One Question For Each Position Heading Into Canucks 2026 Training Camp

The Vancouver Canucks will begin their 2026–27 regular season on September 29 against the Edmonton Oilers. Before puck drop on their first game of the season, however, they must first cut down their roster through their four-day training camp (September 17 to 20) and four-game pre-season. 

While Vancouver has yet to release their full training camp roster, the team still has many questions surrounding their personnel and what their deployment could look like heading into the pre-season. Here is one question for each position as the Canucks prepare to enter their 2026 training camp. 

There are a few different combinations the Canucks could work with regarding their first line. The likeliest scenario is that Elias Pettersson reprises his role as Vancouver’s first-line center, though how he ends up playing under new Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra will likely differ compared to how he has been utilized throughout the past couple of seasons. 

Operating under the assumption that Pettersson remains at center on the Canucks’ first line, there are a couple of options Vancouver could go with when picking out his wingers. Through 2025–26, no player spent more time on Pettersson’s wing than Jake DeBrusk, with the duo playing a grand total of 737:07 minutes together. Pending any unexpected training camp performances, DeBrusk will likely be the player that slots in on Vancouver’s top-line alongside Pettersson. 

Where more of the debate starts is on Pettersson’s right side, which featured a rotating cast of wingers as the 2025–26 season went on. Of players still with the Canucks, Brock Boeser spent the most time on a line with Pettersson and DeBrusk, with the trio clocking in a grand total of 276:54 minutes together. Linus Karlsson also played with the pairing for 116:40 minutes, during which he injected a fair bit of jump into the line with his hustle and forecheck. Another option that Vancouver could go with is putting newcomer Paul Cotter with Pettersson and DeBrusk to add some physicality to their line. 

Realistically, the choices for Vancouver’s top-unit power play quarterback are currently down to two — Filip Hronek and Zeev Buium. In 2025–26, it was Hronek who logged the most overall power play time for the Canucks with a total of 158:42 minutes. Heading into the upcoming year, the veteran defenceman would be a good option for the Canucks when it comes to utilizing his hefty shot. 21 of the 49 points he registered last year came on the power play, with exactly half of the goals he scored throughout the season (8) coming on the man-advantage. 

If the Canucks are banking on Buium being a core part of their future D-core — which they are, given the eight-year extension he signed with the team at the start of September — they’d be best suited to give the young defenceman a twirl on Vancouver’s top-unit for an extended period of time. Buium did manage to log 79:40 minutes on the man-advantage in his 45 games as a Canuck last year, though he could benefit from more on Vancouver’s first-unit. With player development taking precedence over contention for the Canucks in the coming years, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Buium take the role of Vancouver’s first-unit power-play quarterback come the end of the season. 

The Canucks are in an intriguing position in net. At the end of the 2025–26 season, Vancouver looked as though they may have had yet another issue with their goaltending with Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen, and Nikita Tolopilo all in consideration for roles at the NHL level. However, with Demko still not practicing with the team quite yet (and currently undetermined status-wise for training camp), that number has dropped to two. 

With uncertainty surrounding Demko’s status, Vancouver signed veteran goaltender Chris Driedger to a PTO. Depending on his performance during the pre-season and training camp, he could play his way into signing a full contract with the Canucks if they need the extra support in Demko’s place. 

This matter is slightly more complicated than simply signing Driedger. 

Vancouver could sign Driedger, but doing-so would leave them with an even more cluttered goaltending cabinet by the time Demko returns. Even without Demko, the Canucks would have three goaltenders on the roster, which doesn’t leave much — if any — room for one of those three goaltenders to start in games. 

What’s more, Tolopilo now requires waivers to be sent down to the AHL. If Vancouver were to sign Driedger to try and fill the gap left by Demko, eventually, the team would have to send at least one of him or Tolopilo down to the AHL — with the move potentially resulting in a claim that would leave them down a goaltender. 

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