rookie pushed harder for a spot in Training Camp ’26 than Novotny, fresh off his selection at 24^th overall. He’s since returned to the OHL, where he’s off to what can only be called a dominant start. He’ll be back next year, he’ll be pushing for a spot again, and the team is probably going to want to give him one. Again, the AHL is an option here – as it was this year for Novotny – but it can’t be the only plan.

If Novotny is successful in this next push for an NHL job, it’ll require the Canucks to open up a wing spot; one in the top-nine at a minimum.

Kirill Kudryavtsev: Really, if we’re going by merit, Kudryavtsev should have made the team this year after plainly outplaying Victor Mancini at camp. It’s hard to imagine Kudryavtsev being kept off the team next year, especially with the impending loss of his waiver-exempt status and the obvious trust he’s developed with coach Manny Malhotra.

One of the best things about Kudryavtsev is that he seems to be equally adept on either side of the ice, so the Canucks only need to open up a D spot in general for him – it doesn’t necessarily matter whether that’s on LD or RD.

(Non-Rookie) Leevi Merilainen: We have to mention Merilainen here, even though he’s not technically a rookie (32 NHL games already heading into this year) and is currently on the Canucks’ roster. That’s because Merilainen doesn’t truly have a spot right now, and instead he’s occupying Thatcher Demko’s spot while Demko is on IR.

Unless Demko remains on IR all the way into next season, or ends up back on it after a return, the Canucks would need to clear a goalie out if they wanted to keep Merilainen around full-time next year. Which, based on the early returns, they probably do.

At Least One Other Forward: Few of the forwards around the periphery of the Canucks lineup made a real push to make the team this past training camp. But they’ll each have an extra year of development under their belts by Training Camp ’27, and that should translate to at least a couple of them appearing more NHL-ready.

When we say this, we’re thinking names like Ty Mueller, Ilya Safonov, Riley Patterson, and Vilmer Alriksson. We should expect at least one of them to really make some noise for next season, and the Canucks, in the interest of continuing the youth movement, should probably want to save adequate space for that eventuality. That might mean clearing out yet another forward spot. 

The 2027 Top Pick?: This one is a little harder to project. But everyone is sure hoping that the Canucks find themselves back to the top of the draft board in 2027 – maybe even right to the very top. And if the Canucks do manage to select in at least the top-three again, then there’s a strong possibility that their 2027 pick arrives directly into the NHL.

At this point, we don’t even know what position that player might play, so all we can really say is that the roster probably needs to be kept at least partially flexible for 2027-28.

That might sound like a lot of spots to open up, and it is, but the Canucks will have the ability to get there somewhat naturally via the expiry of contracts. Up front, all of Filip Chytil, Brendan Gallagher, Drew O’Connor, and Paul Cotter become UFAs after this season if not extended, along with possibly Arshdeep Bains (unless he plays 27 more games this season, which seems likely).

On the back-end, Luke Schenn and Guillaume Brisebois will become UFAs.

Left untouched, that might open up the right number of roster spots, but not necessarily in the right spots.

Centre might be the trickiest spot. As of now, the Canucks will have all three of Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi, and Max Sasson under contract heading into next year – their current top three centres. They’ll also have Aatu Räty heading into restricted free agency. Keeping one spot open for either Cootes or Malhotra seems easy enough, but opening up two spots probably requires at least one trade of a centre between now and next season.

The goaltending position is also, understandably, ambiguous. Demko and Kevin Lankinen remain under contract into next season and beyond. Merilainen will be an RFA after this year. Again, if the Canucks want to keep Merilainen around, that probably equates to either Demko staying on IR or one of he or Lankinen being moved before next year.

Still, we’re not seeing anything contrary to their general plans here. The Canucks should be able to open up enough roster space by simply dealing out or letting go the players they were probably always going to depart with eventually anyway. The only difference might be making some of those decisions a little sooner than they might have otherwise.