Welcome back to another Vancouver Canucks 2024–25 report card. In this series, The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks site editors recap the seasons of each Canuck who played 10 or more games for Vancouver in the 2024–25 season and assign them a letter grade. Today, we will be taking a look at center Aatu Räty’s 2024–25 season.
Räty is one of eight players on this list who played games for both Vancouver and the Abbotsford Canucks in 2024–25. He finished second in points on Abbotsford with 17 goals and 23 assists in 43 games and also registered seven goals and four assists in 33 games with Vancouver. The forward has had Canucks fans’ eyes on him ever since being acquired in the Bo Horvat trade back in 2023.
Even before the season started, Räty impressed the Canucks organization with his push for a roster spot during the Canucks’ 2024 training camp. Former Vancouver head coach Rick Tocchet made note of how Räty looked like “a different player” after the 2024 off-season. The center, who took his faceoff game to another level this season, blitzed through training camp with an increased playing speed and willingness to fight in the dirtier areas. Because of this, Räty was part of Vancouver’s opening night roster, with the forward collecting an assist in the Canucks’ 6–5 overtime defeat against the Calgary Flames to start the 2024–25 season.
While Räty played in Vancouver’s first three games of the season, he was soon sent back down to Abbotsford. He had a solid stretch of NHL playing time in November and the start of December, but didn’t end up cracking the lineup for a solid period of time again until the end of March. In the AHL, Räty flourished offensively, putting together a few healthy point streaks such as an eight-point effort in three games in January.
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This final stretch of play with Vancouver was when Räty made a solid impression, as injuries to Filip Chytil and Elias Pettersson forced the Canucks to move all their centers up in the lineup. Although the numbers are skewed due to injuries and playing time, Räty had the highest faceoff win percentage of all Canucks centers still with the team by the end of the season with 57.36%. Additionally, he took the fourth-most faceoffs of all active Canucks, only having less than Teddy Blueger, Elias Pettersson, and Pius Suter.
Räty also made an offensive impact during this span of time. With Vancouver’s offence depleted, Räty contributed a two-goal game, two goal streaks of two games each, and an effort of four points in three games in April. He chipped in three assists in six games during Abbotsford’s Calder Cup run, but was injured throughout the playoffs and ultimately didn’t dress after Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals.
2024–25 was a solid season for Räty, who contributed positively to his efforts of securing a full-time roster spot with Vancouver. For his improvements to his play, Räty’s 2024–25 season gets a B.
As it stands, it looks like Vancouver will be relying heavily on Räty in the 2025–26 season. The organization signed him to a two-year contract extension and let Pius Suter walk in free agency, which opens up a spot in Vancouver’s lineup for one more center. Of course, Vancouver could still opt to sign a free-agent center or trade for one closer to the start of the season, but if the team chooses not to make any more changes to their current lineup, this spot could very easily be Räty’s to lose.
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