The Vancouver Canucks are closing in on training camp in Penticton, and the conversation around the team has already shifted from last season’s mess to what comes next. With informal captain’s skates underway and camp now just 10 days away, the first real batch of news has arrived. It starts with Zeev Buium, whose long-term future in Vancouver is now set.
Buium signed an eight-year extension on Friday, Sept. 4, carrying a $9.38 million average annual value. Since arriving from Minnesota in the Quinn Hughes blockbuster trade last December, he has fit into the organization quickly and now projects as a major piece of the Canucks’ rebuild. The club clearly views him that way, too, with GM Ryan Johnson pointing to Buium’s pedigree and long-term value rather than just what he brings right now.
“It was pretty easy for me,” Buium said. “When they came with the offer it wasn’t a hard decision to make.
Personally, I wanted to be here for eight years, I didn’t want it to be shorter, and I’m really glad. I love the city.
I love the fan base. I love where this organization is going, and I want to be a Canuck, I want to be here, and hopefully the end goal is obviously a Stanley Cup, and hopefully bring that back one day, and through all the years just really give the fans and everyone here in Vancouver something to cheer for.”
Johnson framed the deal as a commitment to what Buium can become, not just what he is today.
“It’s something that we felt strongly in Zeev, in his pedigree, he’s a proven winner,” Johnson said. “This contract isn’t about Zeev the player today or tomorrow. It’s where we see him in three, four, and five years and so it was something that we felt if both sides could come in agreement and make a commitment to each other, it was something we’d be excited to get done.”
The contract gives Vancouver its top pairing locked in through at least 2032, with Filip Hronek’s deal also running to that point. For a team in the middle of a rebuild, that kind of stability on the back end is a real luxury.
Thatcher Demko is another major storyline heading toward camp, and the early signs are encouraging. He’s been working back from hip surgery and hasn’t played since Jan. 10, but co-president Henrik Sedin offered a positive update Saturday during an interview with Sportsnet.
“He’s doing good…He’s on the ice most days and has a positive attitude. He’s excited, so hopefully he’ll be ready to go when training camp hits.
That’s his goal. It’s still a couple of weeks away, but the reports so far are everything is going well.”
Chris Driedger’s PTO had fueled speculation that Demko might not be ready, but the situation now appears more like extra insurance for camp. If Driedger impresses, there could still be a path for him in the American Hockey League, where Ty Young and Aku Koskenvuo may also need a veteran presence if Nikita Tolopilo remains in Vancouver.
Another name worth watching is Paul Cotter. Signed July 1 to a one-year prove-it deal, the 26-year-old is younger than the veteran trio of Brendan Gallagher, Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn, but old enough to be more than just a project. He sees Vancouver as a place where he can push his game forward.
“Kiefer had a hell of a year while he was here, and I’m looking to be doing the same. I don’t know if that hit record can be broken, which is insane,” [Cotter] said with a laugh.
“But yeah, the opportunity is big. I think this is a place where I’m able to expand my game and show people [what I can do].”
Cotter already brings a heavy style, with 855 hits in 296 career games, and he believes the mix of experienced players and younger ones trying to grow can help reset the culture.
“There’s a good balance between some so-called older guys that have been around that are able to translate what needs to happen to younger guys that are willing to learn, and you need to have both,” Cotter said.
Before any of that gets going in camp, the first official event on the calendar is the Prospects Showcase in Abbotsford. The Canucks and Seattle Kraken prospects will play games on Sept. 12 and 13 after last year’s two-day tournament was held in Everett. The rosters should be announced early this week, with Braeden Cootes, Adam Novotny, Brooks Rogowski and Jonathan Lekkerimaki expected to headline the group.
Caleb Malhotra, the recent third-overall pick, will not take part because of his NCAA commitment. That leaves Novotny and Rogowski as two names to monitor closely, especially if they can follow Cootes’ lead and make enough noise to start building a case for opening night.
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