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Canucks: Manny Malhotra explains the difference between losing and playing losing hockey

Tyson Cole — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:18:25 GMT

On the eve of the 2026-27 Vancouver Canucks training camp, General Manager Ryan Johnson, Head Coach Manny Malhotra, and Co-Presidents of Hockey Operations Henrik and Daniel Sedin met with the media to mark the unofficial start of the upcoming season.

Under this new Canucks management regime, the message since they took charge has been that players will not be evaluated based on wins and losses, and that it’s more about development, growth, and building an environment. However, all athletes are naturally competitive. So how will Malhotra balance not validating the players based on wins and losses? He answered that question on Wednesday morning:

“Well, it’s something that I’ve thought about over the course of the summer, and for me, there’s a very big difference between losing games, which is inevitable; every team is going to do it, and playing losing hockey,” Malhotra said. “The measure of our group will be on playing the right way, doing the things that we’re talking about, having details to your game, which is going to give us an opportunity to win. Those are the measures that, when you look back on a game, did we check the boxes? That’s where the pride or the joy will come from: knowing that we are learning, we’re doing the things that we’re asked, and it’s getting better.

“But for us to ride the wave of the course of a season, of the highs and lows – we won a game; it’s great; we lost a game; it’s bad – is going to be no longer. It’s going to be about maintaining the focus of what we’re trying to do, and the daily improvements we’ve talked about over the course of summer. Just getting better every day, creating an environment where guys feel confident and strong, and want to come to the rink is going to be where we measure our group.”

Now in a full-blown rebuild, losing is expected for the 2026-27 Canucks. However, as long as players keep improving as the year goes on and accomplish the small day-to-day goals this management group is continuously preaching, that will make it a successful season for each Canucks player. Co-Presidents Daniel and Henrik Sedin relayed that message:

“I think we want to see a team that plays for each other,” Henrik said. “The fans walk into the building and they see a group that fight for each other. You see a foundation, you see a plan in everything they do, and some of them are going to take steps this year. There’s going to be some of them who might not take the step this year, but at least you see that foundation in place, and that’s all we’re going to ask for. And we’re not going to talk about wins or losses. It’s a process, like Manny said, and we’ll take it day-by-day.”

“And I think with our prospects too, playing around the world, I think we want to see the same from them,” Daniel added. “Have a great development team here, and they have a lot of work to do. I think to be successful in the long run, we need to draft the players, we need to develop them, and that means success in the long run.”

Canucks GM Ryan Johnson says Thatcher Demko won’t be a full participant at training camp

David Quadrelli — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:22:11 GMT

On Wednesday morning, Vancouver Canucks GM Ryan Johnson made it official: Thatcher Demko won’t be ready to fully participate in training camp this week. Demko will still be in Penticton and on the ice, just not with the main groups like he normally would.

Demko underwent hip surgery in January and was shut down for the rest of the 2025-26 season. Demko spoke in April about his surgery, meant to address chronic issues — noting he had been playing with zero degrees of internal rotation in his hips — and expressed optimism about starting fresh. Demko has been in Vancouver since June for light skating and individual workouts, and the rebuilding Canucks are clearly taking it slow and ensuring their star goaltender isn’t rushing back into action.

Demko has suffered multiple injuries throughout his career and has been limited to just 43 games over the past two seasons, with multiple stints on Injured Reserve.

Johnson expanded on Demko and was asked what he means to the Canucks organization at this juncture.

“The main focus is on Thatcher, not necessarily for what he means to the organization, but Thatcher the person. He’s battled a lot. He’s been through a lot physically and emotionally. You can imagine the amount of recoveries and things that he has gone through and what that mental strain has been on him. For myself and the organization over the summer, was just trying to support him. He’s done so much work. He stayed here in Vancouver.

“So what does he mean to the organization right now? I think he’s a perfect example of somebody that just keeps fighting and keeps wanting to get back. He has so much love for the game and love for his teammates. And some of our discussions, he doesn’t just want to get back and play, he wants to get back and be a part of the solution for this organization moving forward. So I commend him, his approach, and like I said, my focus is on Thatcher the person right now, and I think it’d be very selfish to think about the other way of what he means necessarily to the future of the organization.”

The Canucks head up to Penticton today as they prepare to kick off training camp from the South Okanagan Events Centre on Thursday morning. Stay tuned to canucksarmy.com/Daily Faceoff Vancouver all week long for wall-to-wall coverage of everything happening at Canucks camp!

The September 16th CBA contract changes and how they’ll affect the Vancouver Canucks

Stephan Roget — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:00:09 GMT

We’re still a good six months away from the 2027 Trade Deadline. But a deadline of a different sort passed Tuesday evening this week, and it had to do with the latest CBA and its various contract-related rule changes officially taking effect.

