Canucks News & Rumours: Pettersson, Buium, Lekkerimäki & Camp Taking Shape

The Vancouver Canucks finished their preseason Saturday night with a pretty entertaining 4-3 win over the Seattle Kraken. It wasn’t perfect. Far from it, actually. The Kraken jumped out to a two-goal lead, and Vancouver spent much of the first period looking like a team still trying to remember what it was supposed to do.

Then things started to click. For a team like the Canucks, that’s probably the best way to look at this game. The Canucks didn’t simply win. They showed some of the things head coach Manny Malhotra has been talking about all through camp. They had cleaner breakouts, better puck movement, more pressure around the net and, perhaps most interestingly, some players giving the coaching staff something to think about before the regular season begins. Those are all positives.

Elias Pettersson Looked Like He Was Ready to Get Things Started

Elias Pettersson had himself a pretty solid night. He scored, drew a penalty, and was all over the ice. Perhaps even better, he went 11-for-14 in the faceoff circle against legitimate NHL centres. That’s a pretty big deal for a player who has been a career 46.1 percent guy on draws.

If Pettersson has found a way to improve in the faceoff circle, that’s not some little preseason footnote. That’s another way he can help the Canucks control the puck. This team will need all the puck control it can get this season.

He also scored the goal that tied the game after Jonathan Lekkerimäki made a terrific little pass through a defender’s legs. Pettersson deked and put it past Joey Daccord. Later, he drew another penalty and then got into a little trouble of his own after laying out Shane Wright and getting challenged by Ryan Winterton. Let’s just say Pettersson wasn’t exactly hiding in the weeds Saturday night.

Last night was the version of Pettersson Vancouver needs to see more often. Not necessarily spectacular every night. Just involved. Competing. Making things happen.

Zeev Buium Gives the Canucks Something to Think About

Then there’s Zeev Buium. The young defenceman scored on the second power-play unit, and it was a pretty good show. Tom Willander protected the puck on the zone entry, found Linus Karlsson, and Karlsson fed Buium at the back door. Buium made no mistake, putting the puck over Daccord to tie the game.

That’s the kind of play that will get this young defenceman noticed. Buium still will make mistakes. He was involved in the defensive breakdown on Seattle’s third goal, when the Kraken turned a 2-on-1 into a goal. So this wasn’t some “well, the kid has arrived” performance. That’s not how preseason works.

But there was enough there to make Canucks fans relax a bit. Buium showed some confidence with the puck, joined the attack, and looked comfortable enough to be trusted on the power play. That’s not bad for a young defenceman trying to establish himself.

What’s Next for the Canucks?

Maybe that’s what this final preseason game was really about. The Canucks need players to give them reasons to believe the work they’ve been doing in camp is starting to translate onto the ice. Both Pettersson and Buium did just that. So did Lekkerimäki, who came alive after a so-so first period and showed what he might look like in a top-six role.

The Canucks still have roster decisions to make before opening night. But this was a pretty good way to end camp. The preseason doesn’t count for anything in the standings. It does count for something inside the room. On Saturday night, a few Canucks gave Malhotra and his staff something worth scribbling in their notebooks.