2025 15th-overall pick Braeden Cootes is “in the driver’s seat” to make the Vancouver Canucks’ season-opening roster, reports The Athletic’s Thomas Drance . Per Drance, Cootes’ performance this preseason and training camp has been so impressive that internally, the “conversation around him is beginning to shift materially” amongst Canucks decision-makers.

According to Drance, the team’s “internal discussion” around Cootes has shifted from whether Cootes should get early-season NHL games (a prospect Drance called “increasingly likely”) to whether he can sustain this high level all year or is best served returning to the WHL.

For those not paying close attention to Canucks training camp, this is likely to be a surprising development, as most 18-year-olds who make it onto NHL rosters

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