Much of the focus has been on the changes to maximum contract lengths. That’s not the only CBA change that will affect the Vancouver Canucks in both the short- and long-term, but it’s probably the biggest change, and a fine place to start.

Previously, the maximum term a player could extend with their own team for was eight years. As of September 16, it is now seven years. Previously, the maximum term a player could sign with a new team for was seven years; after September 16, it is now six years.

The Canucks themselves got ahead of this by signing Zeev Buium to an eight-year extension two weeks ago. They weren’t the only ones, either. Noah Ostlund (Buffalo), Drake Batherson (Ottawa), Ryan Leonard (Washington), and Justin Sourdif (Washington) all signed their own eight-year deals close to the deadline. Clearly, the Canucks weren’t alone in thinking this was an opportunity not to be missed.

If they attempted to sign any of their other 2027 RFAs or UFAs to eight-year extensions, however – like, for example, Liam Öhgren or Elias Pettersson – they were not successful in those attempts. Whenever the Canucks do get around to extending such players now, they’ll have to do so with a maximum term of seven years.

Then, when it comes to next summer’s UFA crop, the Canucks will be limited to offers of six years or less. Not that the Canucks should be handing out max-term contracts to any UFAs anytime soon.

The other contract-related changes are a little subtler and more nuanced, but carry an importance of their own. One has to do with contract variability, or the amount that compensation can change from year to year within a contract. This refers to the practice of ‘front-loading’ or ‘back-loading’ a contract, and the new changes limit team’s ability to do that.

Previously, the limit was that the gap in compensation between any two years within the same contract could not vary by more than 25% of the Year 1 salary. As well, no single year can carry a salary less than 60% of the highest year of compensation, whereas previously this was set at 71%.

And despite talk of internal budgets, front-loading was a tactic that the Canucks did employ, at least in their most recent contract. Buium will earn $12 million in the first year of his eight-year extension, $11 million in the second year, $10.4 million in the third year, and $8.4 million in the last five years. The change from years two to three is $2 million, which is less than 20% of the year one salary – in other words, an amount of variability that will still be legal under the new CBA. However, that $8.4 million salary is only about 70% of $12 million. That’s a slightly illegal amount under the new CBA. But only by 1%.

In other words, the Canucks may be technically limited in their ability to front-load future contracts, but since they pretty much already operated under the new parameters with the Buium extension anyway, it’s not something that will affect them much.

Lastly, there was a change in the amount of signing bonuses that can be attached to a contract. Previously, there were practically no safeties on this, and as long as a player’s base salary was at least at the league minimum, the rest of their contract could be made up of signing bonuses. This was used to a ridiculous extent this summer when Leo Carlsson signed an offer sheet with the Philadelphia Flyers that was almost 95% signing bonus.

As of September 16, signing bonuses are now capped at 60% of a contract’s total value. Like with the front-loading, this is a tactic that the Canucks have used, but not to excess. Buium’s extension contains $11 million in signing bonuses ($6 million in Year 1, $5 million in Year 2), which is only about 14.5% of the contract’s total value. Already, they’re operating well under the 60% threshold. Even Elias Pettersson’s eight-year contract, which was signing bonus-heavy, ‘only’ includes $47 million in signing bonuses, or about 50.5% of the total value of the contract.

So, even at their most spend-free, the Canucks don’t tend to offer the kinds of signing bonuses that are now banned under the new CBA.

That’s pretty much the story here. The new term limits will impact the Canucks’ ability to lock up their RFAs to eight-year deals, but seven-year deals remain on the table, and will so until a new CBA is agreed to somewhere down the road.

The limits on contract variability and signing bonuses might impact the Canucks somewhere down the road, too, but not until they’re in a place where they’re ready and willing to spend more money than they currently are. Their current slate of re-signees aren’t likely to demand such things on their next contracts, anyway.

Buium makes a fine case study here. The Canucks made sure to get his deal done before this deadline, because they wanted him signed for eight years. But they didn’t take advantage of the ability to load him up with signing bonuses, and they gave him a contract variability that was juuust barely illegal under the new standard (70% vs 71%).

These changes will, for the most part, then probably impact the big-spending contending teams the Canucks are trying to catch up to before they impact the Canucks.

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A look back on Bo Horvat’s time as Canucks captain

Edward Nicol-McCabe — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:00:20 GMT

On Monday, Bo Horvat was named the 16th captain in New York Islanders history.

With the news, Horvat became the second Vancouver Canucks captain to be named captain by another organization. The other being Trevor Linden, also with the Islanders, who was named captain during the 1998-99 season.

