Canucks’ Aatu Raty following own blueprint in battle for roster spot

VANCOUVER — For most players like Aatu Raty, navigating the years-long journey to the National Hockey League is complicated. 

There is no one-size-fits-all plan for making it although Raty, at least, has a blueprint. Literally, he has written a blueprint.

Growing up in Finland the son of a hockey coach, the Vancouver Canucks prospect kept a training diary from a young age. It wasnâ€t so much about what made him happy or sad, but what made him better. And what didnâ€t.

Now 22 and the top candidate to fill the Canucks†hole at centre in the bottom six — pending any moves by general manager Patrik Allvin between now and Vancouverâ€s season-opener on Oct. 9 — Raty continues to keep a journal.

And for this training camp and pre-season, which included Wednesday nightâ€s solid 3-1 win against the Calgary Flames in Abbotsford, B.C., Raty has the advantage of looking at his notes from last year when he forced his way on to the Canucks†opening-day roster.

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“I mean, I don’t write everything in there,†Raty said before the game. “But especially, like in training camp, we go over a lot of schemes and stuff that I want to write down, just to remember. And also just kind of how I feel each day, and then, you know, what worked and what didnâ€t.

“Always from a young age, I kept a food diary and, especially for summer training, what I did for workouts, and then what I ate, how I slept, all that stuff. I just feel like that’s where, at the end of the day. . . you can read and look back at that and evaluate. And if you say, ‘I can’t do anything better than this,†then it’s pretty easy to go to camp.

“There’s always a chance to take a big jump at any age, but especially at my age, it’s something that comes just with physiology. Iâ€m feeling great. Even though it was a short summer, I think I made some big strides. That stuff that I was talking about (last year) with my skating, it was easy to build on that blueprint knowing what worked. So I definitely feel good, really comfortable.â€

Raty skated at training camp in Penticton with wingers Vitali Kravtsov and Linus Karlsson, two other guys with experience in Europe and the minors who are pushing to gain (or re-gain) a foothold in the NHL.

On Wednesday, Raty centred Kravtsov and Chase Stillman, the former first-round pick the Canucks acquired in July in the trade that sent third-string goalie Arturs Silovs to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

A second-period injury to Canucks winger Nils Hoglander, however, scrambled the forward lines.

Raty has the advantage over most of the other prospects of playing as a robust centre who takes faceoffs ambidextrously and won 57.4 per cent of his draws in 33 games for the Canucks last season. Only J.T. Miller was better in the circle than Raty, and the Canucks badly missed Millerâ€s faceoff dominance after he was traded last January to the New York Rangers.

Eight months later, there continues to be a hole at centre that Raty, who has spent 2 ½ years in the Canucks†development pipeline, is eager to fill.

Teenager Braeden Cootes and minor-leaguer Max Sasson, who was lively and dangerous Wednesday on a line with Karlsson and Arshdeep Bains, are other young centres contending for an NHL spot. 

Raty stuck with the Canucks last season until December, then spent three months in the American Hockey League before returning for the final three weeks of Vancouverâ€s frantic and failed Stanley Cup playoff push after top centres Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil were injured.

In 33 games at the NHL level, Raty scored seven goals and 11 points in just 10:39 of average ice time while posting expected-goals-for of 48.3 per cent.

He said he is a better player now than he was a year ago, an assertion endorsed by Allvin, who noted this week that Ratyâ€s fitness testing was impressive and that the six-foot-two player has more confidence than a year ago.

Raty also has waiver eligibility for the first time, which adds another layer of urgency to his Canucks audition. If heâ€s not playing in Vancouver this season, thereâ€s a chance he will be in another NHL city.

“Obviously, you always want to get to. . . where you want to be,†he said of his NHL development, which began with the New York Islanders before the 2023 trade of Canucks captain Bo Horvat. “Now it’s easy to say, when I’ve been able to play in the NHL, ‘you know, it wasn’t so hard.†But I canâ€t lie; obviously, there’s been days I must have been frustrated or just kind of thinking that I could be there. But that’s the thing, you canâ€t just skip that (development) time and get there right away. 

“I would say (this is) the most opportunity that I’ve had. Every year, there’s so much competition and that doesn’t change for this year. But I think, yeah, there’s a chance, and I’m definitely going to give everything I can to play. Iâ€m really, really excited for that opportunity.â€

Dear diary, is this the year?

• Hoglander and Chytil on the power play, and Victor Mancini at even strength, scored for the Canucks. But the most encouraging performance was probably starting goalie Thatcher Demko, trying to bounce back from an injury-plagued season, opening his pre-season campaign by stopping 11 of 12 shots and looking sharp over two periods. But the undisclosed injury to Hoglander took some of the lustre off what was an impressive win in a game between mostly-young lineups. Hoglander left the arena in a walking boot, and coach Adam Foote said the winger would be re-evaluated Thursday.

• Although the competition at centre is the most important positional battle for the Canucks, the most entertaining one is on defence where any of the three of Mancini, 23, Elias Pettersson (Junior), 21, or rookie pro Tom Willander, 20, could make the team on the third pairing. Canuck coach Adam Footeâ€s desire to unleash defencemen offensively and be more aggressive seems to suit Manciniâ€s skating and puck-carrying. But Willander was also good on Wednesday, finishing with a pair of assists and playing another understated but sound defensive game. Pettersson did not play in Abbotsford.

• The Canucks started five skaters who helped the Abbotsford Canucks win the AHL title in June. But the forward line of Bains-Sasson-Karlsson was more than ceremonial. The best line from the Calder Cup run was also Vancouverâ€s best line on Wednesday. In a perfect world, they could graduate as a trio to the NHL but the Canucks probably donâ€t have three roster spots available to them. Sasson also is still waiver-exempt at age 25, which makes it harder for him to displace others.

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