The Canucks continued keeping the pace high in Day 2 of their 2026 Training Camp.
PENTICTON — Day 2 of Vancouver Canucks 2026 Training Camp has officially concluded, with only one more practice ahead for the team before they take part in their first pre-season game on September 19.
Canucks Head Coach Manny Malhotra maintained the vocal presence he asserted from the day before, not shying away from giving players criticism but also offering encouragement. Continuing yesterday’s pattern, the Head Coach and his coaching staff joined the players for their end of practice bag skate.
Today’s practice put more emphasis on attacking off the rush and generating more offence. There were also some drills focused primarily on O-zone systems, lending themselves to the forwards. One particular drill saw Canucks prospect Yaroslav Bryzgalov work his way into the O-zone with a strong effort, catching fans’ attention after his line found the back of the net.
“Maybe today was more fun for us forwards, but it’s important,” Marco Rossi said in a media availability after Group B finished their practice. “It’s a short camp. We’ve gotta be dialed in, and it doesn’t matter if it’s in the D-zone or O-zone. We’ve gotta be dialed in. But I think we did a pretty good job so far.”
Group B kicked things off for Vancouver today, with practice beginning with some speedy drills that focused on defencemen breaking the puck out. The Canucks maintained the lines first introduced yesterday, including keeping the trio of Brock Boeser, Filip Chytil, and Paul Cotter together.
Also paired on a line together in Group B were Liam Öhgren, Marco Rossi, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Öhgren has had experience playing with both, having skated on a line with Rossi primarily towards the end of the season, and sharing experiences with Lekkerimäki at the IIHF World Junior Championships.
“We know each other very well outside of the rink, and of course that helps,” the forward said. “We played a lot together when we were younger, and just seemed to find each other every time, and it feels good now to play with each other again. I know we had one or a couple of games last year together, and it felt good right away. So it's exciting, and I mean I’m glad that we’re on the line right now.”
“I think it’s just natural,” Lekkerimäki added. “We played with each other for a long time, so I think it’s just natural.”
Vancouver Canucks 2026 Training Camp at the South Okanagan Events Centre in Penticton. (Photo Credit: Izzy Cheung - THN)Group A took to the ice soon after Group B completed their drills, with their practice following a similar structure. Things got physical during the team’s board battle drills towards the end of the skate, featuring a strong performance from Brendan Gallagher that drew cheers from the crowd.
While both practices on both days featured strong showings from a variety of different players, Malhotra emphasized that the togetherness of the team as a collective has been the thing that has stood out most to him.
“I think everybody’s taken a step from yesterday to today. In our discussions, just post-practice, we were quite content with the fact that everybody raised their level. So it’s a good step for our group. I would say I was more impressed with the chemistry that’s being formed in two days from line-to-line. Again, those aren’t the lines that are going to be set in stone, but the fact that they’ve adapted to one-another and created some chemistry after two days of playing together is pretty impressive.”
Vancouver will split up for Day 3 of training camp on Saturday, with one group heading to Seattle to take on the Kraken in their first pre-season game of the year. The other group will remain in Penticton and will take part in the annual blue and white scrimmage. Rosters for the pre-season game and the scrimmage will be available tomorrow.
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