Today, we will recap Horvat’s time with the Canucks, highlighting his on-ice play and progression from the 2013 ninth overall pick to leading Vancouver to within a game of the Western Conference Finals in 2020, and his subsequent trade to Long Island in 2022.

“I think you’re gonna wanna hear this,” – Gary Bettman’s infamous call on the 2013 NHL Draft floor announcing that Cory Schneider had been traded to the New Jersey Devils for the ninth overall selection.

Going into the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, the Canucks were fresh off being swept by the San Jose Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals but still possessing the nucleus of a core that came within one game of being crowned Stanley Cup Champions two years prior. The organization had multiple questions that needed to be answered. One: was their contention window closed? Two: what are the next steps? Three: what’s the answer to “the goaltender question”?

With franchise goaltender Roberto Luongo now 34 years old, with eight years remaining on his 12-year, $64M contract, and a budding 26-year-old star netminder in Cory Schneider coming off an impressive three-season stretch, the dilemma about who would earn the starter’s crease dominated the conversation all offseason.

However, Luongo’s contract created major issues for Vancouver. The years remaining and the trade protection that Luongo possessed limited their options. With the lack of realistic trading partners and the risk of Luongo blocking Schneider’s progression, Vancouver decided to cash in, trading Schneider to the Devils for the ninth overall pick to select their number one prospect, Horvat. At the time, the Canucks didn’t know this selection would give them their next captain and help them bridge the gap from the Sedin era.

Flash forward to September 2014, fresh off a 30-goal, 74-point draft-plus-one campaign with the London Knights, Horvat looked primed to make the jump to become a regular NHLer. And the second line centre role opened up after the team traded Ryan Kesler to the Anaheim Ducks that past June.

After missing the first 12 games of that season with a shoulder injury, Horvat made his NHL debut on November 2 against the Colorado Avalanche, playing 8:52, registering one shot on goal and finishing with a plus-one rating in a 5-2 win. He would finish his rookie year with 13 goals and 25 points in 68 games. His efforts earned him two fifth-place votes for the Calder Trophy. Horvat carried over that momentum in their first-round playoff series against the Calgary Flames, where he scored the series-opening goal and finished the six-game series with four points.

As Horvat grew older, he only got better. In year two, he recorded 16 goals and 40 points in 82 games, with his ice time increasing by five minutes per game. In year three, Horvat scored 20 goals and recorded 52 points, both being the first time he hit the 20-goal and 50-point mark. While most forwards tend to peak at age 23/24, Horvat only continued to improve. It took until Horvat was 26 and in his eighth season to reach 30 goals, a mark that Horvat has been able to hit consistently ever since, failing to do so in 2024-25, when he recorded his worst shooting percentage since his sophomore season (11.5 vs. his career average of 13.4%) and still scored 28 goals.

On October 9, 2019, Bo Horvat was named the 14th captain in Vancouver Canucks history. It was the home opener against the Los Angeles Kings, and the crowd in Rogers Arena kept chanting his name, anticipating the announcement before puck drop. With the team also celebrating its 50th season, the list of Canucks legends in attendance that night was long.

Dennis Kearns came out in full gear, with his 1970s-era stick and rink jersey on, hanging by a thread. Stan Smyl then came out in an Adidas version of the Flying V jersey, representing the 80s. Representing the 90s was Kirk McLean, who wore his gear, which he shared was the first time since he retired. For the 2000s, Todd Bertuzzi came out to thunderous applause, and for the 2010s, Daniel Sedin came out to an even louder ovation. Then came the captains’ ceremony.

“Bo, in our historic, 50th season, a new era of Canucks hockey begins, and with a new era, comes new change. Bo, that change begins with your jersey. From the hands of our first and last captain to yours, Bo, ladies and gentlemen, please make some noise and welcome the 14th captain of your Vancouver Canucks, Bo Horvat!” – Al Murdoch

In his first season as captain, and with heavy expectations, Horvat scored 22 goals and added 31 assists for 53 points in 69 games. Finishing third in points among Canucks forwards, behind JT Miller and Elias Pettersson, respectively, Horvat helped lead Vancouver to their first playoff appearance since his rookie season.

During that playoff run, Horvat was a scoring machine. With 10 goals in 17 games, Horvat was the first player in the 2020 playoffs to reach double digits in goals, and was still tied for fourth when the playoffs concluded. With three multi-goal games, including back-to-back performances against the St. Louis Blues in Games 1 and 2 that featured highlight-reel individual efforts, Horvat more than held his weight in his first playoff run as Canucks captain.

Sadly, however, it would be his last playoff run as a Canuck.

