Canucks Takeaways: Lankinen, Cootes deliver encouraging performances

To understand the Vancouver Canucks’ pre-season game Tuesday, understand this: the Calgary Flames dressed a lineup in which every skater is projected to make their National Hockey League roster, while the Canucks sent a lineup from which only two or three skaters could be with them on opening night.

The Flames’ ability to take over the game in the second period and eventually build a 3-1 victory at the Saddledome was not a surprise. That it was still scoreless through 35 minutes, and that the young Canucks pushed back a little in the third, was.

It was a good start for the Canucks, and an admirable finish. But the middle portion of the game was dominated by the Flames, who exploited Vancouver’s inexperience for a pile of outnumbered rushes.

Goalie Kevin Lankinen, expected to be the Canucks’ Game 1 starter, was excellent. He made 27 saves that included point-blank stops on Martin Pospisil and Ryan Strome and looked sharp tracking pucks through traffic that frequently jammed his crease.

After Calgary scored three times in four minutes near the end of the middle period, Vancouver pulled a goal back in the third when Arshdeep Bains neatly finished from Braeden Cootes’ nice setup in the low slot.

In his first pre-season start — and likely one of only two — Lankinen got lots of work as he prepares again to fill-in for injured Canuck starter Thatcher Demko. It was an encouraging performance after Lankinen struggled in the only scrimmage of training camp on Saturday.

Lankinen got a chunk of Joel Farabee’s breakaway shot that opened scoring for Calgary and had no chance on Samuel Honzek’s rebound goal that made it 3-0. Matt Coronato beat Lankinen from close range on an outnumbered rush for the other Flames goal.

Under immense pressure with Demko still working his way back from major hip surgeries, and demanding a bounce-back season from himself after a subpar campaign last year, Lankinen has some positivity to build upon after Tuesday.

Nineteen-year-old centre Cootes has been involved in all three goals the Canucks have generated in their first two exhibition games, combining with Bains on all of them. His hockey sense and playmaking skills were on display when he intercepted a Flames’ rim-around in the third period, skated the puck into the corner before hooking a pass between defenders and out to Bains in the low slot.

A year ago, Cootes became the first Canuck in 25 years to make the team in training camp as an 18-year-old. He lasted only three NHL games before being sent back to junior, and obviously is aiming for more now this fall.

But as a 19-year who was drafted in the first round in 2025, Cootes is eligible to play this season in the American Hockey League, which may be too appealing an option for the Canucks under patience-preaching general manager Ryan Johnson not to exercise.

“Management is going to make a decision that they think is best for me in the long term,” Cootes said after Tuesday’s morning skate in Vancouver. “I want to play in this league for a long, long time. But if that’s what they think is best for me, to do that and be the best player I can in (the AHL), then I’m going to do that. But I don’t control that, so I’m not really too worried about it.

“Like, I fully believe in R.J. and what he wants me to do. This is his decision. So whatever he thinks is best for me is what I believe in. I’ll just just leave it at that. But my mindset doesn’t really change; I’m trying to make the team.”

But if it’s a choice between fourth-line minutes in the NHL or first-line minutes in the AHL, Cootes conceded the better option for his development might be the latter one, which he said would still be a big upgrade on spending another season in the Western Hockey League.

HALFWAY DOWN SHORT RUNWAY

As every prospect in the NHL understands, a four-game pre-season and less than two weeks from the start of training camp to the start of the regular season makes for an awfully short runway. But fighter jets launch from aircraft carriers in 100 metres.

“I think it kind of goes without saying that the guys have a very clear understanding that there’s not a lot of runway leading up to the season,” Canucks coach Manny Malhotra said before the game. “I think we calculated (there are) between eight and 10 ice sessions, you get your two games, and, you know, that’s what you have to show.

“It makes it that much more important to show (well) in our skates, in our morning skates, the attention to detail. And then, once we get into these games, you know, put everything out there.”

To be clear, the new two-game pre-season limit for players applies only to those who have appeared in at least 100 NHL games. Players like Cootes and 18-year-old first rounder Adam Novotny, as well as experienced minor-league hopefuls like Bains, Victor Mancini and Guillaume Brisebois are not restricted to two games.

The Canucks, however, are expected to dress NHL-heavy lineups on home ice for their final two rehearsals, starting Thursday against the Edmonton Oilers.

“It’s been a topic of discussion,” Malhotra said of the two-game limit. “And they’re the ones that are bringing it up to us. A lot of veteran guys. . . would like to get into three or four games potentially, so the limiting factor on not being able to get games is definitely a topic of conversation among the players.”

Bains, Brisebois and Tom Willander were the Canucks’ alternate captains in Calgary, which was interesting. Brisebois is 29 years old, and Bains 25. But Willander is just 21 and starting his second professional season. . . Willander has looked more assertive and confident with the puck in his second pre-season, but he missed what should have been a basic boxout on Morgan Frost in the third period. Both players ended up falling on Lankinen. Boxouts were a noticeable problem for Willander as a rookie. . . If Aatu Raty wasn’t the best Canuck skater in Calgary, at least he was the most involved. With the Canucks overmatched physically by the more experienced Flames, the centre looked highly engaged. Raty also went 15-5 on faceoffs and was an effective penalty-killer. . . Through two games, Mancini has failed to make much impact as the 24-year-old competes for a depth spot on defence. He has excellent size and mobility, and a great attitude, but he has been outplayed by some others. . . With so much focus on Cootes, it’s easy to overlook the ongoing all-around development of minor-league centre Ty Mueller. . . Russian hopeful Ilya Safanov continues to get noticed as he competes for a depth spot. In Calgary, he led the Canucks with six hits.

Malhotra post-game: “Obviously, they have a very veteran lineup and give them credit for being relentless on pucks. There were spots throughout the game that we can look back on and say, you know, we executed the way we wanted to. But overall, just not good enough.

“The messaging between second and third was just, ‘We can’t go away.’ And that’s my takeaway from the third, that we had a pushback. You know, obviously we shuffled the lines a little bit just to try to jolt the guys, and they responded well. We had a little bit more pushback, won a few more puck battles, spent a lot less time just carouseling around our D-zone. So it was a good response. Obviously, too little, too late.”