{"id":666072,"date":"2026-09-19T06:57:30","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T06:57:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/666072\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T06:57:30","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T06:57:30","slug":"canucks-young-players-learning-through-teams-rebuild","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/666072\/","title":{"rendered":"Canucks\u2019 young players learning through team\u2019s rebuild"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Vancouver Canuck Braeden Cootes looks on during the opening day of the team’s training camp, in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Braeden Cootes is getting used to living out of a suitcase.<\/p>\n

The 19-year-old centre knows it\u2019s up to him to prove that he deserves a spot in the Vancouver Canucks\u2019 lineup. And until the team makes a decision on where he\u2019ll play this season, Cootes will be calling a hotel near Rogers Arena home.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s taking the living situation day by day, but has unpacked his clothes, knowing his stay could be lengthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like to get things too wrinkled,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not a very good folder or anything like that. So I do put it in the closet. I try to be clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

The opportunity to earn a place on an NHL roster is worth an extended hotel stay, Cootes added.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no place I\u2019d rather be, that\u2019s for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m not complaining.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canucks are turning to their young talent as they launch into a rebuild this season. Cootes is one of 12 players 21 years old and younger that the team brought to training camp in Penticton, B.C., this week.<\/p>\n

Vancouver has other prospects in the system, too, including Caleb Malhotra, who the team selected third overall in June\u2019s draft. The 18-year-old centre isn\u2019t at training camp as he starts his freshman year at Boston University.<\/p>\n

Head coach Manny Malhotra \u2013 Caleb\u2019s dad \u2013 knows many of the up-and-coming players in camp this week are eager to impress, and cautioned that he and his staff don\u2019t want to get \u201cstar struck\u201d by a short-term performance.<\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Vancouver Canucks’ defenceman Zeev Buium skates during the opening day of training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday.DARRYL DYCK\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, with the quality of players around them, they\u2019re going to do a lot of good things,\u201d he said. \u201cBut the mindset being, it\u2019s not about just right now and making a team. We\u2019re looking toward the future. What\u2019s that player look like in two or three or four years? And where are they best suited to develop that game to be ready in that time frame?\u201d<\/p>\n

The Canucks want to be patient with their prospects, with general manager Ryan Johnson telling reporters on Wednesday that he doesn\u2019t want to see players yo-yoing between the American Hockey League and NHL. <\/p>\n

Malhotra has said players will dictate which team they end up on by showing what they can do in training camp \u2013 a philosophy Cootes agrees with.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s how it always should be,\u201d he said. \u201dI mean, at the end of the day, if I\u2019m ready, I\u2019m ready, if I\u2019m not, I\u2019m not. It\u2019s up to me to make that happen. It doesn\u2019t just get gifted to you. So if I go out and play well, I\u2019m sure I\u2019ll have a shot. But that\u2019s on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

After getting action in three NHL games last season, Cootes returned to the Western Hockey League, putting up 10 goals and 13 assists over 17 games with the Seattle Thunderbirds before getting dealt to the Prince Albert Raiders.<\/p>\n

In Saskatchewan, he tallied another 14 goals and 26 assists over 28 regular-season contests, and added seven goals and 16 assists across 20 playoff games.<\/p>\n

Now the 5-foot-11, 183-pound forward from Sherwood Park, Alta., believes he\u2019s ready to cement his spot in the Canucks\u2019 lineup. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve obviously got to play well,\u201d Cootes said. \u201cI learned it\u2019s a hard league. It\u2019s not easy. So I\u2019m gonna take things day by day, try to get better, and not have too high of expectations. At the end of the day, I\u2019ll just be myself and just play my game and see what happens ultimately.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vancouver has also brought in some veteran talent to help guide their up-and-coming players, signing feisty forward Brendan Gallagher and bruising defenceman Luke Schenn in free agency.<\/p>\n

For Schenn, showing the next generation how to play in the NHL is simply a continuation of the kindness he received early in his career.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I was a young guy, I had a great mentors and guys who I played with,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m dating myself here, but I played with Tomas Kaberle for a few years, and then Kimmo Timonen in Philly. And I just remember how they treated me, and their wisdom and veteran presence, and how they rubbed off on me.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now it\u2019s kind of roles reverse, where you get to maybe mentor someone else. As much as you feel like you\u2019re maybe mentoring someone, I feel like I\u2019m the lucky guy who gets to play with these young up-and-coming guys here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schenn\u2019s latest protege appears to be Zeev Buium, the star rookie defenceman Vancouver received in last season\u2019s blockbuster trade for captain Quinn Hughes. <\/p>\n

While the Canucks stumbled through the rest of the season and finished at the bottom of the NHL standings, Buium emerged as a bright spot, with three goals and nine assists over 45 games for his new team. <\/p>\n

The performance earned him an eight-year, US$75-million extension that will kick in during the 2026-27 season. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s a deal Buium is looking to live up to as a new campaign begins.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to show them that they made the right decision, and just build on my everyday game,\u201d he said. \u201dIt\u2019s obviously going to be process \u2013 there\u2019s going to be highs, there\u2019s going to be lows, and just try to stay as consistent as possible. For me personally, I just want to do the best I can, and help bring this place to where we want to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

That means both shutting down an opponent\u2019s top line and contributing offensively, Buium added, and there\u2019s a lot Schenn can teach him all over the ice.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s been a guy who\u2019s literally been in every possible situation, I think as a player, and I\u2019ve been able to learn a lot from him off the ice,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s kind of taken me under his wing a little bit. So that\u2019s been pretty awesome. And just to be out there with him, I think it\u2019s just the little things that he notices, especially defensively \u2026 It was a huge help for me, just having that presence. And he kills plays so well, and just those veteran things that I\u2019m trying to get better at every day.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Vancouver Canuck Braeden Cootes looks on during the opening day of the team’s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":666073,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5128],"tags":[1018,1001,1019,967,991,1020,19,990,1008,1009,1004,992,989,894,1014,1016,1013,1007,1000,1030,993,994,1006,5,1002,1003,997,1021,998,1025,1026,4,1028,1023,1027,786,1024,995,1011,1012,333,1010,1022,86,1015,1017,1005,999,893,27,5313,996,1029],"class_list":["post-666072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver-canucks","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-canucks","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-hockey","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-nhl","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-vancouver","tag-vancouver-canucks","tag-vancouvercanucks","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=666072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/666072\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/666073"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=666072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=666072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=666072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}