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Vancouver Canucks opening-night roster set and here's their salary cap situation

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Oct 6 2025, 8:20 pm
Vancouver Canucks opening-night roster set and here's their salary cap situation
@Canucks/X

Training camp is over, and the Vancouver Canucks are ready to start the 2025-26 season.

The Canucks revealed their opening-night lineup on Monday, prior to the NHL’s 2 p.m. PDT roster deadline.

Braeden Cootes has made the team, becoming the first 18-year-old to crack the Canucks’ lineup out of training camp in 35 years. The first-round pick impressed the coaching staff throughout the preseason with his maturity and skill.

Jonathan Lekkerimäki also impressed, as he put an exclamation point on his preseason with a pair of goals against the Edmonton Oilers on Friday.

Other bubble guys to make the team include Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson, and Aatu Räty on forward, as well as Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Elias Pettersson on defence.

Victor Mancini, Tom Willander, and Max Sasson were among the final cuts. All three are exempt from waivers. By contrast, Bains, Karlsson, Räty, and Joseph would have each had to clear waivers in order to be sent down to the AHL.

Canucks opening-night roster

The Canucks will enter the season with 14 forwards, seven defencemen, and two goaltenders.

Forwards (14)

  • Elias Pettersson
  • Brock Boeser
  • Jake DeBrusk
  • Conor Garland
  • Evander Kane
  • Filip Chytil
  • Teddy Blueger
  • Kiefer Sherwood
  • Drew O’Connor
  • Aatu Räty
  • Braeden Cootes
  • Jonathan Lekkerimäki
  • Arshdeep Bains
  • Linus Karlsson

Defencemen (seven)

  • Quinn Hughes
  • Filip Hronek
  • Marcus Pettersson
  • Tyler Myers
  • Derek Forbort
  • Elias Pettersson
  • Pierre-Olivier Joseph

Goaltenders (two)

  • Thatcher Demko
  • Kevin Lankinen

Injured reserve (one)

  • Nils Höglander

How much cap space the Canucks have

GM Patrik Allvin has some wiggle room with respect to the salary cap.

The Canucks have $1.3 million in projected cap space, per PuckPedia.

PuckPedia projects that the Canucks are on track to afford to add a $6.1-million player at the trade deadline.

The puck drops on the Canucks’ regular season on Thursday, with a home game against the Calgary Flames.

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