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VANCOUVER — Vancouver Canucks assistant coach Brett McLean described teenager Braeden Cootes†first week in the National Hockey League as a series of check marks.

On Friday, Cootes put another bright, green check beside his first game in Vancouver.

Trying to become the first Canucks draft pick since Petr Nedved in 1990 to make the team out of training camp as an 18-year-old, Cootes scored Vancouverâ€s opening goal in a 4-2 pre-season victory against the Seattle Kraken.

Itâ€s hard to say if Cootes is getting better by the day, but the days are getting harder as the Canucks†Oct. 9 season-opener approaches, and the right-shot centre from Edmonton and the Seattle Thunderbirds isnâ€t getting any less noticeable.

His goal at 9:10 of the second period was an ugly one, the puck from Jonathan Lekkerimakiâ€s shot bouncing in off Cootes as he jammed the front of the net to screen Seattle goalie Matt Murray.

But Cootes was battling for position — and holding his — at the front of the net. That was the key point.

“It was pretty cool,†Cootes said of his first, albeit unofficial, NHL goal. “I mean, pretty lucky goal, but going to the net and I got rewarded. So it’s pretty cool. I mean, in this league, that’s kind of where a lot of goals are scored. It’s such a tough league to score goals (because) goalies are so good.â€

Cootes turned 18 last February, four months before the Canucks selected the Thunderbirds captain with the 15th pick of the NHL draft.

His veteran linemate, Evander Kane, made the NHL as an 18-year-old with the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009.

“I think he has the right mindset,†Kane said after the game. “I’ve listened to some of his comments in the media, and just getting to talk to him a little bit around the dressing room. . . he’s obviously taking the experience — he’s a sponge — but he’s not just here for experience. He’s here to make a team, and that’s the right attitude to have. At the end of the day, this is a business and you’re trying to steal another grown man’s job. That’s what my dad told me going in at 18. It’s a different mentality, a different mindset. When you get to camp, you can’t, you know, curl up in a ball. Youâ€ve got to go out and show your game. And I thought tonight was another good step for him.â€

Besides Cootes†goal, which started the Canucks back from a 2-0 deficit against an inexperienced Seattle team that outplayed Vancouver in the first half, the second-line centre won five of nine faceoffs and in 14:42 of even-strength ice time registered expected-goals-for of 82.7 per cent and a shot-share of 70 per cent.

With a handful of more experienced, waiver-eligible prospects pushing for promotion to the Canucks from their championship minor-league team, itâ€s still unlikely that Cootes will be playing in the NHL two weeks from now. But heâ€s playing himself into the conversation.

“Not too nervous, honestly,†he said of his first Canucks game in Vancouver. “I think that first pre-season game in Seattle (last Sunday) kind of took all the nerves away. I felt pretty normal. It wasn’t anything too crazy. It was a pretty cool crowd, though, so it was tonnes of fun.

“I mean, I thought I played pretty well. You know, I was playing with some really good players, too, and the team played well as the game went on. Just trying to take it day by day, keep trying to get better, not trying to look too far ahead or anything.â€

“I mean, 18. . . the kidâ€s going to be a stud,†Canucks winger Kiefer Sherwood, who partnered Cootes at training camp in Penticton, told reporters. “Heâ€s already composed and playing the right way, and he’s got some grit to his game, so it’s going to be exciting to see him continue putting in the work.â€

Dressing their star defence pairing and four of their top five forwards, the Canucks overcame some early pre-season sloppiness and took over the game with four goals in the final 31 minutes.

Filip Hronekâ€s slapshot past Elias Petterssonâ€s screen tied it 2-2 39 seconds into the third period, and Jake DeBrusk scored the game-winner on a power-play at 12:32. Kane added an empty-netter as Vancouver outshot Seattle 18-4 in the final frame.

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Thoughts and observations

• McLean announced after the morning skate that buzzsaw winger Nils Hoglander will be out week-to-week with the lower-body injury he sustained in Wednesdayâ€s pre-season win against the Calgary Flames. Compared to this time last year, when starting goalie Thatcher Demko was out indefinitely with a confounding knee injury and top centre J.T. Miller was already missing from the lineup, losing Hoglander in the pre-season due to a sprained ankle feels manageable.Â

Still, Hoglanderâ€s speed, abrasiveness and versatility probably make him even more valuable to the Canucks as the team tries to play faster and more aggressively under new head coach Adam Foote. If Hoglanderâ€s injury turns into several weeks, instead of week-to-week, the Canucks will miss him.

• One of the more experienced bubble players whose chance of making the Canucks should go up in Hoglanderâ€s absence, Vitali Kravtsov, picked a bad time for his poorest day since training camp opened.Â

Signed this summer for depth and as a low-risk reclamation gamble, the 26-year-old former first-round pick had a solid opening week with the Canucks. But in Fridayâ€s loss, Kravtsov was caught out of place on both Seattle goals. He was a step behind Jani Nyman on the Kraken wingerâ€s deflection that made it 1-0, then drifted in the defensive zone and left too much space for defenceman Tyson Jugnauth to move in and convert Ryan Wintertonâ€s pass that made it 2-0 in the second period. Kravtsov finished with the lowest ice time on the Canucks, 10:47.

• Pretty much glued to the second line beside centre Filip Chytil since camp began, Kane had a lively turn with first-liners Pettersson and Brock Boeser late in the middle period as the Canucks turned momentum. The trio spent their shift in the offensive zone and Kane made a pest of himself in front of the net. Moving the former Edmonton Oiler up the lineup could become a regular changeup the Canucks throw at opponents.

• We wonder if Kane played Friday (Chytil did not) so the full first-unit power play could get game reps. The Canucks did not see an advantage until the third period, but the fivesome of Kane, Pettersson, Boeser, DeBrusk and Quinn Hughes was dynamic and dangerous, generating Grade-A scoring chances for Boeser and Hughes. Making plays from the right-wing circle, Pettersson looked especially confident. The group needed only 22 seconds on their second power play to create a messy goal for DeBrusk.Â

“I was begging the refs all game, like, ‘give us a chance here,â€â€ Kane said of waiting for the five-on-four. “But I think we were all pretty happy once we got out there to see what it looks like in a game situation. And, you know, I thought after tonight, we definitely built some confidence. It was a good start for us.â€

The Canuck power play finished 15th last season at 22.5 per cent, but faded badly in the second half. Itâ€s one area where the offence-challenged team is looking for more goals this season.

• Something we noticed: after Hughes absorbed a sneaky, but largely innocuous slash from Jacob Melanson in transition following a second-period turnover, it was Canuck prospect Vilmer Alriksson who said something to Melanson after the whistle. And something everyone noticed: sophomore Vancouver defenceman Elias Pettersson (Junior) did not back down from Seattleâ€s Tye Kartye after a post-whistle scrum in the third period. The Kraken ended up taking an extra minor in the fracas, which led to DeBruskâ€s game-winner.

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