Three Vancouver Canucks prospects separated themselves from the pack during this year’s Prospects Showcase, and all three left their mark in different ways as the club split the two-game set with the Seattle Kraken.
Vancouver dropped Game 1 by a 7-3 score before bouncing back with a 5-2 win in Game 2, but the weekend wasn’t just about the results. Adam Novotný, Brooks Rogowski and Braeden Cootes each found a way to make themselves hard to ignore.
Novotný needed a period to settle in, but once he did, the winger started driving the action. He scored in both games and finished the weekend with four points, giving the Abbotsford crowd plenty to watch. The more comfortable he looked, the more assertive he became, especially by Game 2, when he was mixing it up with Kraken prospects after the whistle and using strong board work to create chances for teammates.
Brooks Rogowski, meanwhile, showed he could handle a heavy workload in more than one role. He shifted from center to wing over the two games, logged time on Vancouver’s first-unit power play early in the showcase, and also saw penalty-kill duty in both contests.
His best offensive showing came in Game 2, when he moved up to a line with Novotný and Cootes and picked up two assists, including a sharp cross-zone feed to Cootes. Even when he wasn’t on the scoresheet, the 6-foot-7 forward was involved, helping generate looks and driving hard to the net.
“He’s got an elite shot release. You saw him on his first goal today - that’s pretty sick.
Just with his speed too, he just creates so well. His speed opens up ice for everyone else because guys kind of duplicate on him and it just creates more space for everybody.
For a guy like him, he’s such a threat. It sometimes takes the pressure off me a little bit to give me some more space to make a play," Rogowski said of Novotný after Game 2.
Abbotsford Canucks head coach Ryan Papaioannou also praised Rogowski’s touch after the second game. "I think his his touches for a big man are pretty special," Papaioannou said. "Obviously, he gets around real well for a big guy, but I just think when he has guys around him, he can make plays with, he's certainly got a stick."
Cootes looked like the kind of player who naturally pulls a group together. The center worked on Vancouver’s top line in both games, spending time with Ilya Safonov and Bennett Schimek as well as Rogowski and Novotný.
He brought speed through the offensive zone, played an important role on the penalty kill, and scored the fourth goal in Vancouver’s second game. He also created a quality shorthanded chance with a solo rush effort.
Cootes was one of only a few Canucks prospects to wear an “A” over the weekend, and he was the only Canucks player to wear an “A” while still under 20 years old.
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