Canucks: No adieu Aatu Raty, feisty Finn should become roster regular next season
Article content
'Being in the lineup is something I never take for granted,' the Vancouver Canucks ' depth centre told Postmedia during his quest to be an NHL mainstay. 'You always want to be the player who is playing, if you have the lead, or trying to get a goal at the end.'
Article content
Article content
That sounded great, but roster reality is more than prose and perspiration.
Article content
Raty is coming off a solid season with 24 goals split between Abbotsford (17) and Vancouver (7), but the downside was AHL playoff injuries that limited him to six games with the Calder Cup champions. However, 40 points in 43 games didn't go unnoticed.
Article content
'Aatu had a strong year in Abbotsford and showed some promise when called up,' said Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin. 'It was another good step in his development as he continues to learn and grow as a pro. We expect him to compete for a job in Vancouver.'
Article content
Depending on how the Canucks' solve their riddle in the middle to support Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil — especially with the Pius Suter departure — a centre addition may mean Teddy Blueger drops to the fourth line and Raty becomes the 13th forward. But if Blueger is packaged in trade for a pivot, Raty should get that spot.
Article content
Then again, if it's a free-agent acquisition in versatile centre/winger Jack Roslovic, 28, that would be another revolving roster story. And Raty knows about the career carousel.
Article content
'Three years ago, I played 15 NHL games (12 with the New York Islanders and three with Canucks) and thought I belonged,' he recalled. 'My skating is better and I'll keeping working at it and the stick battles.'
Article content
Article content
Raty showed improvement last fall. He won 14 of 18 faceoffs against the Seattle Kraken in a Sept. 24 preseason test, and three nights later in Calgary, looked like a wily veteran by finishing off a third-period scoring chance with a deft toe drag in the slot and picking the top corner.
Article content
What really works for the 22-year-old Raty is size, feistiness, face-off efficiency, not being waiver-exempt next season, and getting a one-way, two-year, $1.55-million US contract extension last month. More importantly, there's potential for a waiver claim, if the Canucks try to get him through for an AHL assignment to Abbotsford.
Article content
Same goes for forwards Linus Karlsson and Arshdeep Bains, but that's a story for another day.
Article content
With Raty, what you see in the 6-foot-2, 190-pound pivot is what you get, and most of it is good. He's not a burner, and keeps work on explosiveness and pace, but is most deadly on the draw. His 57.4 per cent face-off success in 33 NHL games last season ranked second to J.T. Miller, who went 58.6 per cent in 40 outings before being dealt to the New York Rangers.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
6 minutes ago
- CTV News
CSEC to host hiring fair Monday afternoon at Saddledome
Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. are holding a hiring fair Monday and Tuesday at the Saddledome. Calgary Sports and Entertainment Corp. (CSEC) are hosting a hiring fair Monday. The parent company of the Calgary Flames are looking for security operations personnel and conversion team members (quick service cooks, line cooks, 50/50 staff) for its venue operations. These positions support events for the Flames, Wranglers, Hitmen, Riggers and Stampeders. The event takes place between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. Monday and 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Tuesday. Bring a resume to enter at the west side of the Saddledome through the Telus Club. CSEC says that they're hiring on the spot. For information, go here.
CTV News
6 minutes ago
- CTV News
Berries clinch top spot in east; Red Sox earn playoff berth as WCBL postseason picture comes into focus
The Western Canadian Baseball League's (WCBL) playoff picture is coming into focus with less than two weeks remaining in the 2025 regular season. With a 6-4 win Saturday over Moose Jaw, the Saskatoon Berries cemented their position atop the East Division standings – clinching the number one seed for the regular season. The feat means Saskatoon will have home field advantage through the first two rounds of the playoffs. Already at 40 wins and nine games remaining in their schedule, the Berries have more than enough opportunities to set a new league record for single-season wins – set by Sylvan Lake at 44 in 2024. Still yet to be decided is the league's best record. Saskatoon sits 7.5 games ahead of Okotoks. Regardless of which team represents its respective division come the championship final – the team with the best record will host two of the three games. Red Sox to appear in 18th-straight postseason South of Highway 11 in Regina, the Red Sox secured their berth into the playoffs with a 6-3 win over Weyburn Saturday night. The game was the second half of a two-game set Saturday due to a previous rain cancellation. Currently in third place in the East, the Red Sox (23-24) are 17 games behind Saskatoon and have no chance of catching the Berries. However, the Sox do have a slim chance of catching the second place Mavericks and finish above Medicine Hat. Regina has not won a WCBL championship since 2012. The Red Sox did not play in 2020-21 due to the pandemic. Swift Eliminated, Beavers fight to stay alive With Weyburn's loss to Regina Saturday, the Beavers are one loss away from being eliminated from playoff contention. Regina plays host to the Beavers again Sunday afternoon. On the flip side, should Moose Jaw (21-27) defeat Saskatoon in their game Sunday – Weyburn will also be eliminated, clinching the Miller Express' ability to defend their 2024 East Division crown. The last place Swift Current 57's suffered a blowout 24-4 loss at the hands of Medicine Hat Saturday night – officially eliminating them from the playoffs for a second-straight season.
