Vancouver Canucks lines vs. Seattle Kraken (Sept. 26, 2026)
It feels like the preseason has only just begun, and now it’s over.
The Vancouver Canucks will play their fourth and final preseason game on Saturday evening against the Seattle Kraken. The shortened preseason means that this will be just the second game for the Canucks’ veterans.
Those veterans looked a little bit rusty in Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers, but that’s the point of the preseason. The rust has been shaken off, at least a little bit, and now it’s time to ramp up for the regular season, which is just three days away.
“We discussed it today before practice, it’s an elevation in the overall intensity of our game,” said head coach Manny Malhotra on Friday. “When you get clean, and the execution gets a little better, the pace goes up. Ultimately, we want to be a team that plays with better pace than we showed yesterday.”
The Canucks will also be looking to head into the regular season on a positive note after losing the first three games.
While wins and losses aren’t the point of the preseason — or really the point of the regular season for a rebuilding team like the Canucks — they’ll still want to give their home fans a reason to cheer.
Vancouver Canucks projected lines
With an earlier start at 4 p.m., the Canucks didn’t hold a game-day skate, but it’s unlikely there would be any changes from the lines they put on the ice for Friday’s open practice.
Here are the Canucks’ projected lines:
Jake DeBrusk – Elias Pettersson – Jonathan Lekkerimäki
Liam Ă–hgren – Marco Rossi – Brock Boeser
Drew O’Connor – Max Sasson – Linus Karlsson
Arshdeep Bains – Paul Cotter – Brendan Gallagher
Zeev Buium – Filip Hronek
Jamie Oleksiak – Tom Willander
Elias Pettersson – Luke Schenn
Kevin Lankinen
Nikita Tolopilo
The biggest thing that jumps out about this lineup is the opportunity being given to Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
The 22-year-old winger has picked up three secondary assists in the preseason but has yet to truly impress. He has found few opportunities to use his elite shot, has struggled to win puck battles, and hasn’t been able to battle through contact.
Still, Lekkerimäki could provide an interesting dimension to Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson. DeBrusk has been strong on the walls and gets to the net well, while Pettersson’s playmaking showed promise in the preseason game. That should theoretically give Lekkerimäki chances to find some open space on the ice where DeBrusk and Pettersson can find him.
There’s still time for Lekkerimäki to become an impactful NHL player, but that time is starting to run short.
That moves Linus Karlsson down the lineup. He didn’t look bad on the top line in the previous game, but there might be too many similarities in how he and DeBrusk play.
Karlsson might still end up on the top line for the start of the regular season, but it could be better for him to provide that same element to another line.
Paul Cotter will step in at centre after the injury to Filip Chytil, but it’s likely that Aatu Räty will take that spot when the regular season starts. Since Räty is considered a veteran and has already played two preseason games, he is ineligible to play in Saturday’s game.
The Canucks’ starting goaltender is expected to be Kevin Lankinen. The Canucks claimed Leevi Meriläinen off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday, but the Finnish goaltender may not be in Vancouver yet.
Seattle Kraken projected lines
Like the Canucks, the Kraken will be icing a lineup close to what they’ll use to start the regular season.
Their lines, however, are somewhat up in the air. Mackie Samoskevich, who was expected to be on the top line for the Kraken, is injured and won’t make the trip to Vancouver. The lack of a game-day skate for the Kraken makes it tough to predict who will take his spot in the lineup.
Here are the Kraken’s projected lines, with the caveat that Samoskevich has been replaced with Ryan Winterton, who may not actually play. Look for an update closer to game time.
Jared McCann – Matty Beniers – Ryan Winterton
Bobby McMann – Chandler Stephenson – Jordan Eberle
Kaapo Kakko – Berkly Catton – Shane Wright
Curtis Douglas – Oscar Fisker Mølgaard – Ben Meyers
Vince Dunn – Adam Larsson
Ryker Evans – Brandon Montour
Ryan Lindgren – Cale Fleury
Joey Daccord
Philipp Grubauer
The Kraken’s starting goaltender is expected to be Joey Daccord.