Injury Update: Manny Malhotra Reveals the Real Reason Braeden Cootes Was Pulled From the Prospect Game

Vancouver Canucks hockey is officially back, well sort of, as the team's prospects headed down to Washington state for a pair of games against their Pacific Northwest rivals, the Seattle Kraken.

The Canucks released a stacked roster earlier this week which featured several of their top prospects including Tom Willander, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Elias Pettersson and 2025 first round pick Braeden Cootes.

Things were going well for the Canucks last night, they took a 3-0 lead and were up 3-1 after 40 minutes, but that's when things went south, both on the scoreboard and on the injury front.

In a social media post last night as the puck dropped for the third period, the Vancouver Canucks announced that Braeden Cootes would not be returning to the game.

After the 5-3 loss to the Kraken, Manny Malhotra, who is serving as the team's Head Coach for the Prospects Showcase (as AHL coaches do) gave an update on the status of Braeden Cootes.

According to Malhotra, Cootes was removed from the game for precautionary reasons and while he didn't reveal what exactly happened or the injury he might be dealing with, he added that the club will reevaluate him on Sunday.

It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if Cootes is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Kraken in Seattle as there's no point in risking it and getting hurt further in a meaningless game.

Puck drop for the second and final game of the 2025 Prospects Showcase is set for 4 pm PT and can be streamed on the Vancouver Canucks' website.