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I Watched This Game: Cootes shines in Canucks preseason loss to Kraken

Daniel Wagner
Daniel Wagner
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Sep 20 2026, 7:36 am
I Watched This Game: Cootes shines in Canucks preseason loss to Kraken
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Only a few of the players wearing a Vancouver Canucks jersey on the ice in Seattle on Saturday night will actually play for the Canucks this season.

But that was definitely Vancouver Canucks hockey.

Falling behind by multiple goals early, clawing their way back into the game to give fans hope late, and then dashing that hope by giving up a crushing goal? That’s the Canucks we all know and tolerate.

Of course, it’s just the preseason. Wins and losses aren’t important, as they’ll have no relevance to the regular season. Like Whose Line Is It Anyway?, the points don’t matter.

That doesn’t mean the stakes are low. While the results of preseason games are meaningless, these games are packed full of meaning for the various prospects and veterans battling for a spot in an NHL lineup.

At stake for those players? Just their childhood dream of playing in the NHL, along with the financial incentive of an NHL paycheck. That’s all.

With the preseason shortened to just four games, there’s little time to catch the eye of the Canucks’ coaches and management. They have to make an impression immediately, because who knows when they’ll get another chance?

With that in mind, a few of the Canucks helped their cause and a few very much did not when I watched this game.

  • I’m new here at Offside/Daily Hive, so for those unfamiliar, this is my regular postgame feature: I Watched This Game. It features observations, analysis, highlights, quips, and quotes. What are my qualifications for writing this feature? Well, you see, I watched this game.
  • While the Canucks, as a whole, didn’t play particularly well, their performance comes with some contextual caveats. They sent a very young squad down to Seattle, while the Kraken had a little more time on their side, with multiple players with 100+ NHL games under their belts.
  • Nikita Tolopilo got the start for the Canucks and played the full game, which isn’t always a given in the preseason. While he gave up four goals on 29 shots, it’s hard to fault him too much given that the standard setting for preseason hockey is C̸̡̹̥̍H̶͚͚͇̮́͋̅́̏A̷̖̰̿̂͜Ö̷̧͈̲͔́̈̊̿̓͜S̷̛͚͕̀̎̔, which doesn’t give goaltenders much of a chance to shine. He made some sharp stops on breakaways and odd-man rushes, which is about all you can hope for.
  • “It looked like a preseason game,” said head coach Manny Malhotra. “Within that, there were some good elements of seeing the structure that we’ve been working on the last couple of days. A couple of good individual efforts. But it was as expected: a little bit sloppy.”
  • Victor Mancini has a prime opportunity to earn a spot on the Canucks’ NHL roster, but he didn’t make the most of that opportunity on Saturday. His worst moment came midway through the first period when he failed to recognize the pressure of two Kraken forecheckers and tried to stickhandle his way out of danger. He handed the puck over for a prime scoring chance, leading to a Sawyer Mynio penalty in front of the net.
  • The Kraken opened the scoring on the subsequent power play, as Jani Nyman fired a puck so hard that it went right through Tolopilo’s glove. At least, that’s what Tolopilo seemed to think as he stared at his glove like Hamlet staring at Yorick’s skull. “How could you betray me after we’ve been through so much together?” he was probably thinking.

  • It was a tough game for Sawyer Mynio. The opening goal was scored after his penalty, then he lost a battle with Jacob Melanson down low that led to the second Kraken goal. It’s fair to say that he’s likely to start the season in the AHL and will need to add some strength before he’s ready to make the jump to the NHL.

  • The free-agent signing of Matthew Stienburg went entirely unheralded, which is understandable. The 25-year-old forward has had a career plagued by injuries, and he’s appeared in just 8 NHL games. But on Saturday, like the hair on the mole of the chosen one, he was very noticeable.
  • The Stienburgian One showed plenty of jump for the Canucks, drew a penalty to end a Kraken power play, and was effective on the forecheck. He also demonstrated a knack for getting the puck to the net, leading the Canucks with five shots on goal, including a couple of A-1 power play chances.

