Latest news with #Cootes
Vancouver Sun
2 days ago
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes making his case at Canadian world junior camp
Vancouver Canucks 2025 first-round draft pick Braeden Cootes is among the 20 forwards and 36 players overall slated to represent Hockey Canada in the World Junior Showcase, which runs today through Saturday in Minneapolis. Cootes, 18, is a right-shot centre with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, and Vancouver picked him at No. 15 a month ago in Los Angeles. Cootes signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Canucks July 9 , and he's expected to return this season to the Thunderbirds. He had 26 goals and 63 points in 60 regular season games with a young, rebuilding Seattle team last season. He was Seattle's captain as well. There were 44 players invited to the camp this week, but eight forwards are listed as 'unable to attend' by Hockey Canada. The includes Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla and Brandon Wheat Kings centre Roger McQueen, who both missed much of last season with injuries. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Canada's invited list features seven players from last year's world junior squad who were eligible to return. Cootes is among 22 players invited who previously won gold at the Under-18 worlds. There are eight 18-year-old forwards invited, including Cootes. The remaining 20 are 19 years old. Longtime London Knights coach Dale Hunter is bench boss for this Canadian representative. The tournament is in Minneapolis and St. Paul and gets going Boxing Day. Cootes has been lauded for his leadership and character. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said on draft day : 'They have a lot of great history of NHL players coming out of that program and Braeden being a captain, a leader of that team, that excited my staff.' Canucks defence prospect Sawyer Mynio, who was a Cootes teammate with Seattle before being traded to the Calgary Hitmen last year, played for Canada at last year's world juniors in Ottawa. Canada lost 4-3 to Czechia in the quarterfinals. Mynio and Cootes shared the 'C' before Mynio went to Calgary. The players this week will spit into two teams for practices and an intrasquad game on Tuesday before facing Finland on Wednesday, Sweden on Friday and the U.S. on Saturday. Every game will be livestreamed at but a subscription is required. SEwen@
Edmonton Journal
2 days ago
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes making his case at Canadian world junior camp
Article content Vancouver Canucks 2025 first-round draft pick Braeden Cootes is among the 20 forwards and 36 players overall slated to represent Hockey Canada in the World Junior Showcase, which runs today through Saturday in Minneapolis. Article content Cootes, 18, is a right-shot centre with the WHL's Seattle Thunderbirds, and Vancouver picked him at No. 15 a month ago in Los Angeles. Cootes signed his three-year, entry-level deal with the Canucks July 9, and he's expected to return this season to the Thunderbirds. He had 26 goals and 63 points in 60 regular season games with a young, rebuilding Seattle team last season. He was Seattle's captain as well. Article content Article content There were 44 players invited to the camp this week, but eight forwards are listed as 'unable to attend' by Hockey Canada. The includes Kelowna Rockets centre Tij Iginla and Brandon Wheat Kings centre Roger McQueen, who both missed much of last season with injuries. Article content Article content Canada's invited list features seven players from last year's world junior squad who were eligible to return. Cootes is among 22 players invited who previously won gold at the Under-18 worlds. There are eight 18-year-old forwards invited, including Cootes. The remaining 20 are 19 years old. Article content Longtime London Knights coach Dale Hunter is bench boss for this Canadian representative. The tournament is in Minneapolis and St. Paul and gets going Boxing Day. Article content Cootes has been lauded for his leadership and character. Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin said on draft day: 'They have a lot of great history of NHL players coming out of that program and Braeden being a captain, a leader of that team, that excited my staff.' Article content Article content Canucks defence prospect Sawyer Mynio, who was a Cootes teammate with Seattle before being traded to the Calgary Hitmen last year, played for Canada at last year's world juniors in Ottawa. Canada lost 4-3 to Czechia in the quarterfinals. Article content
Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Vancouver Canucks Sign Braeden Cootes To A Three-Year, Entry Level Contract
The Vancouver Canucks have signed center Braeden Cootes to a three-year, entry-level contract. Vancouver selected the 18-year-old with the 15th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. Cootes is the second Seattle Thunderbirds player that the Canucks have drafted in the first round, joining Petr Nedvěd, who was selected second overall in 1990.
