With the cuts pouring in, it’s finally come down to the final slot.
The Vancouver Canucks are cutting down to their final roster, with just three players sitting on the bubble now. Arshdeep Bains, Nils Åman, and Aatu Räty are the ones looking at claiming a roster spot to start the season, and now with Pius Suter out for a bit, things are heating up.
Each of them has played well this preseason. Each of them has some compelling cases. But only one of them can come out and win a lineup spot for opening night, so who’s it going to be?
Phil Di Giuseppe was sent down as a part of the most recent round of cuts, managing to get past waivers. Vancouver will likely be trying to round out that bottom line of theirs with one of those three, while an injury to Pius Suter likely means that another one of these would be thrust into action too, at least for now.
The one that has stood out consistently through this preseason has been Räty. With how his skating has improved, the Finn’s shot and faceoff prowess have also shone, showing that he is a lot closer to being an NHL player than many first thought heading into the preseason. Through the 3 games that he has appeared in, Räty has posted a goal and an assist along with winning 54.5 percent of his faceoffs (30/55).
With Suter out day-to-day, Räty seems like a natural fit to slide into the centre role, as he is young and looking to establish himself as an NHLer. Time will tell if he’ll stick, but with the preseason that he’s turned in, he’s definitely worth a look.
For Nils Åman, it’s been a quieter preseason. The Swede isn’t going to be putting up big points, but he was a decent option in the bottom 6 to eat up minutes and keep things low-event when the stakes were turned up. He played some decent time on the PK too, which does make him pretty versatile in the lineup. But, this year, it hasn’t exactly started off the greatest. While Åman hasn’t done anything glaringly bad, he also hasn’t exactly stood out either.
For someone who’s playing a role as a defensively-minded centre in the league, not winning draws makes it pretty darn hard for yourself. Åman hasn’t separated himself from the pack when it comes to the bubble players, especially Räty, but a big consideration is that the Swede would require waivers, while Räty and Bains would not. Makes one think that he’ll stick around for a bit longer.
That leaves the third member of this group – Arshdeep Bains. The Surrey, BC native is looking to crack this roster on a more permanent basis than his 8-game cameo in 2023-24, during which he showed off his hockey IQ, but also the fact that he was just a step slower than the pace needed for NHL game time. During this preseason, the AHL all-star showed off his development and improvement in the offseason, enough to be right on the bubble for the last cuts.
The winger is getting to his spots faster, burying pucks with his shot and demonstrating plenty of vision to boot. Bains looked darn solid in the preseason and has earned himself this consideration as one of the final ones to be cut. However, given Tocchet’s desire to be solid at centre and defence, the winger is left in a tough position because of the position that he plays.
Certainly, if looking at the line rushes at Wednesday’s skate at UBC, it seems that Tocchet has already given a picture of what the opening night roster would look like. Bains seems likely to start the season in Abbotsford, probably being one of the first call-ups in case of injury, while Räty and Åman will fill out the bottom 6 centre spots. The question now is – which one of those two would be the one to come out of the lineup once Suter returns?
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