  • Aatu Räty remains an absolute wizard in the faceoff circle. He went 12-for-18 on draws in this game, which is a dominant performance. Outside of the faceoffs, however, it was a mixed bag. He drew a penalty on a drive to the net, though he also took a penalty of his own, and he finished the game with just a single shot attempt, which was blocked.
  • The Kraken took a 3-0 lead early in the third period on another power play goal. The limited practice time showed, as the Canucks’ penalty kill got caught running around the defensive zone, leaving Mancini like Alexander Selkirk on an island all by himself. Unfortunately, Mancini wasn’t quite as resourceful as Selkirk and failed to take away either the passing or the shooting lane as Logan Morrison sent the puck inside the far post.

  • Adam Novotný nearly got the Canucks on the board midway through the third period. A Kirill Kudryavtsev shot created a scramble in front of the net, and the puck popped out to Novotný on the far side. His quick shot looked bound for the back of the net until Cale Fleury came sliding in like Alessandro Nesta to make the save.

  • Braeden Cootes was the story of last year’s preseason, and he looks poised to become the story of the year again. He showed some fantastic chemistry with Arshdeep Bains on the top line, picking up a goal and an assist.
  • Cootes scored the first Canucks goal on a 2-on-1 with Bains that he created. Bains passed to Cootes, then opened up for a potential one-timer, forcing goaltender Nikke Kokko to respect the possibility of the return pass. Cootes kept the possibility of Schrödinger’s One-Timer available as long as he could, staring at Bains right up until the point he opened the box and — surprise! — it was a shot the whole time, and it zipped past Kokko’s blocker.

  • The Canucks then got a power play in the silliest way possible. Jagger Firkus somehow skated directly into his own post, dislodging the net for a delay of game penalty. Jagger Firkus has been playing hockey for most of his life and has two professional seasons under his belt. Jagger Firkus led the WHL in scoring a few years back with 61 goals and 126 points. Jagger Firkus ought to know where the net is.

  • Cootes set up Bains on the power play to narrow the lead to one. It was an outstanding pass that illustrates Cootes’s vision, but what was really impressive was the deception. Just like for his goal, Cootes kept his eyes fixed on the opposite of his target, as he stared down the net as if he was going to shoot the whole way before suddenly zipping the puck cross-seam to Bains, who finished off the one-timer from a tight angle.

  • The neat element of that goal was that Malhotra was aggressive with pulling his goalie. The Firkus penalty came at 4-on-4, giving the Canucks a 4-on-3 power play that Malhotra turned into a 5-on-3 advantage by pulling Tolopilo. That’s a heads-up move by a rookie head coach.
  • There are a couple of points of caution with Cootes, however. He may have had two points, but the Canucks were outshot 10-to-5 when he was on the ice at 5-on-5 and out-attempted 19-to-7. He also went 4-for-13 on faceoffs. There are some wrinkles to his game that need to be ironed out, which is why it’s great that he can be sent to the AHL this season.
  • Part of the issue for Cootes is that one of his linemates, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, had a terrible game. Sure, he picked up secondary assists on both Canucks goals, but he was largely a non-factor, as he struggled in puck battles and mishandled the puck on multiple occasions. One of those occasions was the Kraken’s fourth goal: he coughed up possession to a Melanson forecheck, and the Kraken forward set up Jake O’Brien to roof the puck like it needed new shingles.

  • Ilya Safonov hasn’t done anything overly noticeable through the Prospect Showcase, training camp, and this first preseason game. He won’t dazzle you with skill or rip a shot through the net. But he went 10-for-13 on faceoffs, threw four hits, and he’s 6’4″ every time he steps on the ice.
  • The one question with Safonov is whether he’ll play on the penalty kill. He didn’t against the Kraken, and that feels like an essential skill for a big, faceoff-winning, two-way, bottom-six centre.
  • Most of the Canucks left me wanting more. I expect more from the likes of Max Sasson, Elias “Not That Elias” Pettersson, and Aatu Räty, who have a decent amount of NHL experience. In the early stages of a rebuild, these are the types of players who should be looking to establish themselves as part of the long-term plan. Hopefully, those three will ramp things up heading into the regular season.
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