Ahead of their first preseason game against the Seattle Kraken, the Vancouver Canucks announced several cuts to their training camp roster. No surprising names were among the first round of cuts, as all nine were either on amateur tryout contracts (ATO) or bound for the American Hockey League (AHL) or Ontario Hockey League (OHL). The roster now sits at 50 players.
9 Players Cut From Training Camp Roster
After this round of cuts, Braeden Cootes remains the only 2025 draft pick on the roster and will be making his preseason debut against the Kraken tonight. Gabriel Chiarot, Aleksei Medvedev and Kieren Dervin were the others, but are now all heading back to their teams in the OHL. The OHL’s regular season got started on Sept. 18, so I’m sure their respective teams are happy to get them back, especially Medvedev with the London Knights. He is slated to be their starter after Austin Elliott moved on to the NCAA to join UMass-Lowell. Riley Patterson, meanwhile, will join his new team, the Barrie Colts, after getting traded there late in the offseason.
Alexei Medvedev London Knights (Luke Durda/OHL Images)
As for the others heading to the AHL, Josh Bloom will be looking to play a full season in Abbotsford after spending most of his time in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings last season. Jackson Kunz, who was selected by the Canucks in 2020, remains unsigned by the organization, but will try to catch on with Abbotsford and earn an AHL deal. He played one game with them at the end of last season and recorded an assist against the Bakersfield Condors.
More cuts are sure to come after the Kraken game tonight, as the Canucks continue to count down the days until their season opener on Oct. 9.
