When the playoffs are no longer a motivating factor, players and teams need to find some other motivation for the remaining games. It’s only natural to feel let down when you fail to reach your goal, after all.
That motivation could be feeling fortunate to even be in the NHL and believing that each game is worthy of your maximum effort. It could be wanting to play well for the fans who have supported you all season and continue to come out to games or watch on TV even when the team has been eliminated from playoff contention. Or it could be as simple as the fact that winning feels good, even if it does nothing for you in the standings.
Aatu Räty, on the other hand, has no need to go searching for motivation to play well in these final games. He has motivation to spare.
"I'm not a flashy player"
Even as he's played 31 games in the NHL this season, Räty is still a prospect aiming to make the Canucks out of training camp next season. Proving that he can handle NHL competition in these games is a good start. The time to start impressing head coach Rick Tocchet, not to mention the Canucks’ management, is right now.
“We’ve got some young guys here that we’ve got to just keep preaching good habits,” said Tocchet. “That will build a good a foundation. It starts today, it starts tomorrow — we don’t just go, ‘Let’s start July first or training camp.’ It’s always got to start the next day.”
It’s a lesson that Räty has taken to heart all season.
“What’s best for my game is trying to play the right way and do those winning details,” said Räty. “I’m not a flashy player, I’m not trying to show that I have a great toe-drag or anything. It’s the same as training camp, same as games one to 40.”
The 22-year-old centre was a key component of the Bo Horvat trade with the New York Islanders, with whom he’d already played 12 NHL games. The Canucks, however, have brought him along slowly. He spent the entirety of the 2023-24 season in the AHL, picking up 18 goals and 52 points in 72 games while working on his two-way game.
This season, he’s taken his game to another level in the AHL, with 17 goals and 39 points in just 41 games, which is still good for second on the team in scoring. With the Canucks’ injuries at centre, Räty has gotten an opportunity to prove himself in Vancouver.
"We just want to be solid and clean in our own end"
At the very least, Räty has proven that he can put the puck in the net in the NHL. In his previous stint with the Canucks earlier in the season, Räty had just four points in 21 games. Since being called up in late March, he has five goals and seven points in ten games. Along the way, he's found some chemistry on a third line with hard-forechecking wingers Dakota Joshua and Kiefer Sherwood.
“It’s nice to produce on offence,” said Räty. “But we just want to be solid and clean in our own end. Obviously, you always take the goals that you can get.”
That’s key for Räty, who has earned praise from Tocchet for his work ethic, his faceoffs, and his offensive contributions, but the coach has repeatedly talked about his need to work on his details in the defensive zone. That element is still a work in progress, but it’s something he has worked on significantly in the AHL with Abbotsford head coach Manny Malhotra, who was an excellent shutdown centre in his time.
“I think it’s good when the coaches are hard on players,” said Räty. “Anytime you turn it over, or you might not do the smartest thing, you’ll hear about it. Sometimes, it sucks to hear that, but then you feel like you’ll be ready [for the NHL]. Even in practice, it’s very game-like, and the standard we have over there is definitely helping us prepare for the NHL, so it doesn’t hit you in the face when you get here.”
Räty was called up from the AHL right in the middle of Abbotsford’s 13-game winning streak. He went from an AHL team cruising their way up the standings en route to home-ice advantage in the playoffs to an NHL team desperately trying to claw their way back into playoff position.
It was a very different feeling both in the room and on the ice, but Räty adapted quickly, scoring three goals in his first three games.
“Obviously, you’re trying to give 110 per cent every game, but it’s no secret that when your back’s against the wall, you can push a little bit more,” said Räty about the experience of coming into the Canucks’ playoff push. “The preparation is the same. I feel it would be pretty bad if you have to flip the switch, like now I’m going to warm up to the game, actually, because it means more. You try to set yourself and your team up for success every single time.”
"We've been a team that when we get hot, we get really hot"
Even though the Canucks’ playoff push was unsuccessful, Räty has made an impression. Now, he’ll get to return to the AHL to help Abbotsford in the Calder Cup Playoffs.
“In Abby, we’ve been a bit of an up-and-down team,” said Räty. “Now, we’re really high in the standings and running that win streak. I feel like we’ve been a team that when we get hot, we get really hot.”
“I think earlier in the year, it took us a little bit to adjust to that new system,” he added. “Lately, it’s been really dialed and it’s showing in the results. It’s a system that, when you execute it well, it’s so hard to play against. I feel like there’s so much skill in that team and so many good players that when they’re doing the right thing, they have a really good chance of winning every game.”
Even as he goes into the playoffs with Abbotsford, Räty knows the Canucks’ brass will be watching and he’ll continue to have opportunities to make an impression.
“Every game in Abbotsford, they watch the games, and they hear the reports. Every single game and every single practice, everybody’s watching,” said Räty. “Even if you were injured and just practiced the whole year, they still see it. It’s good that they see everything, but you also have to be dialed in every time.”
