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Canucks show off new-look lines and defence pairs at training camp

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Sep 17 2026, 8:31 pm
Canucks show off new-look lines and defence pairs at training camp
Filip Hronek leads the Vancouver Canucks onto the ice at training camp in Penticton. (@Canucks/X)

The Manny Malhotra era has begun, as the new Vancouver Canucks head coach put his team through the paces in Penticton on Thursday.

Malhotra, who is implementing a new defensive system, showed off new-look lines and defence pairs.

While coaches always warn not to read too much into line combinations on the first day of training camp, there isn’t a lot of time between now and the start of the regular season on Sept. 29.

The preseason has been shortened this year to just four games, meaning there isn’t a ton of time to experiment.

malhotra canucks training camp

Malhotra drawing up the drills. (@Canucks/X)

“This is something that veteran guys have never experienced before, in terms of the amount of exhibition games they’re allowed to play. The length of camp is obviously as short as it’s ever been,” Malhotra said on Wednesday, before heading to Penticton.

“So yeah, there’s not a whole lot of wiggle room to experiment. It’s trying to find what’s going to work on night one as quickly as possible. Obviously, that’s going to be a work in progress.”

Malhotra backed up his words with line combinations that already appear to be NHL-ready. Here’s what our Canucks reporter, Daniel Wagner, observed at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

Two big takeaways came from the first group to hit the ice.

First, we found out who was on Elias Pettersson’s line. Pettersson was skating with Jake DeBrusk, who was his most common linemate last season, along with Linus Karlsson.

Filip Hronek, meanwhile, wasn’t paired with Zeev Buium as many expected. Instead, he lined up beside 6-foot-7 newcomer Jamie Oleksiak.

In Group B, we saw Jonathan Lekkerimäki put in a position to succeed, playing alongside Marco Rossi and Liam Öhgren. Filip Chytil lined up at centre, not the wing, as some suggested for him.

Buium was paired with Luke Schenn, while Elias Pettersson and Tom Willander formed a duo on defence.

 

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From the above combinations, it’s not hard to imagine an opening-night lineup that looks like this:

DeBrusk-Pettersson-Karlsson
Ohgren-Rossi-Lekkerimäki
Cotter-Chytil-Boeser
O’Connor-Sasson-Gallagher

Oleksiak-Hronek
Buium-Schenn
Pettersson-Willander

Lankinen
Tolopilo

Notably, that excludes the likes of Aatu Räty, Arshdeep Bains, Braeden Cootes, Adam Novotny, Victor Mancini, and Kirill Kudryatsev, but there’s still time for those players and others to win spots in the opening-night lineup.

The Canucks begin the preseason Saturday in Seattle, before heading to Calgary on Tuesday. The final two preseason games are both scheduled for Rogers Arena, against the Edmonton Oilers on Sept. 24 and the Seattle Kraken on Sept. 26.

 

 

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