In this edition of the Vancouver Canucks News & Rumours, Abbotsford has moved on to the Calder Cup Final after a 4-2 win over the Texas Stars in Game 6. Meanwhile, 2025 NHL Draft prospect Braeden Cootes had dinner with the Canucks brass at the NHL Combine. Could they draft him if they end up keeping their 15th pick? Finally, in other news, Elias Pettersson and Thatcher Demko were inexplicably absent from 2025-26 season ticket promos (which have since been updated) this week, creating a lot of buzz on social media and around the league itself.
Abbotsford Canucks Move On to Calder Cup Final Against Charlotte Checkers
It looked like it was going to go to a deciding Game 7 tonight after the Stars went up 2-0 in the second period. But then Arshdeep Bains started the comeback with a goal in the final two minutes and the Canucks scored three more in the third to win 4-2 and punch their ticket to the Calder Cup Final. They outshot the Stars 17-4 in the final frame, getting goals from Jujhar Khaira, Max Sasson, and Bains into an empty net to send the faithful home happy and secure their first-ever Western Conference championship.
The Canucks will now face the Charlotte Checkers in the Calder Cup Final, who swept the top team in the American Hockey League, the Laval Rocket on June 3, nearly a week ago. It’s been a remarkable run for Vancouver’s farm team, led offensively by Linus Karlsson’s nine goals and 17 points and Bains’ three goals and 11 points. They have also had an MVP-like performance from starting goaltender Arturs Silovs, who has a playoff-leading five shutouts alongside a 1.94 goals-against average (GAA) and .929 save percentage (SV%).
Related: Fixing Elias Pettersson: Is the Canucks Star Forward About to Hit the Market?
The Canucks are now only four wins away from the franchise’s first Calder Cup; the journey begins on Friday, June 13, at Bojangles Coliseum in Charlotte.
Even though a trade could happen involving the 15th pick, the Canucks still did their due diligence at the Combine. As per The Hockey Writers’ own Mark Scheig, they took Cootes to dinner to get to know him more. When that happens, it usually means they are high on him for a potential selection. With the team’s prospect pool in dire need of help down the middle – sooner rather than later – it makes sense that they would be looking at a player like Cootes.
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