With Horvat’s six-year, $33M deal coming to a close, new management at the steering wheel, rumours of a “country club” type culture within the locker room, and the Canucks reportedly catching Horvat off guard when they extended JT Miller to a seven-year, $56M contract during the 2022 offseason, the writing was on the wall: Bo Horvat was not going to be a Canuck when his contract expired.

Although Vancouver and Horvat’s camp reportedly tried their best to come to a deal, it never came close. On January 30, 2023, the Canucks traded Horvat to the Islanders for winger Anthony Beauvillier, centre Aatu Räty, and a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Vancouver would later flip that first-round pick, along with a 2023 second-round pick, on March 1 to acquire defenceman Filip Hronek.

Bo Horvat put it best when he said, “I thought I was going to be a Canuck for life. Things didn’t work out that way.” And although some of his comments following the trade, including his regretful “I’ll tell you that for free” quote he said to an Islanders reporter following a victory, struck a chord with Canucks fans. The conversation surrounding Bo has been mostly positive online, and he is remembered fondly for some of the clutch moments he provided for Vancouver.

He captained a Canucks team that only made the playoffs once. On most nights, Horvat received flak online for his cookie-cutter responses and was often criticized for not sticking up for teammates physically. In retrospect, Horvat appears to have been the glue that held a lot of things together.

After Horvat left, the Canucks’ locker room appeared to deteriorate, and new captain Quinn Hughes struggled to keep the group together. The Canucks and their players also became less visible in terms of community outreach. As a Canuck, Horvat could often be found doing charitable events, working with Ronald McDonald House to develop “Horvat’s Heroes”, which saw Bo, his wife Holly, and the Canucks donate tickets to every home game for the families of those staying at RMH, and regularly visiting Canucks Place Children’s Hospice.

As the Canucks enter a new era, change has to occur. With the rebuild underway in Vancouver, a new era is taking shape. Whoever may don the ‘C’ next in Vancouver should model their leadership based on how Horvat captained the Canucks.

The Future is Daily Faceoff Vancouver

The future of hockey coverage is bigger than one team, one market, or one platform. By bringing our local hockey brands together under Daily Faceoff, we’re creating a more complete hockey experience — one that gives fans the best of local passion and league-wide expertise, all in one place. The community remains at the centre. The experience is simply expanding as part of the next evolution of how we cover the game.

Welcome to Daily Faceoff Vancouver – Driven by hockey.

Jamie Dodd joins Rink Wide Vancouver to provide post-game Canucks coverage

Jeff Paterson — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:00:22 GMT

Call it a significant late-summer free-agent acquisition. The Nation Network is pleased to announce that former Sportsnet 650 on-air personality Jamie Dodd will be jumping into the post-game space this season. Dodd will serve as the co-host on Rink Wide Vancouver’s post-game livestreams for the majority of Vancouver Canucks games, starting with a preseason contest from Calgary on Tuesday, September 22nd. Dodd will also co-host the Canucks’ September 29th regular-season opener when the Canucks visit Edmonton.

really excited to have @JamieDodd join @RinkWideVAN as lead co-host this season. A trusted #Canucks voice that should be heard in this market. We fire up the livestream next Tuesday 🎤 🏒

— Jeff Paterson (@patersonjeff) September 15, 2026

For the past five years, the North Vancouver native has hosted the popular Canucks Talk midday show on 650 with The Athletic’s Thomas Drance. The versatile Dodd, who started with 650 in 2018, also filled in on occasion on Canucks pre- and post-game shows and other shows on the now-defunct all-sports radio station, which shuttered in early July. Dodd took the summer to consider his work options and late last week decided that Rink Wide was where he wanted to be to continue to lend his trusted voice on all things Canucks to the market.

@JamieDodd is an incredible host with with real charisma and an infectious upbeat attitude. He is the shot in the arm any podcast would crave to up their game.

— PaperMoonShine (@PaperMoonShine1) September 15, 2026

Oh man that’s awesome news ! Always loved Jamie , will be glad to hear him talk about Canucks again .

— Erik Nielson (@ErikNielson19) September 15, 2026

This is a phenomenal hire!

— Canucklehead (@StokedOnNucks) September 15, 2026

The plan is for Dodd to join me for approximately 50 of the Canucks’ 84 games this season. Daily Faceoff Vancouver’s Tyson Cole will handle somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 to 24 games, while the remainder of the schedule will be rounded out by Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston and TSN’s Farhan Lalji. The full schedule of co-hosts will be ironed out on a month-to-month basis.

