Rick Tocchet has high praise for rookie forward: Aatu Raty training camp's surprise?

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Cooper Godin
September 25, 2024 (11:36)

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Vancouver Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet had high praise for rookie forward Aatu Raty following Tuesday's win over the Seattle Kraken.

Thanks to two-point performances from Brock Boeser and Jonathan Lekkerimaki, along with Arturs Silovs making 18 saves on 19 shots, the Vancouver Canucks walked away with a 3-1 win over Seattle in their preseason opener last night.

Rick Tocchet met with the media following the win and had some high praise for Finnish forward Aatu Raty, who was on a line with Nils Hoglander and Linus Karlsson during Tuesday's game. The trio combined for Vancouver's opening goal to give the team a 1-0 lead in the first period.

"We had a couple of penalties tonight and I put him on the right side because I thought we were going to get killed and he won three (faceoffs) in a row. That's huge. That was 75 seconds of PK time and he plays a heavy game and isn't afraid to get in there. He just keeps working on his skating and he's faster." Tocchet said.

He went on to add, "There hasn't been a day where he hasn't worked his ass off. He always had his motor running and he's trying to make the team. That's what I'm looking for."

Aatu Raty also felt like he had a strong game, saying that he had some tricks up his sleeve he was able to use against the Kraken, only facing them once before in his career.

"I thought I played a good game. I played Seattle once but haven't really taken faceoffs and I had some tricks up my sleeve and they didn't know my game. I had an opportunity to play all parts of my game and it went well." Raty said.

With a strong training camp and preseason games, Aatu Raty could find himself in a good position to land a spot on Vancouver's opening night roster in a couple of weeks. Raty had an excellent season with Abbotsford in 2023-24 and if he happens to be assigned there to start the season, he won't be in the AHL for long, if he's able to replicate that success from last year.