CBC
7 minutes ago
- CBC
It's medieval madness in rural Alberta as jousters take aim at glory
Social Sharing While most tourists like Darrell Bossley are in Canada this time of year on a cross-country jaunt, this Australian is in Alberta on a different crusade: jousting. Leaning against the railing of the outdoor arena at Lakedell Agricultural Centre in the hamlet of Westerose, Alta., his steed gently nibbling away at a black tunic, a wry smile creeps across his face when asked why, at age 66, he chose to pick up the sport of jousting. Bossley, or Sir Darrell as he is known in jousting circles, is 79 now and, as he says, creeping up on 80. "I can't walk real good anymore … so I sit on a horse," he chuckles. Bossley was among a handful of jousters entertaining crowds Saturday at the Pigeon Lake Medieval Madness international jousting tournament, about 100 kilometres south of Edmonton. The retired blacksmith and self-professed lover of adrenalin sports, has a history around horses. He began in rodeos when he was 14 before later competing in dressage and endurance riding. Then there was some horseback cattle mustering and a smattering of buffalo hunting. Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Jousters show what it takes to compete in the medieval sport 14 hours ago He's also a horse breeder. In particular Friesians, long regarded as the war horse of choice for medieval knights. "Anything you can do with horses, that's me. I've been a professional horseman all my life," he said. "It's all I've ever done. "As soon as I had one go at [jousting], I was loving it." As far as he knows, he's the oldest competitive jouster doing the rounds and perhaps the oldest jouster in history. He's been hunting around for someone of the same age actively competing and he says the next oldest was a person in their late 60s. The origin story Bossley had never heard of competitive jousting until he met a person on the Australian island state of Tasmania while he was travelling. Over a coffee, he spotted a knight's helmet on a table in the living room of his new acquaintance. "I said, 'what is that? A pot plant?'" he recalls. "He said, 'no it's a 15th century helm.'" The conversation then turned to jousting. After a lengthy discussion, Bossley was put in touch with Rod Walker, who's regarded as at the vanguard of authentic medieval jousting in Australia. After Bossley watched Walker compete, he immediately returned home and started fashioning lances. He also built a quintain, which is essentially a training aid for jousting. He's been hooked ever since. Next generation With the crowd cheering in the background, Bossley contemplates the next generation of jousters. The prospect of younger people taking the reins of the sport and galloping off into the future excites him. "I would love to see more people get into the sport. It's a great sport, and what young person doesn't want to get dressed up in a tin suit and be a knight," he said. "I just love it. When I grow up, I might be different. But I am still a kid who likes to get dressed up," he winks, his horse still nibbling away at his tunic. Quebec's Audrey Langlois is one of the fresh faces of the next generation. Her first introduction to the medieval world was through fantasy authors like Tamora Pierce, whose classic book Alanna: The First Adventure, focuses on a heroine who becomes a knight. As she grew up, she found a real-life medieval adventure with a group who focused on swordplay. And then she discovered the joys of jousting close to eight years ago. "I knew I had to get into it," she said. "I started jousting and it was absolute adrenalin and amazing." Langlois remembers the first time she donned her full plate armour, chain mail and helm. "You are completely in your own world. You can barely hear anything. You can feel your heart and then you are looking down ... and all you see is your opponent and then it is just go," she said. "I get so tunnel-vision focused … I am not thinking about work while I'm here, everything just melts away. It's a little oasis in my mind." On the jousting circuit, Langlois says she is routinely the only female competitor and one of only a handful around the world. "It's very much male-dominated," she said.