Rink Wide Vancouver can be viewed as a livestream immediately after each Vancouver Canucks game all season. It can also be consumed as a podcast following the show. Rink Wide will also generate content for its YouTube channel all season long, starting with coverage of training camp in Penticton later this week. Subscribe to Rink Wide wherever you get your podcasts, and to find the live show, be sure to subscribe to the Rink Wide Vancouver YouTube channel by clicking here!

Longtime Vancouver Canucks fan gets some great news

David Quadrelli — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:30:04 GMT

We love to see a Vancouver Canucks fan pick up a major life win.

On Tuesday morning, the Chicago Blackhawks announced that they have named Connor Bedard the 37th captain in franchise history.

a new letter on the chest, a new chapter ahead ❤️

introducing the 37th 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧 of the Chicago Blackhawks, 𝐂onnor Bedard! pic.twitter.com/Lg4U1McJDa

— Chicago Blackhawks (@NHLBlackhawks) September 15, 2026

The Blackhawks were left without a captain following Nick Foligno’s trade to the Minnesota Wild ahead of the 2026 NHL Trade Deadline. Foligno was first named Chicago’s captain in 2024 ahead of Bedard’s sophomore NHL season.

Bedard, who turned 21 in July, signed a five-year extension to remain with the Blackhawks until at least his age-26 season, at which point he’ll become an unrestricted free agent. The extension carries an annual average value of $15 million.

Bedard grew up in North Vancouver and was a Canucks fan for most of his life. Bedard even shared that as a five-year-old fan, he cried for a week after his hometown Canucks lost the 2011 Stanley Cup Final to the Boston Bruins in seven games.

Bedard is slated to miss the start of the season after suffering a shoulder injury while practicing with other Vancouver-based NHLers at Scotia Barn/8 Rinks in Burnaby over the summer. The Hawks’ initial surgery recovery timeline projects Bedard to make his season debut around mid-November.

And when he does, he’ll have a C on his sweater.

The Blackhawks face the Canucks three times this season. The first is at Rogers Arena on November 22nd; the second is on January 22nd, 2027, in Chicago; and the clubs’ final meeting of the season will be back in Bedard’s hometown on March 3rd, 2027.

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NHL Notebook: Drake Batherson, Ryan Leonard sign eight-year extensions before new NHL CBA begins

Lachlan Irvine — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 21:00:03 GMT

Welcome back to NHL Notebook — the series here at CanucksArmy where we deliver you news and notes from around the National Hockey League — oftentimes through a Vancouver Canucks-tinted lens!

With less than 24 hours before the NHL’s new contract rules kick in and eight-year deals become a thing of the past, a couple of players have inked deals with their respective teams just under the wire.

Drake Batherson, Sens agree to eight-year extension worth $86 million

On the eve of NHL training camps, Drake Batherson has signed the richest contract in Ottawa Senators history: an eight-year deal worth an average annual value of $10.75 million, with a no-movement clause for the first four seasons.

The 28-year-old Batherson is fresh off a career year where he finished second to Tim Stützle in Sens scoring with 71 points, including a career-high 33 goals. Batherson, who was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, but represents Canada internationally, is the perfect player to be committing to long-term after Brady Tkachuk departed for South Florida in the offseason. Now, Batherson is putting down roots to remain in Ottawa until 2035.

The loss of Tkachuk only made signing Batherson more crucial. The Senators hope that they still have their best seasons ahead of them, and they’ll push forward with a chip on their shoulder after back-to-back first-round exits in the playoffs. They’ve already replaced Tkachuk with William Eklund after a stunning draft-week trade with the Sharks. With Batherson now locked down, Ottawa’s core will be one of the most interesting in the NHL to watch. Especially for a rebuilding team like the Canucks, who’ll have a lot of young players developing together over the next few years.

Batherson certainly believes he and his teammates are capable of more. “Just the last few years, I think what we’ve built and getting into the playoffs both years. Obviously we got swept last year, but there was a lot of tight games in that series against the team that ultimately won the Stanley Cup,” Batherson told reporters after signing his extension Tuesday.

“I think just the belief, and I know how bad guys on the team want it, and I wanted to be a part of that.”

Ryan Leonard signs eight-year extension worth $84 million with Capitals

The Washington Capitals are caught between two different eras, but they’re placing a bet on their post-Ovechkin future.

Ryan Leonard’s new eight-year extension worth $10.5 million AAV is a lot for a 21-year-old with one full NHL season under his belt. But in that short time, he’s proven his value to the Caps with 45 points in 2025-26, including 20 goals.

