Recent articles from Jeff Paterson

What do we want to see from camp this year, that’s different from last year?

4:30 PM · Sep 12, 2026

I suppose the best answer to that question is structure. Specifically, how will Manny Malhotra and his coaching staff implement the systems they want the Canucks to use this season? Vibes will be high because vibes are always high at this time of year. Optimism abounds in all 32 NHL markets. And you may recall that in the precursor to one of the worst seasons in franchise history, the Canucks went 4-2 in the preseason a year ago under Adam Foote, including an 8-1 romp over Calgary. The team won four of its final five exhibition outings and then won four of its first six games once the regular season started. Ah, times were so much simpler then. So it’s not about the rah-rah stuff.

Even last year’s team found a way to launch successfully, and few will recall that the team was actually 9-9-2 at the 20-game mark. Then the bottom fell out. So I want to see sustainable systems and tactics that will serve the hockey club well all season. I’m curious to see what kinds of drills Malhotra uses and how he deploys his personnel. What sorts of hints and clues will we be able to pick up based on who is in which group at camp and who’s lined up with whom? Sure, it would be nice to see EP40 go coast to coast, deke a couple of defencemen and demolish a water bottle. But ultimately, I’ll be watching the coach as much as anybody else over the four days at the South Okanagan Events Centre. It all starts there, and hopefully the rest will fall into place.

Bob

@BobBlueger

What two current Canuck wingers are best suited to maximize Petey's production this year?

6:28 PM · Sep 12, 2026

For much of the offseason, I figured that Jake DeBrusk and Linus Karlsson were likely to flank EP40 to start the season. DeBrusk should be motivated to regain his 5-on-5 goal-scoring touch, while Karlsson, who shared the team lead with 13 goals at 5-on-5 last season, deserves an opportunity to play higher in the lineup. That was my thinking. But after watching Paul Cotter buzz around the ice with DeBrusk and Pettersson during a scrimmage last week at Rogers Arena, I’m reserving the right to change my thinking. Both Karlsson and Cotter have the ability to forecheck relentlessly. Cotter may be more of a physical initiator while Karlsson has a knack for using his reach and range to win puck battles.

Neither is a true top-line winger at the NHL level, but these are the pieces the Canucks have on their roster right now. Certainly, the wingers he plays with will impact Pettersson’s production. But any sort of revival ultimately falls at the feet of Pettersson himself. He needs to be far more assertive with the puck. He needs to find ways to create some space for himself, and he needs to be willing to shoot the puck more than he has the past couple of seasons. At some point, I wouldn’t mind seeing Liam Öhgren get an opportunity to use his size and speed on a line with Pettersson, but I’m anticipating a DeBrusk-Pettersson-Cotter trio to get things going.

Kevin Olenick

@kevole

Do you have sense of the lines to the start the season? Specifically with EP40 and Chytil.

4:01 PM · Sep 12, 2026

To follow on the previous question, if I place Pettersson between DeBrusk and Cotter, then I’m likely going to keep Rossi with Öhgren and Boeser to see if the final 25 games of last season has some holdover potential. Boeser led the club in scoring over the final 25 games with 23 points while a healthy Rossi produced 20 points in those 25 games. It still remains to be seen whether the Canucks view Chytil as a centre or a winger, as he’s skated in both slots during scrimmages over the past week. My hunch is they will start him at centre possibly on a line with Drew O’Connor and maybe Jonathan Lekkerimäki.

That would leave Aatu Räty to play middle on the fourth line, perhaps with Max Sasson and Brendan Gallagher. One wrinkle to watch over the next couple of weeks is the waiver wire. Holding the waiver priority as a result of last season’s last-place finish, it feels like the Canucks will cash that ticket at some point soon, quite possibly looking to add to their forward group. And that would introduce a new name and face to the mix. So take all of the above with a grain of salt. But it won’t be long now before we’ll all be able to make more educated guesses based on what we see at training camp and through the preseason.

Don Starr

@lamapass25

Is Raty ready to be a full time starter in the NHL?

4:22 PM · Sep 12, 2026

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Of all the players at training camp next week, there may be no one under a bigger microscope than Aatu Räty. And he has to recognize the opportunity that stands before him at his fourth Canucks training camp. The team is still weak at centre at the NHL level. He is a face-off wizard. But has his skating improved over the summer? Is there more to his game than the occasional flash he showed last year? Räty will turn 24 in mid-November, so his development runway is lapsing. Two seasons ago, he had a terrific training camp playing on a line with Conor Garland and Nils Höglander.

Obviously, neither of those players is on the roster any longer. So it’s going to be interesting to see what kind of linemates Räty gets and what he does with the opportunity that is staring him in the face. It feels like he needs to find his niche as a penalty killer. Otherwise, he’s going to be limited to bottom-six minutes almost exclusively at 5-on-5. So not to evade the question as posed, but I’m not sure anyone truly knows whether Aatu Räty is ready for full-time duty as an effective NHL centre. But I think with the rapport he has with Manny Malhotra, he’s likely to get the best chance he’s had yet to show Canucks management what he can do at this level. Then it’s up to him.

Shaun Osygus

@OzzyGoose

Call me crazy but there's a world where this team makes the playoffs 😳 Would that be good or bad for the rebuild?

6:01 PM · Sep 12, 2026