logo
CanucksArmy has no direct affiliation to the Vancouver Canucks, Canucks Sports & Entertainment, NHL, or NHLPA
Canucks announce 2025-26 opening night roster; Cootes to make NHL debut
alt
Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Tyson Cole
Oct 6, 2025, 16:07 EDTUpdated: Oct 7, 2025, 10:42 EDT
Comments
The Vancouver Canucks announced their 2025-26 opening night roster ahead of October 6’s roster deadline.
Here is the club’s opening night roster:
Forwards: Arshdeep Bains, Teddy Blueger, Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, Braeden Cootes, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Evander Kane, Linus Karlsson, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Drew O’Connor, Elias Pettersson, Aatu Räty, and Kiefer Sherwood.
Defencemen: Derek Forbort, Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes, PO Joseph, Tyler Myers, Elias Pettersson, and Marcus Pettersson.
Goalies: Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen.
Injured Reserve: Nils Höglander.
The Canucks are at the roster cap of 23 players, comprising 14 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goaltenders. Over the past few days, the Canucks made a few roster cuts to get down to 23 players, placing Vitali Kravtsov and Nils Aman on waivers. They also sent down Nikita Tolopilo, Max Sasson, Tom Willander, and Victor Mancini to AHL Abbotsford.
Mancini was one of the handful of Canucks who stood out this preseason, but was the only one not to make the team. Mancini appeared in three preseason games, scoring two goals, and looked stronger defensively as the preseason progressed. He was paired with Derek Forbort on the bottom pairing in the Canucks second-last dress rehearsal, but was ultimately returned to Abbotsford, where he will enjoy top-pairing minutes and be the first call-up option in case of an injury in Vancouver.
The two preseason standouts who made the team were Braeden Cootes and Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
Cootes, 18, played in four of the Canucks’ six preseason games. He picked up a point in all four contests, two of which were goals. The Canucks’ most recent first-round pick matched up twice against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the Edmonton Oilers, and did not look out of place. Cootes’ well-rounded defensive play helped him finish with a plus-two rating throughout the preseason.
Lekkerimäki, 21, also suited up in four preseason games. He made the team after showing off his wicked release, scoring three goals in the final two preseason games against mostly NHL talent. The Swedish winger scored 19 goals and 28 points in 36 regular season games with the Abbotsford Canucks last season. Lekkerimäki’s efforts earned him a taste of the NHL, where he scored three goals and added six points in 24 games with Vancouver.
Cootes and Lekkerimäki last skated together on a line with Kane. Those three could be paired together for opening night against the Calgary Flames, now that John Shannon confirmed that Cootes will be playing in the opening night lineup on Thursday evening.

News

Breaking News