Vancouver Canucks Hit With Big Decision After the Lack of Trades and Signings This Offseason
Photo credit: Abbotsford Canucks
The Vancouver Canucks are going to have a very big decision to make regarding their bottom-six forward group to start the 2025-26 NHL season in October.
With a little over a month to go until the Vancouver Canucks open up training camp, new Head Coach Adam Foote is likely already starting to think about what his team's lineup could look like when they take to the ice for their first game of the 2025-26 season on October 9th against the Calgary Flames.
But before we get to that date, there are going to be some intriguing battles in training camp, especially with the team's bottom-six forward group and with a number of Canucks seeing a change in their waiver status this summer, it's going to complicate things even further for Foote and his staff.
Vancouver Canucks have big decision to make with bottom-six forward group
As things stand right now, the Vancouver Canucks likely have one or two roster spots open in the team's bottom-six, with Kiefer Sherwood, Nils Hoglander, Drew O'Connor and Teddy Blueger occupying the other four.
If you take into account that Aatu Raty needs waivers, and will more than definitely be claimed if he's placed on the wire, then the odds of him being on the opening night roster increase significantly, which brings the amount of open spots down to just one.
During a recent edition of Canucks Conversation, David Quadrelli and Kevin Woodley discussed what the team could do with their open spot(s) in the bottom-six and which players are more likely to earn a position out of camp.
"The margins of the forward group are really anyone's guess. Usually you go in and there's maybe two, maybe three names that you're looking at and saying 'okay, these guys could fill out the bottom of the roster' but realistically, we're looking at Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, Linus Karlsson and now you add Vitali Kravtsov to that conversation, not to mention Jonathan Lekkerimaki who I think deserves his own category, he's not fighting for the same spot that those guys are." Quadrelli said.
He added, "Again, we're assuming that Aatu Raty is making the team. Gonna require waivers, he's gonna get claimed off waivers and you also, to some extent, assume Linus Karlsson's making the team. So now you've got one spot left. You've got one spot left where you're talking about this battle and now they've added Vitali Kravtsov to the mix. Who comes out of that battle on top? Like who do you see making the team here?"
He added, "Again, we're assuming that Aatu Raty is making the team. Gonna require waivers, he's gonna get claimed off waivers and you also, to some extent, assume Linus Karlsson's making the team. So now you've got one spot left. You've got one spot left where you're talking about this battle and now they've added Vitali Kravtsov to the mix. Who comes out of that battle on top? Like who do you see making the team here?"
When Woodley was pondering who he thinks could make the team's opening night roster, the need for someone to play on the penalty kill took priority, especially after the team lost Dakota Joshua this summer in a deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Pius Suter to the St. Louis Blues in free agency and traded away J.T. Miller during the 2024-25 campaign.
"Any of them kill penalties? Because the PK unit has taken a hit this summer and so my guess is Kravtsov doesn't, but I don't know that. But honestly, that is one of the questions that I think is fair to ask when you look at the forwards they did lose this summer, that penalty killing ability is something that you typically look for out of the bottom end of your lineup, guys that can do that job and they've lost a handful of those guys." Woodley said.
While a lot of the talk this summer has been about the Vancouver Canucks not being done with adding to their roster, but it looks like the club may need to move someone out, such as Teddy Blueger for example, with guys like Vitali Kravtsov, Max Sasson, Arshdeep Bains and Jonathan Lekkerimaki vying for one spot on the team's opening night roster, with all four of them ready for the National Hockey League.
| POLL | ||
AOUT 10 | 1819 ANSWERS Vancouver Canucks Hit With Big Decision After the Lack of Trades and Signings This Offseason Which one of these forwards do you think is almost guaranteed a roster spot in October with the Vancouver Canucks? | ||
| Aatu Raty | 1210 | 66.5 % |
| Linus Karlsson | 413 | 22.7 % |
| Arshdeep Bains | 101 | 5.6 % |
| Max Sasson | 95 | 5.2 % |
| List of polls | ||
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