Like Zeev Buium last week, Leonard is another young player cashing in on a rising cap and his team willing to place a long-term bet on his future value. The Capitals are a fringe playoff team looking to give Alex Ovechkin one last shot at the Stanley Cup right now. By the last few years of Leonard’s extension, if the Caps have played their cards right and successfully navigated an ‘on the fly retool’, Leonard will be right in his prime as the Caps next contention window begins to open.

As far as the present day is concerned, Leonard’s going to get a lot of time to learn from one of the greatest players in NHL history and will be insulated by a forward corps led by Ovechkin, Aliaksei Protas, Tom Wilson and Jordan Kyrou. Not a bad position to be in at the beginning of your NHL career, especially if you can get some early playoff experience on your resume as well.

Both Batherson and Leonard’s deals come in before Wednesday’s midnight deadline. After today, NHL teams will only be able to sign returning players for a maximum of seven years and free agents for a maximum of six years.

What do you think of Batherson and Leonard’s new contracts? Let us know in the comments below!

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‘It wasn’t his fault’: Nikita Zadorov defends JT Miller’s role in rift with Elias Pettersson

Tyler Kuehl — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 20:23:43 GMT

Fans will always be curious about what might’ve been going on behind the scenes during one of the more tumultuous periods in the Vancouver Canucks’ recent history.

On the Cam & Strick Podcast earlier this week, former Canucks defenceman Nikita Zadorov was asked about the chaos of the 2024-25 season, when a locker room rift between star players Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller emerged.

“That’s the media,” Zadorov said. “People who still think J.T.’s a bad teammate, go watch Spittin’ Chiclets’ golf video, please, and then tell me.”

Zadorov was referencing Miller’s quip about the reported feud between him and Pettersson, stating that “I went to rehab for that,” after Paul Bissonnette joked that he bullied Pettersson.

Zadorov’s relationship with Miller developed during the 2023-24 season, after the 6-foot-7 blueliner was traded to Vancouver from the Calgary Flames. Zadorov praised Miller’s game and said whatever happened in the locker room the following year wasn’t due to Miller’s actions.

“He’s going to go on the ice, and he’s going to die for you,” said Zadorov. “That’s all that matters. He’s a great teammate, he’s competitive, he wants to win. It just pisses me off when people make it like it’s his fault over there. It wasn’t his fault.”

The tension between Miller and Pettersson took the attention away from the ice for a team that had won the Pacific Division when Zadorov was with the Canucks the year prior. In 2024, Vancouver was one win away from the Western Conference Final, ultimately losing to the Edmonton Oilers in seven games. The following year, amid the feud, the Canucks were in disarray, stumbling down the standings and missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The contention between Pettersson and Miller eventually led to the latter being shipped out of town the following season, when Zadorov was no longer part of the Canucks. Miller was traded to the New York Rangers in January 2025, with the Canucks receiving forward Filip Chytil, defenceman Victor Mancini and a conditional first-round pick in 2025 as part of the deal.

Zadorov, heading into his third campaign with the Boston Bruins, admits Miller is one of his favourite teammates he’s played with in his 13 seasons in the NHL, despite rubbing some people the wrong way. “Yeah, sometimes he’s too straightforward,” Zadorov added. “Sometimes he has bad days, and he’s a little bit grumpy, but that’s J.T., we love him.”

Zadorov might not have been on the scene when the drama unfolded in Vancouver, but he believes the situation was perceived similarly by both players and the rest of the hockey world.

“People who are in the hockey world know that too, but then you have 16-year-old idiots sitting on Twitter and tweeting out that sh*t, so it’s all getting blown up right now. The problem right now is everybody thinks they have a voice, and then they use it, and then everybody should care about that voice.”

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Blackfish: 5 standouts from the Canucks’ Prospect Showcase

Dave Hall — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 17:00:06 GMT

Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.

We finally had some Canucks hockey to watch this weekend, with Vancouver’s prospects taking on the Seattle Kraken in a two-game showcase.

While the results were mixed, there was no shortage of individual performances to dissect. With events like this, it’s always important to keep expectations realistic. With just one practice to work on systems, players from leagues around the world are brought in to compete together in a one-off pair of games. Play will be sloppy, skill plays will be attempted, and it’s nothing more than a good opportunity to see where a player has come in their development.

But this is Blackfish, so you bet we are going to talk about it.

But first, check out Blackfish’s first live recorded show. Going forward, all episodes will go live at 11:00 am on Mondays.

Prospect Showcase

Off a nice entry and dish from Riley Patterson, the weekend began with Vilmer Alriksson, who showed off his underrated release with a slick toe-drag shot from the bumper spot while operating on the power play. The towering Swede has always possessed a hefty release, and it was encouraging to see him bring that element early in the weekend.

🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨

Vilmer Alriksson gets the Canucks on the board to even the score.

