Overview

• Vancouver submitted a 23-player roster with 14 forwards, seven defencemen and two goaltenders, placing Nils Höglander on injured reserve after final cuts that sent Tom Willander and Victor Mancini to Abbotsford.
• The club’s projected annual cap spend is $94,162,135, leaving about $1,337,865 in space under the 2025–26 $95.5 million limit, with buyout and retained-salary charges for Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Ilya Mikheyev limiting flexibility.
• Demko is expected to start opening night with Kevin Lankinen backing up, while minor camp injuries for Derek Forbort and Pierre-Olivier Joseph could still prompt short-term IR moves and a quick Mancini recall, according to team-watch reporting.
• Eighteen-year-old Braeden Cootes made the team as the first Canucks 18-year-old since Petr Nedvěd in 1990, and he can play up to nine NHL games before his entry-level contract year would be activated under slide rules.
• Jonathan Lekkerimäki earned a spot and is projected to play on opening night, with two of Arshdeep Bains, Linus Karlsson and Aatu Räty likely to be scratched based on recent lineup usage.