Team

Betting

CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA

Mancini vs. Kudryavtsev: Who’s got the inside track on the Canucks’ 7th defenceman role?

Photo credit: © Tav Morisson-Daily Faceoff Vancouver

By Elijah Ford

Sep 22, 2026, 13:30 EDTUpdated: Sep 22, 2026, 13:26 EDT

Comments

Sunday marked the end of Vancouver Canucks training camp, which saw multiple storylines emerge. It seemed there were more roster and depth-chart spots up for grabs than in recent years, but one of the most intriguing battles to follow has been on the blueline.

The Canucks have five defencemen who appear all but guaranteed to make the opening-night roster: Luke Schenn, Jamie Oleksiak, Filip Hronek, Zeev Buium and Tom Willander. Elias Pettersson also appears to be in a strong position to make the team at this point.

That leaves Victor Mancini and Kirill Kudryavtsev as the final two defencemen vying for the seventh spot on the Canucks’ backend. In terms of player archetypes, the two could not be more different.

Mancini offers the size, skating and physical tools of a potential impact NHL defenceman, while Kudryavtsev has built his case around intelligence, positioning and consistency. One is trying to prove that his ceiling can translate to regular NHL minutes. The other is trying to prove that his reliability can outweigh the limitations of his size.

For a Canucks organization that has repeatedly emphasized that performance will determine opportunity, this could be one of the most important battles to watch throughout the preseason.

Victor Mancini: Betting on the ceiling

Mancini probably has the highest upside of the two.

The 24-year-old right-shot defenceman already has many of the physical tools teams look for in a modern NHL blueliner. At 6-foot-3 and around 230 pounds, he has the size to handle NHL forwards, but he is also an impressive skater for a player of his stature. That combination gives Mancini something few defencemen in Vancouver’s system possess.

He can close quickly defensively, uses his reach to disrupt plays and, as the icing on the cake, carry the puck himself through the neutral zone. When he has room to build up speed, Mancini can turn a defensive zone retrieval into a transition opportunity almost entirely on his own. The issue is that his physical tools have often outpaced his decision-making.

Mancini can get too focused on the puck, and he tends to try to skate out of trouble rather than surveying the ice and identifying the best option. His defensive-zone retrievals are another area that still needs improvement. Too often, Mancini has picked up the puck without first scanning the ice, instead reading his options after the puck is already on his stick. This extra half-second of indecisiveness leaves him more vulnerable to forechecking pressure than most and leads to short-sighted breakout decisions. At the NHL level, those small delays can be the difference between a clean zone exit and a dangerous turnover.

That is what made training camp so important for Mancini. The physical ability is already there. The question is whether his decision-making has caught up. If he can become more composed with the puck and consistently make the right read under pressure, Mancini has the tools to become more than just a depth option. His size, skating, and puck-moving ability give him a ceiling that is difficult to ignore.

Kirill Kudryavtsev: Winning with his IQ

Kudryavtsev makes his case in almost the opposite way. Where Mancini can overwhelm opponents with his physical tools, Kudryavtsev relies on reading plays before they develop. The 22-year-old has spent significant time playing important minutes under new Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra in Abbotsford, and that familiarity could be important as he battles for a larger role in Vancouver.

The former seventh-round pick consistently finds a way to stand out with his skating, active stick, and ability to anticipate plays. He has a knack for disrupting passes through the neutral zone, while his defensive-zone positioning allows him to cut off passing lanes and kill plays before they become dangerous. He rarely needs to make the spectacular play because he is often in the right position before the play reaches him. That kind of predictability could be especially valuable to a coaching staff trying to determine which young defencemen it can trust.

Kudryavtsev’s high hockey IQ also shines in areas on the offensive end. While scouts have never anticipated him being a high-end playmaker from the blueline, Kudryavtsev’s typically smart first pass on breakout sequences gives his team the ability to transition quickly into the offensive zone. He has also spoken about improving his shot this offseason, which will help complement his ability to distribute from the point in the attacking end.

The obvious concern for Kudryavtsev is size. At just under six feet, Kudryavtsev does not have the traditional physical profile of an NHL defenceman. His quick feet help him escape pressure along the boards, but there are situations where a larger forward can establish leverage and pin him against the boards rather easily. That creates an interesting contrast with Mancini. Kudryavtsev has to prove that his intelligence and positioning can consistently offset the physical disadvantage. He has already shown flashes that it can work.

During his two games in Vancouver last season, Kudryavtsev kept his game simple and effective at the NHL level. Rather than trying to do too much, he relied on his skating, positioning, and puck movement to keep himself out of trouble. That could be exactly what makes him appealing to Malhotra.

If the Canucks want a young defenceman who can step into an NHL lineup and play a predictable game, executing the system without constantly creating problems for himself, Kudryavtsev has a compelling case.

Two very different paths to the same job

That is what makes this battle so interesting. Mancini and Kudryavtsev are essentially trying to win the same job in two completely different ways. The bet on Mancini would be on what he could become. His size, skating, and puck-moving ability give him the tools to potentially grow into a significant part of Vancouver’s defence. However, he still has to prove that he can make the right decisions consistently enough to earn that opportunity now.

Kudryavtsev, meanwhile, is a bet on what he already does well. He may not have Mancini’s size or physical ceiling, but he has a strong understanding of positioning, reads plays well, and has already shown that he can play a composed game against NHL competition. For the Canucks, the question is which approach they value more.

Do they want to give a player with higher-end physical tools the opportunity to learn through mistakes? Or do they prioritize the young defenceman who may already provide a more predictable game? There may not be a clear answer, but what is clear is that both players have something to prove.

Mancini needs to show that his physical gifts can translate into dependable NHL minutes. Kudryavtsev needs to show that his intelligence and skating can overcome the size disadvantage that has followed him throughout his development. And with Ryan Johnson emphasizing the organization’s desire to avoid players constantly “yo-yoing” between the NHL and AHL, this battle could have consequences beyond simply making the opening-night roster.

Heading into training camp on a one-way contract, Mancini appeared to have the inside track on the seventh defenceman role. However, reports from training camp suggest Mancini struggled, and we saw that role over into the Canucks’ preseason debut against the Kraken.

According to Tuesday’s morning skate, both Mancini and Kudryavtsev appear to be in the lineup tonight against the Flames. Those two will be the most important defencemen to watch when the Canucks hit the ice tonight, to see how this battle develops and whether we get more clarity on who may have the inside track on the seventh defenceman spot for opening night.

Sponsored by bet365