The Vancouver Canucks will be a team in deeper waters next season.
That notion comes from their lackluster track record in recent years, which culminated in a full teardown last season. 25 wins for 58 points was an NHL worst in 2025-26, tying the 1998-99 Canucks at a .354 points%, third-lowest in team history. Despite missing out on the first-overall pick, Vancouver still has a plethora of young talent that is set to make its way into the roster for next season. In Thomas Drance’s roster breakdown on The Athletic, he tier-listed every player with potential to make the roster. We highlighted a few of their younger players at age 23 and under who have opportunities to make it out of camp and could elevate the team.
The 20-year-old defenseman is probably the most intriguing player the Canucks have on their NHL roster. In part, because he was the positional swap the Canucks made in giving away Quinn Hughes. In 76 games last season combined between his two clubs, he scored 26 points. Buium could fit with top-pair righty Filip Hronek for those big minutes, as he saw a two-minute average increase over the 18 min he was playing in Minnesota. The two finished second among Canucks’ pairings in outshooting their opponents (53.4% Corsi For) above a 50% rate (Hughes-Hronek was first, with 55.7%).
A full year with Vancouver, as well as his entry-level contract expiring, and we could be in for a very interesting season for how the San Diego native plays into his next deal. Nonetheless, the former 12th-overall pick is a key part of this team’s future.
Willander is another key piece on the blueline for this Canucks team and highlights as someone who plays a steady two-way game. Picked one spot higher a year before the aforementioned Buium, He also had a pleasantly productive first full NHL campaign, given the dire circumstances. In 70 NHL games, Willander produced five goals for 21 points and had the best offensive output among Canucks D-pairs overall, alongside Marcus Pettersson.
Pettersson is gone, but the two together still produced 22 goals. Even with the other Pettersson (Elias, the defenseman), Willander, and he were first on Vancouver in Goals% with 57.1%. Even if those two aren’t given a look together, having newly signed veteran Jamie Oleksiak on his left should be beneficial for the 21-year-old Swede, and perhaps that will allow him to blossom knowing there’s a steady partner back there with him.
On the offensive side of things, Lekkerimäki is a case of whether to give the man a full leash in the NHL. 37 combined games over the last two seasons have seen the production of just nine points for the winger. Injuries have played a factor in that lack of productivity, as well as his lack of adaptability to the pro-game needs of defense.
In the AHL, his numbers should bring confidence to Canucks fans. In 57 games over the past two seasons, the 22-year-old scored 48 points, 32 of which were goals. Although coming off of season-ending surgery, one must think the dam will break sooner than later, and the 15th-overall-pick can translate that AHL dominance into the National. Regardless, this is his last year of ELC play.
Another piece of return from the Hughes trade, Ohgren is certainly a lock to make the roster. The question is what will his role mold into? Still at 22-years of age, he found a lot more success in blue than he did wearing Minnesota green. 18 points in 51 games in 2025-26 isn’t anything miraculous, but it’s 18 more than his first 18 games as a Wild.
Ohgren found himself playing a bit of everything with the Canucks last season. Looking at all the skill the team has coming in, certain players will need to fill out roles in the middle-six. Based on Drance’s eyes, he believes Ohgren can become that for the Canucks as a power forward. In year 3 of 3 for his ELC, will there be an offensive jump? Time will tell.
It’s hard to think that someone who not only cracked the roster out of last year’s camp but also scored 40 points in 28 regular season WHL games and added 23 in 20 playoff games is going to be in any sort of minor league hockey stint for much longer. At 19 years of age, that just might be the path Cootes takes.
Considering the new NHL/CHL transfer agreement, he can play in the AHL, so there isn’t so much pressure on the decision of what to do with him, unlike last season. Regardless, his dominance last season makes a case for saying, why not give him some NHL time?