Canucks host Oilers on Sept. 24 as Manny Malhotra’s veterans finally join shortened preseason action

The Story

Vancouver Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra will finally put the team’s veterans into action for the third and fourth games of a shortened preseason when the Canucks host the Edmonton Oilers on Thursday night, with opening night listed as five days away. After the club sent its prospects to the first two preseason games on the road, the current schedule means established players are arriving later than in a typical extended exhibition slate.

The preseason has been reduced to four games, and the terms of the new CBA limit veterans to only two appearances, helping explain why Malhotra waited to get his NHL group on the ice. Malhotra said he is “really excited,” adding that playing in front of the home crowd and getting closer to an opening-day lineup is an important step for both the players and the staff as the team moves from camp routines to game situations.

Malhotra also emphasized the need to avoid a slow ramp-up into NHL tempo. He said there is “no dipping toes in this year,” noting that there is not enough time to ease into game shape or match game intensity before the regular season begins. While he expects “hiccups” and some “sloppy plays” as part of the adjustment period, his priority is that the team shows the habits and details worked on during camp, particularly in effort and tenacity.

With a hard practice schedule leading into the matchup, Thursday’s morning skate was described as optional, but it was attended by all of the healthy players on the Vancouver roster. Malhotra’s comments about chemistry also framed how the projected groupings should be read, describing the pairings and lines as something to use as a guide rather than anything fixed for the final roster picture.

For Vancouver, the projected lines listed for Thursday night include Jake DeBrusk with Elias Pettersson and Linus Karlsson as the first line, and Liam Öhgren centring Marco Rossi and Brock Boeser as the second line. A third line pairing is projected with Drew O’Connor between Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimäki, while Paul Cotter is slotted with Braeden Cootes and Brendan Gallagher on the fourth grouping. The projected defensive pairings include Zeev Buium with Filip Hronek, and Jamie Oleksiak with Luke Schenn, followed by Guillaume Brisebois with Victor Mancini, with Nikita Tolopilo listed as the starting goaltender.

Malhotra cautioned that he is not “married” to any one line or pair. The purpose of the next two games, he said, is to see how players build chemistry together while working toward the NHL lineup heading into the season. In particular, he singled out prospects Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Braeden Cootes as players looking to earn a spot in the opening-night lineup, saying the club does not need them to perform “extraordinary” or outside the system.

In Malhotra’s view, the key is whether the prospects can show their best game within the structure and habits the Canucks have been teaching. He suggested that while big individual outputs would be noteworthy, they would not necessarily change the staff’s mindset if they do not reflect the kind of responsible play intended to translate to the NHL level.

Goaltending is also expected to include a look beyond Tolopilo, with Chris Driedger on a professional tryout (PTO) agreement. The plan described for the game is for Tolopilo to start, with Driedger having a chance to get into the contest partway through.

On the Edmonton side, the Oilers are expected to field a much younger lineup for the exhibition matchup at the same time Vancouver uses its NHL veterans. Edmonton’s projected lines include Isaac Howard with Owen Michaels and Quinn Hutson, Max Jones with Josh Samanski and Aku Räty, and Eduards Tralmaks paired with Viljami Marjala and Seth Griffith. Additional forward groupings are projected with Connor Clattenburg alongside Rudolfs Berzkalns and David Lewandowski, and Spencer Stastney with Ty Emberson and Riley Stillman with Tomas Cibulka, with Atro Leppanen paired with Damien Carfagna.

Edmonton’s projected roster also includes Tristan Jarry as the starting goaltender. Aatu Räty’s brother, Aku Räty, is expected to be in the Oilers lineup, but the two siblings are not expected to meet during the preseason because Aatu has already played the maximum two veteran games allowed under the same approach described for the Canucks.

Taken together, the matchup has both a local and a practical significance for Vancouver supporters: it is the moment the club’s veterans return to the ice after a first phase geared toward prospects, and it arrives with regular-season timing close enough that the staff is treating the next two games as a transition point rather than a leisurely exhibition. Malhotra’s focus on habits and effort suggests Vancouver will be watching closely for execution under game intensity as the Canucks move toward their season-opening lineup.