With 59 days left before the Vancouver Canucks open the 2026-27 season in Edmonton against the Oilers on Sept. 29, the roster picture is starting to come into focus. Under new head coach Manny Malhotra, the question isn’t just who’s on the ice for Game 1 - it’s how different this team looks after a busy offseason and a much-needed rebuild.
The Canucks added four new players, and the forward group has the clearest chance to look different right away. That matters because this was a bottom-five scoring team last season, and Vancouver brought in Paul Cotter and Brendan Gallagher from the New Jersey Devils and the Montreal Canadiens. Neither move screams instant offensive fix, but both players bring skill and work ethic that could give the group a different edge.
The top six is where the real debate starts. Elias Pettersson is still the most expensive piece in the lineup at an eight-year, $11.6 million annual average value deal, but his production has dropped since signing it.
He led the Canucks in points with 51, though that was only two more than defenseman Filip Hronek and three more than Brock Boeser. Jake DeBrusk paced the club with 23 goals, while Hronek led in assists with 41.
If Pettersson is going to be viewed as the true first-line center, 51 points won’t cut it - he needs to be closer to 80.
Marco Rossi complicates the picture in a way the Canucks probably welcome. After arriving from the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 12, 2025 in the Quinn Hughes trade, Rossi produced eight goals and 22 points in 33 games.
That kind of stretch makes a strong argument for him to start on the top line, especially with his $5 million salary sitting well below Pettersson’s number. If Rossi keeps trending upward, he could force the issue.
On the other hand, sliding Pettersson alongside DeBrusk and newcomer Gallagher could be a way to get more life out of Vancouver’s highest-paid forward.
Aatu Räty is another name to watch up front. He won 60.5% of his faceoffs last season, which is a useful weapon for a team that needs help in that area. He should also get more ice time after tearing it up with the Abbotsford Canucks in the American Hockey League.
On the back end, the Canucks made a couple of additions that could quietly matter a lot. Jamie Oleksiak, at 6-foot-7 and 252 pounds, brings the kind of size that can swallow up space in his own zone and give Tom Willander more freedom to attack.
Luke Schenn could be part of an underrated shutdown pair with Elias Pettersson - the defenseman, not the forward - and both players bring plenty of physicality. Pettersson finished last season with 85 blocks and 136 hits, while Schenn posted 57 blocks and 140 hits.
The pairing to keep an eye on is Zeev Buium with Hronek. They logged 373:44 together at five-on-five last season, and that kind of usage says plenty.
Buium finished with three goals and 12 points in 44 games, while Hronek led the Canucks in assists and was second on the team in points. That duo should be asked to carry a heavy load again.
In goal, the setup remains Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen. The big issue is still Demko’s health. His new three-year deal with an $8.5 million AAV and a full no-move clause has now kicked in, and if Vancouver wants to take a real step forward, it needs him available more often than he’s been over the past couple of seasons.
There’s still time for things to change, and the Canucks have $17.814 million in cap space to work with. But for now, this is the shape of the roster as August begins: a team with some new pieces, some unresolved questions, and a clear need to move past last season’s struggles.
In Other News...
Shane Wright Could Be Caught In Vancouvers Biggest Roster Decision
The Canucks are still staring at one of their bigger roster questions, and it has now spilled into the rumor mill around Seattle Kraken centre Shane Wright. Vancouvers interest has added another layer to an offseason conversation that already centers on whether the club should keep leaning on its established core or make a harder pivot toward younger talent.
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 🡒]
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 🡒]