Guillaume Brisebois finally earns opening-night roster spot with Canucks

Defenceman Guillaume Brisebois is poised to achieve a long-awaited milestone with the Vancouver Canucks, making the club’s opening-night roster 11 years after he was drafted. The 29-year-old from Longueuil, Que., remains on a trimmed group of 23 players ahead of Tuesday’s season opener in Edmonton against the Oilers.

Vancouver’s only roster move over the weekend was placing minor-league goaltender Nikita Tolopilo on waivers, leaving Brisebois still in place as the team finalized its numbers. General manager Ryan Johnson was still monitoring the waiver wire late Sunday, but the expectation is that the 23 healthy players who finished the pre-season schedule Saturday will be confirmed as the opening roster later Monday.

Years of injuries delay NHL breakthrough

Brisebois’s path to this point has been defined as much by resilience as by hockey. He has signed seven separate contracts with the Canucks while dealing with major medical setbacks, including hip surgery last September that cost him nearly all of last season. The year before that was largely spent in the American Hockey League as he tried to rebuild his game after a concussion that raised concerns about his long-term future.

In 2023, the organization had told him during training camp that he would make the NHL club, only for him to be injured on a hit from behind by Brandon Tanev in the final pre-season game. Selected 66th overall in 2015 with a pick acquired from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Eddie Lack trade, Brisebois has appeared in just 29 NHL games, debuting on Feb. 14, 2019 and seeing his last action in a three-game stint two seasons ago.

Through those stops and starts, he continued to re-sign with Vancouver on two-way deals, a choice he links closely to his longstanding bond with Johnson. The current GM first worked with Brisebois as a development coach, then as his minor-league general manager in Utica and Abbotsford before moving into his present role. Brisebois has spoken about Johnson’s honesty and focus on the “human side,” crediting that relationship for his belief that an opportunity in Vancouver still existed.

Depth pieces round out Vancouver’s 23-man group

Brisebois is still in the process of regaining his form after being limited to just nine AHL games last season following surgery, but he says he feels physically improved and ready for whatever assignment the organization deems best. Whether that means staying in Vancouver or logging more minutes in the AHL to solidify his rhythm, he has indicated he is prepared for both scenarios.

The Canucks’ projected 23-man roster also features 22-year-old first-round pick Jonathan Lekkerimaki, defenceman Victor Mancini and winger Arshdeep Bains, an undrafted Surrey, B.C., product who cleared waivers in Vancouver last season. In goal, Leevi Merilainen, claimed off waivers from the Ottawa Senators on Friday, has overtaken Tolopilo to serve as backup to Kevin Lankinen. Among current Canucks, only injured goaltender Thatcher Demko, a 2014 second-round pick, has been in the organization longer than Brisebois. Vancouver practises Monday morning at the University of British Columbia before flying to Edmonton, where Brisebois’s long wait for a true NHL start is finally set to end.