The Vancouver Canucks have revealed their roster for the 2025-26 NHL season.
Every team had a deadline yesterday to trim their team down to 23 players and announce their official opening night roster, and the Canucks did so at 12:30 p.m. P.T.
Forwards (15, 14 Healthy):
Arshdeep Bains, Teddy Bleuger, Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, Braeden Cootes, Jake DeBrusk, Conor Garland, Evander Kane, Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Drew O’Connor, Elias Pettersson, Aatu Raty & Kiefer Sherwood
The majority of the listed forwards were expected to make the Canucks out of camp, but the biggest surprise on that list is 18-year-old forward Braeden Cootes. A first-round draft pick in 2025, he beat out players who have been in the Canucks organization for several seasons, like Max Sasson and Nilas Aman.
Related: Braeden Cootes Is a Great Pick for the Vancouver Canucks
It is currently unknown if Cootes will be staying with the Canucks all season or for just a short period of time. But it is clear that Vancouver was impressed by his abilities and trusted him enough to play him in the first few games this season.
Defencemen (7)
Derek Forbort, Filip Hronek, Quinn Hughes, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Tyler Myers, Elias Pettersson, & Marcus Pettersson
On the defensive side of the ice, there were no major surprises of who would be on the Canucks’ roster, but they will have a luxury on defence this season. Vancouver’s defensive depth this season will be one of its biggest strengths.
Obviously, having a former Norris Trophy winner in Quinn Hughes will always help you stay competitive, but Vancouver has a great cast of players outside of Hughes to help on the blue line.
Another significant boost will be the players who are currently playing in Abbotsford. Both Tom Willander and Victor Mancini will be playing in the American Hockey League for now. Still, I believe they are already NHL players who sadly could not make the lineup because of a numbers issue. They are great depth for Vancouver, and their time will come when an injury inevitably happens.
Goaltenders (2):
Thatcher Demko, & Kevin Lankinen
No surprises with these two being Vancouver’s goaltenders heading into game one. There are high expectations for both players, as they were both given big extensions over the last year.
If both Demko and Lankinen can stay relatively healthy throughout the season, Vancouver could have one of the best goaltending tandems in the NHL. It’s a tandem that could be very useful come playoff time, which is where the Canucks want to be this season.
Vancouver will begin their season on Thursday at home against the Calgary Flames and will look to have a bounce-back season after a disappointing 2024-25.
