Vancouver Canucks First-Rounder Facing Fine From the NHL After First Career Game
The Canucks selected Braeden Cootes in the 2025 NHL Draft, and on Thursday he took his rookie lap, but unsurprisingly, that will come with a major fine.
The 2025/26 NHL season officially began for the Vancouver Canucks on Thursday, with the team having their home opener up against the Pacific Division rival Calgary Flames.
They came away a major success from that game, picking up a one-sided 5-1 victory, with the team getting great production from their young names and their veterans alike.
Braeden Cootes Facing a Fine for His 'Bucket-less' Rookie Lap
As we all know, the season opener for many teams is great for rookie laps, when a player on debut takes a lap in front of the crowd to soak it all in, and for some reason, the NHL has implemented a fine for any player that does it without a helmet, with even the big names like Connor Bedard going through this.
Now, Cootes, who was the No. 15 overall pick for the Canucks during the 2025 NHL Draft faces the same fine, after he took his rookie lap on Thursday with no helmet to a massive ovation from Canucks fans.
Unsurprisingly, NHL teams have worked out a system that veteran players are the ones to pay the fine for the rookies, so this will likely continue to happen, even if it no longer makes sense given that the rookie isn't the one paying the fine.
Ultimately though, Gary Bettman has shown no intention of changing the rule, despite the rookie not being the one to get punished, and with the tradition now being for veterans to do so, rookie laps around the NHL will continue without helmets like Cootes did.
TRENDING NOW