🎥: #Canucks pic.twitter.com/bNEFm0t9Xw

— Daily Faceoff Vancouver (@dfovancouver) September 13, 2026

We’ve said it before, but Alriksson appeared to be gaining some legitimate traction in his professional game before a season-ending injury halted that progress last year. The hope is that he can find the time and space to unload that shot more consistently this season and build momentum as a top-six Abbotsford player. He has the shot, he can flash the hands, and has the clear size. Now, it’s about combining all of those tools to become a legitimate threat.

Next up was another impressive release, this time courtesy of Adam Novotný. The young Czech put his game on display throughout the weekend and was our clear standout from the event. Collecting the puck along the half wall, Novotný wasted no time stepping into and ripping a wicked shot up and over the netminder’s shoulder. It was an impressive goal, but as we’ll get into later, the shot was only one part of what made his weekend so encouraging.

🚨CANUCKS GOAL🚨

Adam Novotný rips it high glove to bring the Canucks within one

🎥: #Canucks pic.twitter.com/ujsBdqsp21

— Daily Faceoff Vancouver (@dfovancouver) September 13, 2026

Vancouver’s third goal came courtesy of defenceman Sawyer Mynio, who jumped into the play and cleaned up a juicy rebound for his lone tally of the weekend. Once again, Novotný started the play before Ty Mueller picked up the loose change and curled toward the net. With what appeared to be a deliberate shot-pass toward the back side, Mynio was there to clean things up easily.

Unfortunately for the Canucks’ prospects, Seattle’s offence proved too much to handle. Aleksei Medvedev surrendered seven goals on 33 shots in the 7-3 defeat, marking another perplexing outing for the young netminder. Quite frankly, we haven’t seen a ton from Medvedev in quite some time now. Granted, he wasn’t exactly put in an ideal situation. Vancouver dressed four invitee defencemen, and with a group thrown together for a short showcase, some disorganization in the team’s defensive structure was to be expected.

Still, the inconsistency in Medvedev’s game continues to give us some pause. Are we concerned? We continue to plant our stake firmly in the “far too early” camp. Goaltenders are notoriously difficult to project, with many not truly finding their game until their early-to-mid 20s. Medvedev still has a tremendous runway ahead of him, but at some point, however, we’re going to need to start seeing more consistency.

Day Two brought a much stronger showing from Vancouver, both individually and as a group.

After juggling the lines, the Canucks rolled out a top unit of Novotný, Braeden Cootes and Brooks Rogowski — two of whom had been relatively quiet in Game One. That certainly wasn’t the case the second time around.

The trio combined for three goals, with Novotný once again showing off that pinpoint release.

SHOOTER'S SHOOT.

Lethal shot from Adam Novotný. 🎯 pic.twitter.com/P5OIQVEJ2r

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026

Rogowski threaded the pass and doubled down with two primary assists. The second showed some strong patience before finding Cootes with a cross-ice feed.

Things we love to see:

Rogowski to Cootes 🫡 pic.twitter.com/EZNM0tsI6O

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026

For Novotný, however, his most impressive moment of the weekend may not have resulted in a goal for himself. With one of his four assists of the weekend, he did virtually everything to create the play. This clip won’t show the entire play, but after chipping the puck off the boards, Novotný carried it into the offensive zone before battling for possession in the corner. He maintained control, toe-dragged himself out of trouble and eventually found the point to keep the play alive and create another Canucks goal.

Alonso Gosselin restores our 3️⃣ goal lead! pic.twitter.com/PnsLGoY46c

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026

It’s clips like that that show exactly why we have such high hopes for him as a professional hockey player. Yes, the one-shot release is dangerous. But Novotný also brings a dog-like work ethic and the ability to compete for 50/50 pucks, which should translate regardless of where he ultimately slots into a lineup. That combination of those two elements — legitimate offensive tools paired with a willingness to fight for every inch of ice — is what made him such an intriguing first-round selection. And this weekend, we got a pretty good taste of both.

Gabe Chiarot was tested out at centre and actually made well of his opportunity. He even posted a Gabe Chiarot-like goal, jamming home a loose puck at the net front.

Keep an eye on Yaroslav Bryzgalov

Another player who stood out to us was Yaroslav Bryzgalov, who brought his clearly above-the-curve playmaking ability. We covered it when the Canucks first drafted him, but Bryzgalov continues to show an impressive ability to see plays develop and create passing lanes that many players probably wouldn’t identify.

