Why Canucks should limit Cootes to nine NHL games this season
Braeden Cootes was the story of last year’s Vancouver Canucks training camp.
Fresh from being picked in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft, Cootes was the standout performer throughout the preseason. He earned a lot of trust from the coaching staff with his mature two-way game, making him the first 18-year-old to make the Canucks’ opening-night roster in 35 years.
While Cootes only played three games with the Canucks before he was sent back to the WHL, he established himself as far closer to NHL-ready than anyone expected.
With that in mind, most fans might expect Cootes to play a lot more games with the Canucks this season.
The new rule governing first-round picks out of the CHL would make it even easier for Cootes to get NHL games, as he wouldn’t have to make the team out of training camp. Instead, Cootes could be assigned to the AHL to start the year and be called up at any point throughout the season.
But there’s a case to be made that the Canucks should limit the number of games Cootes plays in the NHL.
Entry-level contracts and slide eligibility
Cootes signed his three-year entry-level contract in the summer of 2025, but the first year of that three-year contract technically hasn’t started yet.
In order to count as a year in professional hockey, an 18- or 19-year-old player needs to appear in at least 10 NHL games. Otherwise, his contract will slide to the next year, which was the case for Cootes and his three NHL games.
Because Cootes is still under 20, his contract is eligible to slide one more year, as long as he doesn’t play 10 NHL games this season.
That’s true even if he’s in the AHL. The Canucks already have an example of how that works in their organization: Danila Klimovich.
Danila Klimovich skates for the Vancouver Canucks in a preseason game. (James Snook/Imagn Images)
Klimovich came over to play in the AHL at 18, as it seemed like a better option for his development than playing in Europe. His three-year, entry-level contract with the Canucks slid for his first two years in North America and didn’t actually start until his third year in the AHL, when he was 20.
For those first two years, Klimovich only received the signing bonus of $92,500 per year from his entry-level contract, rather than any of his actual salary.
So, if Cootes plays most of the year in the AHL, his three-year contract won’t start until the 2027-28 season, meaning he’ll still be on his entry-level contract through 2029-30.
As an added benefit, that would give Cootes a lower cap hit in the final two years of that deal, as his cap hit would no longer include his signing bonus. Whether that will matter to the Canucks, who might not be spending to the cap at that point, is another question.
Protecting Cootes from a potential expansion draft
In addition, the Canucks may need to consider the possibility of expansion in the near future.
The NHL could potentially expand to Houston or Austin, Texas for the 2029-30 season, which would mean an expansion draft in 2029.
In previous expansion drafts, first- and second-year pros were exempt from the draft and didn’t need to be protected. Crucially, a pro season for a player under 20 means at least 10 games in the NHL; games played in the AHL don’t matter.
That means that if Cootes plays nine games or fewer in the NHL this season, then 2026-27 would not be considered a pro year under the current rules. By the time of a potential 2029 expansion draft, Cootes would be considered a second-year pro and would not need to be protected.
If Cootes plays 10 or more games in the NHL this season, however, it will be considered a year of pro hockey, and he’ll burn a year of his entry-level contract. He would then be a third-year pro for a potential 2029 expansion draft and would need to be on the Canucks’ protected list.
It’s also worth noting that the final details of the agreement allowing 19-year-old CHL prospects to play in the NHL are not yet known. It’s possible, but unlikely, that players who spend a year in the AHL under this rule will be considered to have played a year of pro hockey for the purposes of the expansion draft.
All of this may be moot if Cootes crushes the competition in camp, the preseason, and/or the AHL, and forces his way onto the NHL roster.
If facing NHL competition this season is what’s best for Cootes’ development, the Canucks will surely have Cootes in the NHL, leaving them to deal with the long-term consequences down the road.
But since short-term success isn’t the goal for the Canucks as they kick off their rebuild, it might be best to keep Cootes in the AHL.