The 2025-26 season is just weeks into its start, and roster issues have already begun to compile within the Vancouver Canucks system.

And no one’s feeling the pinch more than Manny Malhotra’s Abbotsford Canucks. With six forwards who saw reps on the Abbotsford Canucks’ 2024-25 Calder Cup run promoted to Vancouver, the affiliates’ roster is razor-thin ahead of their banner-raising home opener on Friday, October 24.

In an attempt to add bodies, General Manager Ryan Johnson announced the signing of Montreal, Quebec native Arnaud Durandeau to a professional try-out agreement.

Originally drafted 165th overall (sixth round) by the New York Islanders in 2017, Durandeau spent six seasons in the AHL, split between Bridgeport, Utica and Laval. During his 215-game tenure, he contributed 132 points (54 goals, 78 assists) and 116 penalty minutes.

Durandeau made his NHL debut during the 2022-23 season, skating in four games with the New York Islanders and picking up two penalty minutes as a plus–1 rating.

The 6-foot, 194-pound left-shot forward joined the KHL in 2024-25, appearing in 37 games with Amur Khabarovsk of the KHL. There, he posted eight points (three goals, five assists), 16 penalty minutes and was a minus–13.

Before his professional career, he spent three seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads, where he was drafted seventh overall in the 2015 QMJHL draft. He recorded 196 points (85 goals, 111 assists) and 192 penalty minutes in 262 regular-season games.

His rights had been traded twice since 2023, first moving from the New York Islanders system to the New Jersey Devils, and then was dealt to the Montreal Canadiens in 2024, where his rights expired.

He was recently signed to a professional try-out in Milwaukee but was released before the start of the 2025-26 season.

The Abbotsford Canucks are set to kick off a six-game homestand this Friday at the Abbotsford Centre, where the team will raise its 2024-25 Calder Cup banner. Starting the new season on the road, the Canucks head home with a 2-2-0 record after games in Henderson, Nevada and Laval, Quebec.