The Vancouver Canucks are down to their final preseason tune-up, and Saturday’s meeting with the Seattle Kraken should look a lot closer to opening night than anything that came before it.
This is Vancouver’s fourth and last exhibition game, and because the preseason has been shortened, it will only be the second appearance for the team’s veterans. That group looked a little sluggish in Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, but head coach Manny Malhotra said Friday that’s exactly what this stretch is for.
“We discussed it today before practice, it’s an elevation in the overall intensity of our game,” said head coach Manny Malhotra on Friday. “When you get clean, and the execution gets a little better, the pace goes up. Ultimately, we want to be a team that plays with better pace than we showed yesterday.”
Vancouver is also still chasing its first preseason win after dropping the first three games. The results do not carry much weight in a preseason built around evaluation, but the Canucks would still like to give their home crowd something to feel good about with the regular season only three days away.
The most eye-catching part of Vancouver’s projected lineup is the spot handed to Jonathan Lekkerimäki. The 22-year-old winger has three secondary assists this preseason, but the rest of his game has not quite popped. He has not been getting many looks for his shot, has had trouble winning puck battles, and has not been able to fight through contact consistently.
Even so, there is at least some intriguing fit with Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson. DeBrusk has been effective along the boards and around the net, while Pettersson’s playmaking showed promise in the preseason game. In theory, that should help create space for Lekkerimäki to find openings and get his shot off.
There is still runway for Lekkerimäki to become a useful NHL player, but that runway is getting shorter.
That shuffle pushes Linus Karlsson lower in the lineup. He did not look out of place on the top line in the previous game, but there may be too much overlap in the way he and DeBrusk attack. Karlsson could still end up in that spot when the regular season begins, though it may make more sense for him to bring that same style to a different line.
Another change comes at centre, where Paul Cotter is set to fill in for the injured Filip Chytil. Aatu Räty is expected to take over that role when the regular season starts, but he is considered a veteran and has already played two preseason games, which makes him unavailable for Saturday.
Kevin Lankinen is expected to start in goal for Vancouver. The Canucks also claimed Leevi Meriläinen off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday, though the Finnish goaltender may not have arrived in Vancouver yet.
With an earlier 4 p.m. start, the Canucks did not hold a game-day skate, and there does not appear to be much reason to expect changes from Friday’s open practice group. Their projected lines are:
Jake DeBrusk - Elias Pettersson - Jonathan Lekkerimäki
Liam Öhgren - Marco Rossi - Brock Boeser
Drew O’Connor - Max Sasson - Linus Karlsson
Arshdeep Bains - Paul Cotter - Brendan Gallagher
Zeev Buium - Filip Hronek
Jamie Oleksiak - Tom Willander
Elias Pettersson - Luke Schenn
Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo
Seattle is also expected to ice something close to its regular-season group, though its forward mix is less certain. Mackie Samoskevich, who was supposed to be on the top line, is injured and will not make the trip to Vancouver. Without a game-day skate, it is hard to know exactly who replaces him, and Ryan Winterton is listed as the likely stand-in even though he may not actually play.
The Kraken’s projected lineup is:
Jared McCann - Matty Beniers - Ryan Winterton
Bobby McMann - Chandler Stephenson - Jordan Eberle
Kaapo Kakko - Berkly Catton - Shane Wright
Curtis Douglas - Oscar Fisker Mølgaard - Ben Meyers
Vince Dunn - Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans - Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren - Cale Fleury
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
Joey Daccord is expected to start in goal for Seattle.
In Other News...
Canucks Fans Have A New Rogers Arena Drink Price Frustration
The price of a night out at Rogers Arena has crept up again this season, and Canucks fans are already noticing the details in the concessions stand. Beer and non-alcoholic drinks are both a little more expensive than they were before, with the change on the 24-ounce beer coming down to a one-cent bump from rounding, while the 12-ounce option has gone up by 25 cents.
The bigger shift may be behind the soda counter, where the team has moved from Pepsi to Coca-Cola products. That switch has brought new drink choices for fans, but it has also pushed some soft drink prices higher, adding another small irritation to the cost of catching a game in person. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks May Have A Sleeper Prospect Fans Need To Watch
Yaroslav Bryzgalov is already giving Canucks fans a reason to file away his name. The 19-year-old Belarusian forward, taken 97th overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, has spent this season with the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL, where his playmaking touch and willingness to play through traffic have stood out enough to make him look like more than a late-round flier.
He also got his first taste of the organization at rookie camp, a small but meaningful step for a prospect still early in his path. Bryzgalov is expected to go back to the WHL for another season before heading to Merrimack College in 2027-28, so the Canucks will have to be patient, but his combination of skill and physicality makes him the kind of sleeper worth tracking closely. [Read more 🡒]
Bruins Are Suddenly Right In The Middle Of A Trade Rumor Fans Will Love
Filip Chytils preseason collision has left the Canucks waiting on more clarity, and the early return plan is not exactly short-term. Vancouver has already moved the forward to injured reserve after what was described as a muscular strain, with his recovery expected to be week to week. For a club trying to sort out its depth as camp rolls along, it is another early reminder of how quickly the margins can tighten before the games start to count.
Around the league, the rumor mill is already running hot, and the Bruins have found themselves right in the middle of one of the louder ones. Reports have Boston as a leading candidate to pursue Kirill Marchenko, while other clubs are said to be in the mix and a separate three-way framework involving Connor Hellebuyck and Alexander Nikishin is also being discussed among multiple teams. For Vancouver fans keeping one eye on the Canucks and the other on the rest of the Pacific race, it is the kind of early-season trade chatter that can reshape the conversation before opening night even arrives. [Read more 🡒]