Back by popular demand, it’s our second live blog of the Vancouver Canucks‘ 2026 training camp!

Yesterday, on day one, new head coach Manny Malhotra put a heavy emphasis on defensive work. The intensity was high, and even though the rebuilding Canucks know that there are going to be a good number of losses this season, they’re adamant on building good habits right from day one. Malhotra, Luke Schenn, Jake DeBrusk, and Zeev Buium all spoke about the difference between losing games and playing “losing hockey,” something Malhotra emphasized earlier this week when he spoke with the media.

“It goes without saying mistakes are going to be made on the ice, but it’s the frequency of those mistakes and how often you see those mistakes,” Malhotra told reporters Thursday. “Mistakes are going to be made. We’re good with that. But as long as we’re learning from them and we don’t see them often and repetitively in our game, that’s one thing. The structure of the game, making sure you’re in the place you need to be when you need to be there, plays a large part of it.”

“I think that there’s two ways to lose,” DeBrusk added. “I think when you buy in, you’re playing your system, and you’re doing it, and sometimes the puck doesn’t go your way or just bounces or something, but you played the game plan, you did everything that was asked, and you gave it your all. You can look yourself in the mirror and say you at least did that, whereas the other side is obviously if you’re not doing any of those things and you lose, then that’s losing hockey. So I think it’s more just a buy-in in terms of the day-to-day and the preparation of what our game plan is.”

Let’s get to our day two live blog!

First, a reminder of the groups. Group B will hit the ice first, with Group A going in the afternoon — the inverse of yesterday.

Aleksei Medvedev, Chris Driedger, and Nikita Tolopilo hit the ice to run through their post integration and other crease navigation drills.

The rest of the group will join them around 10:20.

Group B arrived and began with some simple flow drills. The second one focused on the defencemen quickly transitioning the puck from the neutral zone into a rush chance for the forwards, with the D jumping up as well.

One player who stood out in the early going was Aatu Räty; his shot looks a touch quicker, and his release looks deceptive. He’s a player with something to prove after being slotted in between Ty Mueller and Trey Fix-Wolansky, while Max Sasson skated with Drew O’Connor and Brendan Gallagher over in Group A.

The line combinations for Group B remain the same as yesterday:

The group began some five-on-five drills, kind of. The drill began with the puck in the corner, with the two forechecking forwards trying to hold it in the zone, while the opposing two defencemen and three defensive forwards tried to regain possession. Once the defence cleared the zone, the third forward, who was waiting near the bench area, would burst across the ice to the far side to pressure the puck carrier in the neutral zone; then the defending group would get some offensive zone time.

In the next drill, all five skaters began on the blueline. A coach would dump the puck in the corner, and it would be a battle for possession. The defence tried to clear the zone, while the forecheckers tried to hold the zone. We noticed in every drill that whichever side the puck went along the boards, that side’s defenceman would pinch up along the walls. Oftentimes, two forwards would come back to cover for the pinching defenceman; however, if the defender is a second late and the puck gets chipped past him before the forwards get back in time to cover, that’s a two-on-one headed the other way.

Funny enough, the very next drill was two-on-one drills with a second defender chasing the rush. Another funny update: Liam Öhgren rang a shot off the crossbar that went so high, over the netting, off the roof, and just about hit all the assembled media in attendance. Apparently, he doesn’t like our line of questioning on this drill!

Nikita Tolopilo made a handful of cross-crease saves during the drill, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki ended the drill with a snipe into the top right corner on Aleksei Medvedev.

Be sure to check back throughout the day for more updates!