Building Blue: Aatu Räty is Finding Consistency with Experience in Abbotsford

Aatu Räty has found comfort in Abbotsford and is working towards being an impact NHL player in the near future for the Vancouver Canucks.

The 21-year-old centre has been playing well on the farm and it’s not just the goals and assists that has been impressive.

Räty has eight goals and 13 assists through 29 AHL games. He’s the only Abbotsford Canuck who’s played in all 29 games this season and has been able to find a bigger role on both the power play and penalty kill this year.

Though the points are up from last season, Räty is more focused on developing, continuing to build habits and continuing to work on improving his skating. Abbotsford General Manager Ryan Johnson has preached about the players having the same mentality and approach to work whether it be practice at 9:00 am on Monday or game time on a Friday at 7:00 pm.

Räty has bought in and believes in the work throughout the week being the most important thing for his game right now. He’s taking extra time with teammates after practice to work on plays on both special teams and at five-on-five with linemates. Räty is also grabbing as much time as he can with development coaches Daniel and Henrik Sedin as well as assistant coach Jeff Ulmer.

Another addition to the young player's game has been the extra work he is able to put in away from the rink. As Räty matures, he is picking up little things that are helping him stay healthy and fresh throughout the season. He’s consistently doing yoga on his own and has learned to trust in the strength and conditioning program that the Canucks have for him.

Two areas where Räty has stepped up his game away from the rink are his stretching and his core workouts. He’s got a gym at home that he is able to use as well as all the time he spends at the rink.

“Right now, I’m in a routine that I want to keep on,” said Räty. “It's all about what makes your body feel good. We have a good thing going here in Abbotsford. I’ve never seen the ice machine come on the ice to kick us off, so I guess we can be out there however long we want to be. And we have a lot of coaches that will stay out to help or even the older guys here will stay out and they always have tips too.”

Räty is usually one of the last players off the ice and claims that being one of the youngest guys on the team motivates him to continue to put in the extra work. He’s always looking for 20 minutes of extra work around a 45-minute practice and spends a lot of time working on skating drills he’s been taught or will work with linemates to talk their way through plays in both the offensive and defensive zones.

“The AHL schedule is interesting,” said Räty. “There are times that you know the schedule isn't that busy so you definitely have to get to work but it's a hard thing because there's no formula when you're here and doing it and sometimes I’m questioning myself. For example, if we play on Friday and Saturday, do I want to stay really fresh for the games, or do I want to take this time and do an extra workout and do extra work? I can’t overthink it because there's no perfect way to do it.”

His own day-to-day grind has been something that Räty is beginning to feel confident about. He’s not letting himself get down because he hasn’t scored in a few games, and instead, is evaluating his game based on how he is helping the team and fitting in well with the structure.

It’s another part of how the AHL team is working to be on the same page as the NHL team.

There’s certainly individual growth down on the farm but the players are not just looking for counting stats. 

“It's good to have some things that you think about during the game other than points because you might not have anything going into the third period and you don't want yourself feeling like you haven't done anything in the first two,” said Räty. “For me, it's a lot about how much I work out there. I want to be a player who doesn't turn the puck over. I want to be a player who gets the puck and knows what we should be doing. I want to be a player that all my teammates can count on to make the right play and keep our game flowing.” 

Lately, Räty has been lining up on the wing but head coach Jeremy Colliton says not to believe everything that you see on the Twitter graphic. 

Colliton says that though Räty is lining up on the wing on social media, he’s playing a ton of centre and the flexibility of having two centres on a line gives a lot of options. 

“A lot of the time when you have two centres on a line, it’s about communication and the first guy back covers out down low,” said Colliton. “That flexibility saves energy and can be more efficient. I think being a second centre on a line has helped Aatu. It’s given him more energy to use on 50/50 battles and winning races to those battles. It’s allowed him to have success and it seems to result in him having the puck more.” 

Räty believes he is a natural centre and does admit that playing wing has been quite a new concept to him. He does believe that it’s helping him communicate better on the ice and that he is able to see the game a bit differently as well as be able to use his forechecking skill more often. 

There’s still a lot of room for Räty to continue to improve but he’s been seeing much more confidence in his own development now with a solid structure in his off-ice habits. 

With the help of the coaching staff and development team, Räty will continue to build his game so that he can be a trusted player in the NHL someday soon.