No, he didn’t necessarily light up the scoresheet, but his game has legitimate creativity. His footwork remains the large, looming question surrounding his overall potential, and how much he can improve that area will likely dictate his eventual ceiling. But there’s no denying his ability to make plays with the puck on his stick. Add in his size, and he’ll be a fascinating name to follow in Medicine Hat this season before eventually making the jump to Merrimack in 2027-28.

Koskenvuo surrendered a goal on the first shot he faced but settled in immediately afterward, turning aside everything else sent his way while making several impressive stops in the process. Both netminders had a strong showing, and it was a welcome change after the defensive chaos of the opening game.

Bennett Schimek deserves some love

Although he isn’t technically part of our Blackfish reporting, we have to give some love to Bennett Schimek, who doubled down on the impressive run he enjoyed with Abbotsford late last season. Schimek scored a pretty goal after curling toward the short side and firing home his shot, but it was his overall presence within the lineup that stood out.

Solo effort from Schimek!@abbycanucks | #Canucks pic.twitter.com/LfXUpOhOhM

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) September 13, 2026

At 23, he should look like one of the more polished players at an event like this, and he did. Signed to an AHL contract, Vancouver made a wise move in giving itself a risk-free opportunity to get an extended look at the young forward.

So far, he has continued to show strong hockey sense and an ability to provide a mature presence within a young group. We wouldn’t be shocked to see him eventually earn an NHL contract and become a meaningful member of the Canucks’ prospect system.

Overseas

Unfortunately, Medvedev isn’t the only Russian netminder experiencing some early struggles. Dmitri Ivchenko has stumbled out of the gate to begin his 2026-27 season, sporting an .800 save percentage through two starts and a relief appearance. Of course, we’re dealing with an incredibly small sample size, so there is absolutely no reason to draw any meaningful conclusions from it.

Still, it’s an unfortunate opening stretch that will leave a dent in his numbers regardless. The important thing for Ivchenko this season remains workload. After serving in a smaller role last year, we’re looking to see how he responds to receiving consistent starts and whether his numbers can hold up over a much larger sample.

Over in Sweden, Samuel Eriksson has also begun showing some early offensive touch. He’s now scored a goal and added a primary assist in six games with Farjestad U20. He’s a defensive defenceman through and through, so we are looking for more of what he’s done in his own end. And we hope to watch some tape over the next week to see how his game looks as he starts the 2026-27 season.

Check back next week!

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‘Things are starting to go the right way’: Says Canucks’ Zeev Buium

Jeffrey Kennett — Tue, 15 Sep 2026 14:15:44 GMT

Zeev Buium says the Vancouver Canucks’ passionate fan base, emerging young core, and new leadership group all played significant roles in his decision to commit eight more years to the Canucks.

Speaking on NHL Network after signing a long-term contract with Vancouver, Buium said the organization’s confidence in him was matched by how quickly he connected with the city and team after arriving last season.

“I think a big thing is just the belief they had in me to want to get this done as well,” Buium said. “The second I got here last year, I just really fell in love with the city, the fans, the organization itself.”

Vancouver endured a difficult season in the standings, but Buium said the response from Canucks fans left a lasting impression. “We were last in the league, having a tough go, and they’re showing up every night, and they’re cheering,” he said. “They’re so invested and passionate.”

Loyalty, however, was only part of what convinced Buium that Vancouver was the right place for his future. He credited the Canucks’ revamped leadership structure, highlighting general manager Ryan Johnson, co-presidents Henrik and Daniel Sedin, and head coach Manny Malhotra as reasons to be optimistic about the organization’s direction.

“It just really seems like things are starting to go the right way,” Buium said. “I think we all kind of align in our vision and what we want this organization to look like down the road.”

Buium sees similar promise in the roster around him. Asked which teammates could surprise people this season, he singled out Tom Willander, Liam Öhgren, and Paul Cotter.

“I think obviously a guy like Willander,” he said. “I think Öhgren is another guy who can. I played against him growing up, obviously World Junior stuff like that, but his shot is just so lethal and he’s fast.”

Beyond pure talent, Buium said Vancouver’s younger players have already developed a strong connection away from the ice — something he believes can help the group grow together. “Everyone always wants to be together,” he said. “We kind of understand the balance of working hard and being serious, but at the same time having fun with it.”

For Buium, signing a $75.04 million NHL contract is something he is still trying to process.

“Honestly, it still doesn’t feel real,” he said. “We were just San Diego boys playing for fun, and mom and dad just driving us to the rink. It’s crazy to think where we are now.”

Buium’s new deal gives Vancouver long-term security with one of the most important pieces of its young core. Just as notably, his comments offer a glimpse into why he believes in where the Canucks are headed.

After a difficult season, Buium sees a committed fan base and a leadership group with a clear vision for what comes next. And he wants to be part of it.

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