Vancouver Sun
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
Canucks' prospect depth chart showing signs of new life
Two signings of two new draftees in two days in July doesn't mean much on its own, but when you're the Vancouver Canucks and your prospect depth chart has got a little short, they mean more than usual. Heading toward last month's NHL Entry Draft, we considered how the Canucks are going to pivot into their post-J.T. Miller era — and we had to take note of the quality of the team's prospect pool. And what we saw was — to paraphrase former Canucks coach Travis Green — just OK. Jonathan Lekkerimaki put together a nice AHL regular season but struggled in the playoffs. Tom Willander progressed well at Boston University and should be a handy NHL regular once he's ready, hopefully later this coming season. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Elias Junior Pettersson has pretty much graduated into NHL regular status and that's good. And there are a handful of useful depth prospects on hand, like Victor Mancini, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Linus Karlsson, Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Raty. The goaltending factory carried on as well, with Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young showing promise that they could be useful enough to make some NHL starts down the road although, as ever, goalies are voodoo so who really knows there. But this wasn't a pool overflowing with players who were going to change the big-picture narrative of this team, no young centre on whom to hang the team's culture around, no hotshot defenceman who would make teams sweat even when Quinn Hughes left the ice. This week's dual signings of Braeden Cootes and Aleksei Medvedev tell us that the picture is shifting. Neither is an heir apparent to Quinn Hughes, so the team's future on the blue line will continue to be a talking point, but Cootes has clear Bo Horvat vibes to him. He's a remarkable leader and competitor. Seattle GM Bill La Forge told me a story about when Cootes was in his first season with Seattle as just a 16-year-old, after his U18 prep season was over. He'd already proven to be such a competitor that star veterans Dylan Guenther and Brad Lambert would ask to have him as their linemate when practice would turn to three on three drills. He plays hard but has skills to deliver. And there's a desire to get better. When Horvat was drafted in 2013, the knock on him was his skating. But by the time he made the NHL two years later, he was already a vastly improved player. Cootes brings similar vibes; you can see him in the long run being an excellent second centre behind Elias Pettersson. And Medvedev, it's clear, is the best goalie prospect this organization has had since Thatcher Demko. All of a sudden the Canucks look like they have a burgeoning future. Of course one of these prospects could find themselves in a trade to land the coveted second-line centre, the kind of forward who would change the narrative around this team, which doesn't just want to be a playoff team. Of course they have to make the playoffs first. How 2025-26 plays out in the NHL remains to be seen. But what's clear is the long-run picture does look more solid than it did even a month ago. Funny what just two picks can do. pjohnston@
Edmonton Journal
12-07-2025
- Sport
- Edmonton Journal
Canucks' prospect depth chart showing signs of new life
Two signings of two new draftees in two days in July doesn't mean much on its own, but when you're the Vancouver Canucks and your prospect depth chart has got a little short, they mean more than usual. Article content Heading toward last month's NHL Entry Draft, we considered how the Canucks are going to pivot into their post-J.T. Miller era — and we had to take note of the quality of the team's prospect pool. Article content Article content Article content And what we saw was — to paraphrase former Canucks coach Travis Green — just OK. Jonathan Lekkerimaki put together a nice AHL regular season but struggled in the playoffs. Tom Willander progressed well at Boston University and should be a handy NHL regular once he's ready, hopefully later this coming season. Article content Article content Elias Junior Pettersson has pretty much graduated into NHL regular status and that's good. And there are a handful of useful depth prospects on hand, like Victor Mancini, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Linus Karlsson, Arshdeep Bains and Aatu Raty. The goaltending factory carried on as well, with Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young showing promise that they could be useful enough to make some NHL starts down the road although, as ever, goalies are voodoo so who really knows there. Article content But this wasn't a pool overflowing with players who were going to change the big-picture narrative of this team, no young centre on whom to hang the team's culture around, no hotshot defenceman who would make teams sweat even when Quinn Hughes left the ice. Article content Article content Article content This week's dual signings of Braeden Cootes and Aleksei Medvedev tell us that the picture is shifting. Article content Article content Neither is an heir apparent to Quinn Hughes, so the team's future on the blue line will continue to be a talking point, but Cootes has clear Bo Horvat vibes to him. He's a remarkable leader and competitor. Seattle GM Bill La Forge told me a story about when Cootes was in his first season with Seattle as just a 16-year-old, after his U18 prep season was over. He'd already proven to be such a competitor that star veterans Dylan Guenther and Brad Lambert would ask to have him as their linemate when practice would turn to three on three drills. Article content He plays hard but has skills to deliver. And there's a desire to get better. When Horvat was drafted in 2013, the knock on him was his skating. But by the time he made the NHL two years later, he was already a vastly improved player. Cootes brings similar vibes; you can see him in the long run being an excellent second centre behind Elias Pettersson.
