And there we have it! The Canucks have their opening night roster. After moving Mancini and Willander down to the AHL the other day, it cleared the path for 18 year old Braeden Cootes to make the big team. If he'll get more than 9 game will depend, but from how he's looked in preseason... it's hard to bet against him right now. Full breakdown of the team is:
The team seems to be a much tighter knit group compared to last year – but that's not saying much. Either way, vibes are good and the players are excited.
“You can feel it,” assistant coach Scott Young said after Sunday’s practice. “You can feel the energy, the excitement of the players on the ice. It's palpable.”
“I just feel like we're all buying in,” Boeser added. “I think it's been great so far. I can't get over how good I feel or how good the vibes feel, so I'm hoping that we can really take this into the season. I'm pretty excited.”
After the AHL Calder Cup win, the young guys have made a strong impression at camp and the preseason. It's been a noticeable jump for them on their journey, and for the club hopefully that success transitions over.
“Those Abbotsford guys look unreal,” Boeser said. “They're flying around, making plays, and it just shows how much last year helped them. I think it’s super important for our team, them taking that next step and competing. I think, you know, all of them should probably make the team. That's how good they’ve been. That's huge for our group.
“I think our practices have been great. I think we're flying around the ice and we're kind of pushing the pace, and I feel like that's translating to our game on ice. I know it was just pre-season, so I guess we're going to find out.”
These were the practice lines on Sunday, which gives a glimpse into what opening night may bring:
DeBrusk-Pettersson-Boeser
Bains-Chytil-Garland
Kane-Cootes-Lekkerimaki
O’Connor-Raty-Sherwood
Hughes-Hronek
M. Pettersson-Myers
Pettersson (Junior)-Mancini
Blueger and Hoglander are currently out, but other than that seems pretty balanced.
Opening night is on Thursday against the Flames! Maybe this will bring more people back to the conversation...
Quotes from Sportsnet.
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