Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Two goals in Sunday's loss
Rotowire
Cootes scored twice in WHL Seattle's 5-3 loss to Victoria on Sunday.
Cootes has four goals and two assists over his last four contests. He's up to nine goals and 21 points through 14 outings at the WHL level this season. The Thunderbirds' captain has plenty of talent to elevate his scoring totals into the upper tier of the WHL even after spending some time in the NHL at the start of the campaign.
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Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Six-point eruption for T-Birds
Rotowire
Cootes scored twice and added four assists in WHL Seattle's 7-3 win over Vancouver on Saturday.
Canucks fans were likely split on this one if they support the local junior team as well, as the future star of the NHL club shredded the Giants in this outing. Cootes is up to five goals and eight assists over eight appearances since returning to the Thunderbirds following an NHL stint to begin 2025-26. It's obvious why the Canucks wanted to give the 18-year-old an audition, as he looks to be too talented to be challenged by junior hockey at this point.
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Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Three-point effort in WHL win
Rotowire
Cootes scored two goals and added an assist in WHL Seattle's 4-3 win over Prince George on Saturday.
Cootes' stay in the NHL with the Canucks lasted three games before he went back to junior. He's taken very little time to get back on track with the Thunderbirds, putting up five points in four games since returning to the WHL. The 15th overall pick in 2025 can use his brief NHL experience this year as a learning opportunity, but he needs time to continue growing his game at a lower level.
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Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Headed back to juniors
Rotowire
Cootes was reassigned to WHL Seattle on Tuesday, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet 650 reports.
Cootes played in Vancouver's first three games of the season, registering zero points, zero shots and three hits. Considering the 18-year-old center racked up 26 goals and 37 assists in 63 regular-season games for Seattle last year, the organization was likely hoping for more out of him during his stint in the NHL. Once Cootes wraps up his season with the Thunderbirds, he could be brought back up for the final few games of the 2025-26 campaign without burning a year of his ELC.
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Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Likely good to go for training camp
Rotowire
Cootes (undisclosed) is expected to be ready for the start of Vancouver's training camp Thursday, Thomas Drance of The Athletic reports Sunday.
The Canucks relayed that Cootes was held out of Sunday's prospects game versus the Kraken for precautionary reasons, per Drance. The 2025 first-round selection (No. 15 overall) will compete for a roster spot with Vancouver during training camp, but he'll most likely continue to hone his craft with WHL Seattle in 2025-26.
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Canucks' Braeden Cootes: Sustains injury in rookie game
Rotowire
Cootes (undisclosed) will not return to Saturday's prospects game versus the Kraken.
The Canucks provided no additional details regarding the nature or severity of Cootes' injury. The 15th overall pick from 2025 will be day-to-day heading into the main training camp until a further update is available.
