BY HARPREET PANDHER
Broadcaster on Hockey Night in Canada Punjabi and BC Lions Football Punjabi
IG/X/TikTok: @harppandher
THE Vancouver Canucks are two games into the preseason, and there have been some positives despite dropping both games.
After opening the preseason against Seattle, Vancouver faced the Calgary Flames on Tuesday night and lost 3-1. The biggest concern was the lack of offence. The Canucks were heavily outshot, with Calgary controlling much of the game. Vancouver finished with just 10 shots on goal, while the Flames had 31.
One of the bright spots has been the chemistry between Arshdeep Bains and Braeden Cootes.
The two have played together throughout training camp and connected again against Calgary. Cootes helped create the play that led to Bains’ goal, and the pair continued to look dangerous when they were reunited later in the game. Their ability to find each other in transition and create offence has been one of the more noticeable positives through the first two preseason games.
Bains has also scored in both preseason games, while Cootes continues to make an impression as the Canucks evaluate their young players.
Canucks Make 15 Cuts
The Canucks trimmed their preseason roster by 15 players on Wednesday, bringing the roster down to 31.
The players moving out of the main NHL group are:
Forwards: Yaroslav Bryzgalov, Riley Patterson, Trey Fix-Wolansky, Brooks Rogowski, Ilya Safonov, Ty Mueller, Ben Berard, Adam Novotný and Chase Wouters.
Defencemen: Sawyer Mynio, Isaac Belliveau, Jimmy Schuldt, Cole Clayton and Kirill Kudryavtsev.
Goaltender: Aleksei Medvedev.
Some players were assigned to Abbotsford, while others were placed on waivers, released from PTOs or returned to their junior teams.
With the roster now down to 31 players, the competition for the remaining spots becomes much clearer.
Oilers Coming to Rogers Arena
The Canucks are back in action Thursday night when they host the Edmonton Oilers in their first home preseason game.
The smaller roster should give fans a better look at players who are competing for opening night jobs. Bains and Cootes are among the young players worth watching, while the Canucks will also be looking for a much stronger offensive performance after struggling to generate shots against Calgary.
Thursday’s game should provide another important test as Vancouver gets closer to finalizing its roster for the regular season.
Buckle up folks, the rebuild is here.
The Sedins are now running the hockey operation as co-presidents, Ryan Johnson is in as general manager, and Manny Malhotra is behind the bench as head coach.
A new era has officially begun in Vancouver.
With the preseason winding down and the regular season just around the corner, Canucks fans are about to get their first real look at what this new direction will look like on the ice.
The rebuild is underway.
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