Is it time to out petterson on the wing? Would he be effective with rossi and boeser with less responsibility and more use of his shot?
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JPat’s Monday Mailbag: Is there a prospect that could shock at Canucks training camp?
Jul 6, 2026, 10:00 EDTUpdated: Jul 6, 2026, 02:06 EDT
It feels like the Vancouver Canucks have done the bulk of their heavy offseason lifting. And, as expected, it really wasn’t all that heavy. Oh, there may be a signing or two still to come and it’s always possible trade winds will blow. But as the roster building slows down for the remainder of summer, it gives us a chance to catch our breath here at CanucksArmy.
We will still continue to deliver Monday mailbags throughout the summer, but we may scale back in terms of the volume of questions answered each week. By all means, keep the submissions coming. We’ll do what we can to get to as many as we can over the remainder of July and throughout August.
I’m not sure I see that as the best path forward with Elias Pettersson. First of all, there is no guarantee he’d have any chemistry with Marco Rossi. Secondly, the defensive responsibility part of the equation is likely the least of the Canucks’ concerns. Pettersson more than held his own defensively last season. It’s that his offence has vanished for more than two seasons now. So I don’t know that shifting him to the wing and reducing any responsibility would make much of a difference for him. Neither Pettersson nor Rossi is terribly proficient in the faceoff circle and with both being left-handers it’s not like you gain an advantage if one took draws on the left side and the other set up on the right side of the ice. And finally, the ‘more use of his shot’ that you mentioned. I’m not sure I see that happening simply because you’ve shifted him to the wing. Pettersson simply seems reluctant to shoot wherever he is on the ice. We don’t see him shoot much from the flank on the power play and I doubt a move to the wing would produce much of a bump in his shot volume. Finally, the team is already so thin at centre, if you paired the top two centres on the same line, I shudder to think about what the rest of the line-up would look like.
will Raty & Lekki have a breakout year?
I feel like both players are going to get plenty of opportunities under Manny Malhotra. Whether they make the most of their chances is primarily up to the players. With the Canucks opting not to add a natural centre to the mix, but losing Teddy Blueger to free agency, that certainly opens a door to a full time lineup spot for Aatu Räty. This feels like the season he absolutely needs to take a step in his ability to contribute. Another four goal season simply won’t cut it. Räty needs to produce, win faceoffs and probably become a key penalty kill guy to cement his spot in the organization. As for Lekkerimäki, first of all, he needs to arrive in camp fully healthy after shoulder surgery in February. He needs to find ways to use his best weapon effectively, but he also needs to round out his game. He needs to find ways to fight through checks to get open as a shooting option. And when the puck is on his stick, he needs to let it fly and force goalies to make some saves. I’m always leery of using the term ‘breakout’ because it can mean so many different things to different people. But yes, if we’re asking the same question at this time next year, then things probably didn’t go the way Räty and Lekkerimäki wanted and I’m not sure the Canucks want to be asking those same questions a year from now.
Given the carousel of coaches/styles over the past few years (Boudreau vs Tochett vs Foote); What kind of system and style can we expect from Manny Malhotra? Do you think players brains get scrambled going from coach to coach to coach?
For the first part of your question, I will refer you to an extensive piece Elijah Ford wrote on this site a month ago. He watched plenty of Abbotsford film and did an exceptional job of breaking down how Malhotra has asked the AHL Canucks to play over his two seasons in the Fraser Valley. Suffice it to say, Malhotra employs a modern style seen across every level of professional hockey. He’ll have his own unique requests of his players in certain areas of the ice, but overall he prefers a defence by committee approach rather than man-on-man assignments. Elijah does a nice job of detailing Malhotra’s vision in the neutral zone and on the forecheck.
As for players struggling when an organization turns coaches over as often as the Canucks have in recent years, absolutely that has implications. Use Nils Höglander as a prime example. He played in the NHL under Travis Green, Bruce Boudreau, Rick Tocchet and Adam Foote – and spent half a season in the AHL under Jeremy Colliton. That is a lot of voices and they all coach differently. Vasily Podkolzin ran into some of that here, too. These were both young players that seemed to get caught, too often, in the trap of overthinking the game not to make mistakes rather just playing on the instincts that got them to that level in the first place.
Based on last season’s training camp, it may very well be Braeden Cootes if he came to camp and blew the doors off the competition, again. But with Caleb Malhotra going to Boston University next season, and considering who would “shock” people while taking an early July look at possible camp surprises, I’m going with Adam Novotný. Now, this is not to suggest for a second I expect him to make the team out of his first NHL training camp. But you asked, so I’m answering and going with the 24th overall pick in last month’s draft. He looked terrific at last week’s prospects camp. He has pro size already and will be close to his 19th birthday by the time camp rolls around. I could easily see a world in which Novotný comes to camp, impresses enough to get into preseason games and – if all goes well from there – could earn a few early season looks in the regular season. A lot would have to go right for the kid for things to play out this way. But it’s early July, so why not dare to dream a little.
From the trade deadline on, the likes of Conor Garland, Tyler Myers, Evander Kane, Nils Höglander, Teddy Blueger, Marcus Pettersson, P-O Joseph and Curtis Douglas have all left the organization via trade or free agency. Of course, the coaching staff has been gutted, the general manager was shown the door and the president of hockey operations was pushed aside, too. That’s a lot of turnover in a relatively short period of time. Is it enough? Only time will tell, I suppose. But we know the past week has all been about culture carrying for the Canucks with the additions of Brendan Gallagher, Luke Schenn, Jamie Oleksiak and Paul Cotter. We all witnessed much better vibes around the hockey club over the team’s final 15 games and the hope has to be that those will carry over into next season. As for the surprise of the press pool, perhaps the extent of the JT Miller and Elias Pettersson friction and the club’s inability to resolve it caught some off guard. But since Christmas of 2024, dysfunction has been front and centre throughout the organization and the biggest shock has to be that no one was able to get that locker room under control. I think it stands to reason with the new management corps making a healthy working environment a priority, that yes things will be better around the group next season. That doesn’t mean the on-ice product will be improved considerably, but the hope has to be that there will be a correlation between a better locker room and an uptick in both individual and collective performances.
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