Two Canucks stories are worth following right now, and they sit at opposite ends of the franchise timeline. Evander Kane is trying to buy himself another NHL chance, while Braeden Cootes is already showing the kind of leadership Vancouver wants to build around.
Kane’s run with the Canucks may not have unfolded the way hometown fans hoped. The Vancouver native came back to the organization with a physical presence, experience, and the power-forward style that’s always in demand. Now, after one season, his path back into the league may come through a professional tryout, and plenty of Canucks fans will be rooting for him to get one more shot.
At 35 in August, Kane is no longer the player he once was at his peak, and his 2025-26 season reflected that. He finished with 13 goals and 31 points in 71 games, good for sixth on the team in scoring.
He also led Vancouver with 92 penalty minutes, ranked second on the club with 171 shots on goal, and still logged meaningful 5-on-5 minutes. The numbers weren’t eye-popping, but they did show a player who could still help in the right situation.
That’s what makes Kane such an interesting gamble. He’s only two years removed from a 24-goal season with the Edmonton Oilers, and players with his size, skill, and experience don’t just vanish.
The bigger question is whether he can embrace a reduced role and prove he still has enough left to matter. He might not be back in Vancouver, but there will be no shortage of fans hoping he finds another opportunity.
Cootes, meanwhile, is giving the Canucks a very different kind of reason for optimism. Vancouver has spent plenty of time talking about the future, and the next step is identifying players who can become part of the team’s identity.
Skill is part of that, but so is leadership. That’s why it stands out that Cootes wore the captain’s “C” for Team Canada at the World Junior Summer Showcase.
The 15th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft already had a leadership résumé before that. He captained Canada’s U-18 team to a gold medal, served as captain of the Seattle Thunderbirds, and now has another notable responsibility on a big stage. The Canucks know they have a talented forward, but the repeated trust he’s earned as a leader says plenty about what else he brings.
That matters for a team trying to shape its future. NHL clubs eventually have to replace the voices that set the tone in the room, and Vancouver is no different.
Cootes may still be a ways off from making his mark in the league, but learning how to lead before he gets there could be just as valuable as anything he does on the ice. For the Canucks, that’s the kind of prospect development win that can pay off down the line.
Put the two stories together, and the theme is clear. Kane is fighting to prove he still belongs.
Cootes is showing he can eventually lead. And for Vancouver, both are reminders that the next version of this team will be shaped by players who bring more than just numbers.
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Elias Pettersson remains the name that gives the discussion its weight, but there is no sign a Pettersson-for-Wright move is close. For now, the Canucks are still sorting through the risk and reward on both sides of the equation, with any deal of that size carrying major implications for how the roster is built and how quickly the next wave of players is expected to matter. [Read more 🡒]
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Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi and Aatu Rty all figure into the conversation, and their previous-season showings only sharpen the debate over how the forward groups should be arranged. The blue line has its own decisions to make as well, with Oleksiak and Schenn adding size and experience to a defense corps that will need the right pairings to stabilize things from the start. For Malhotra, the challenge is clear: settle the combinations early enough that the Canucks can open the season with some clarity instead of spending October searching for chemistry. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks July Moves Show How This Rebuild Is Really Taking Shape
July has given a clearer picture of how the Canucks want this next phase to look, and it has not been built around splashy one-off headlines so much as a steady string of moves that touch nearly every layer of the organization. Vancouver brought in Luke Schenn, Jamie Oleksiak and Paul Cotter, sent Marcus Pettersson to the New York Rangers for a 2030 first-round draft pick, and finished filling out both its NHL and AHL coaching staffs.
The month also showed how much the club is trying to tighten the links between the rink, the front office and the future. Alex Edler has been added as a player development coach, Cammi Granato has been reassigned within hockey operations, the 2026-27 schedule is already out, training camp is headed back to Penticton and the team has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Vancouver to explore a practice facility at Britannia Community Centre. Put together, those pieces suggest a rebuild that is being shaped as much by structure and planning as by the next roster decision still to come. [Read more 🡒]