The Vancouver Canucks wrapped up 2026 training camp in Penticton with one last shuffle of the board, and the final day offered a clearer look at how the roster picture is starting to come together.
After four days at the South Okanagan Events Centre, Vancouver’s camp included 57 invited players and mixed established Canucks with newcomers and freshly drafted prospects. A few players never fully joined the main flow of practices.
Thatcher Demko, Akil Thomas, Lucian Bernat, and Jack Thompson all spent most of camp on a different sheet of ice for early skates, while Bernat joined Group B on the final day. Mackenzie MacEachern did not skate because of a prior injury.
One of the more notable lineup tweaks came up front. Brock Boeser, who had opened camp skating with Paul Cotter and Filip Chytil, was back alongside Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren, the trio he finished last season with.
That pushed Chytil and Cotter onto a line with Brendan Gallagher. Drew O’Connor, meanwhile, skated with Ty Mueller and Ben Berard.
Part of that adjustment also tied back to Max Sasson, who had centered O’Connor and Gallagher but played in last night’s game and was moved into Group B on Monday.
The blue line got its own reset as well. Group A featured Filip Hronek with Zeev Buium, Tom Willander with Jamie Oleksiak, Elias Pettersson (D) with Luke Schenn, and Victor Mancini with Guillaume Brisebois. After practice, Willander was asked about skating beside Oleksiak and didn’t hide his first impression.
“I love his game. I think he’s very skilled defensively.
He’s got some moves too, but I think he’s very good at closing. Just first impressions, I think we complement each other pretty well.”
Group B, which included the players who went to Seattle for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Kraken, kept the same forward combinations from that game. Arshdeep Bains, Braeden Cootes, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and others made up that group. The only wrinkle was the addition of Brooks Rogowski, Austin Brimmer, and Garbiel Chiarot, with Bernat rotating on the wing.
There were changes on the back end in Group B too, and those pairings looked closer to what Abbotsford’s defense could resemble when the regular season gets rolling. Sawyer Mynio skated with Kirill Kudryavtsev, Tim Rego lined up with Jimmy Schuldt, Joe Arntsen paired with Cole Clayton, and Isaac Belliveau was with Gavin White.
After four days of camp, Vancouver appears to be narrowing in on its opening-night group, even if some decisions are still ahead. General manager Ryan Johnson said the club will be making calls on its junior players soon.
"Those are decisions I've got to sit with our staff [with]. I think I've got an idea of of what we're going to do with even the next game coming up, but still some decisions and things to talk to."
The Canucks will now move into their first round of roster cuts before taking on the Calgary Flames in their second preseason game of the year on Tuesday, September 22.
Willander summed up camp this way: “I think [it’s been] just a good four days,” Willander added. “Just kind of get it going, get a feel for everything, touching the systems a bit, get into that. I think it’s been very productive.”
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