The first day of Vancouver Canucks training camp gave a clean look at Manny Malhotra’s starting point for the 2026-27 season, and the early combinations already hinted at how he wants the roster to fit together.
At forward, the groupings were split like this in Group A: Jake DeBrusk with Elias Pettersson and Linus Karlsson; Drew O’Connor with Max Sasson and Brendan Gallagher; Adam Novotný with Braeden Cootes and Arshdeep Bains; Gabe Chiarot with Brooks Rogowski and Ben Berard; and Matthew Steinburg with Chase Wouters and Vilmer Alriksson.
The blue line groups in that same session were Jamie Oleksiak with Filip Hronek, Guillaume Brisebois with Victor Mancini, Jimmy Schuldt with Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Isaac Belliveau with Gavin White. Kevin Lankinen, Ty Young, and Aku Koskenvuo were the goaltenders in that group.
Group B had a different look up front: Liam Öhgren with Marco Rossi and Jonathan Lekkerimäki; Paul Cotter with Filip Chytil and Brock Boeser; Ty Mueller with Aatu Räty and Trey Fix-Wolansky; Yaroslav Bryzgalov with Ilya Safonov and Bennett Schimek; and Anri Ravinskis with Riley Patterson and Austin Brimmer.
On defense in Group B, Zeev Buium skated with Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson with Luke Schenn, Cole Clayton with Sawyer Mynio, and Joe Arntsen with Tim Rego. Nikita Tolopilo, Chris Driedger, and Aleksei Medvedev handled the goaltending there.
Malhotra made it clear after Day 1 that none of this is locked in. “You shouldn’t read into any of them,” Malhotra joked post Day 1 of Canucks training camp.
“No, it’s a starting point. The guys have been made aware that there’s obviously a lot of bodies right now, so the way they play and the chemistry they form early on is really important.
But we are not setting any lines in stone right now. It’s a starting point for everybody.
“Same thing [on the backend],” Malhotra continued. “We’re looking for that chemistry early on.
We’re looking to see who plays well together, who complements one another. So we’re not in a rush to put pairs together and say this is how it’s going to be for 84 games.”
Even with that caveat, the first look offered some real clues.
DeBrusk and Pettersson remain the obvious top-end fit, with Karlsson bringing the sort of hard forechecking presence that can make life miserable around the crease. The second line of Cotter, Chytil, and Boeser has plenty of speed and finishing ability, even if it may not be the most responsible defensive trio.
Reuniting Öhgren and Lekkerimäki also stands out, especially with Rossi giving that group a steady two-way center. And the O’Connor-Sasson-Gallagher combination looked like a natural fourth line, built around pace, pressure, and energy.
One notable omission from those mock-up forward lines was Räty. He was not used that way on Day 1, instead skating with Mueller and Fix-Wolansky, two players who are also trying to carve out bottom-six roles. That’s a spot worth watching as camp moves forward.
On defense, Oleksiak and Hronek look like the pairing built to take the heaviest shutdown minutes. Buium and Schenn have the feel of a classic mentor-youngster combination, with Schenn giving the younger offensive defender room to grow. Pettersson and Willander also look like a sheltered third pair that could get valuable minutes against lower lines.
There was also one small wrinkle worth noting: Kudryavtsev and Mancini were kept on separate pairings in the same group. Still, when the top two forward lines were on the ice in drills, it was Oleksiak-Hronek and Schuldt-Kudryavtsev doing the battling. That could hint at Kudryavtsev being ahead of Mancini for now.
Day 2 will tell us more, but after the opening day of camp, these are the combinations worth keeping an eye on.
In Other News...
Bruins Leak Sparks Big Canucks What-If Around Filip Hronek
A glance in a Bruins documentary has reopened an old what-if around Filip Hronek, and it is the sort of detail Canucks fans will notice immediately. In one scene, a screen suggested Boston might have explored a deal that would have sent Hronek to the Bruins in exchange for prospect Liam Pettersson and two first-round picks, a hefty price tag that underscores how highly the defenseman was viewed in that hypothetical framework.
The catch is that the footage does not make clear whether the idea was ever formally proposed or even seriously discussed, and that leaves the real story where it has been all along: in Vancouver. Hronek has said he wants to stay with the Canucks, and his no-movement clause gives him significant control over any future shuffle, which means this is more a reminder of his market value than a sign that anything is actually moving. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Fans Just Got A Fascinating Look At Hroneks Trade Value
The Bruins Behind the B docuseries gave Canucks fans a rare glimpse into how NHL trade talks can look behind the scenes, and Filip Hronek popped up on a whiteboard of possible moves as Boston explored defensive options. The image included a completed deal sending Joonas Korpisalo to the New York Rangers, along with a proposed Hronek trade that never got over the line before the Bruins ultimately landed Will Borgen instead.
For Vancouver, the detail that stands out is how little traction the idea appears to have had. GM Ryan Johnson said no requests were made to waive no-trade clauses, which suggests the conversation never advanced very far, even if Hroneks name was in the mix. Still, the proposed framework offers a useful window into how the league viewed his market, with the return seemingly built around prospects and draft picks, and that alone is enough to get Canucks fans thinking about what his trade value really looks like. [Read more 🡒]
Former Canuck Gets Another NHL Shot In A Familiar Place
The Ottawa Senators have added a familiar name to their preseason mix, signing veteran defenseman Ben Hutton to a professional tryout as camp gets underway. Hutton spent last season with the Vegas Golden Knights and also picked up a Stanley Cup ring in 2023, giving him a rsum that still carries some weight as he looks for another NHL opportunity.
For Canucks fans, the connection is an obvious one: Huttons next shot comes under Travis Green, the same coach who guided him in Vancouver earlier in his career. It is a small preseason storyline for Ottawa, but it is the kind of move that can matter for a player trying to show he still has something to offer when the Senators open their exhibition slate against the Montral Canadiens on September 21. [Read more 🡒]