Welcome to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
This week, the Abbotsford Canucks snapped a tough losing streak in high fashion, while one of their rookie defenders received a major invite. All the World Junior representatives returned to their respective squads, while the CHL players took the ice with their new teams.
It’s another packed week, so let’s dive right in.

Abbotsford Canucks

Heading into the weekend, the Abbotsford Canucks were on a franchise-worst six-game losing skid. But if there’s anything that serves as a quick pick-me-up, it’s a weekend series against the league’s worst team.
The Henderson Silver Knights came to town with just nine wins to their name, and the Canucks used this opportunity to secure back-to-back wins with an 8-3 combined score.
While not technically a Canucks prospect, Linus Karlsson, the new franchise leader, led the charge with a four-point weekend (two goals, two assists).
Ty Mueller, who played on a line with Karlsson on Friday, capitalized on the momentum. The 21-year-old continued his impressive campaign with two goals and an assist in the match.
Mueller officially took over the team lead with those three points and now sits at 19 points in 32 games. He is currently second on the team in 5-on-5 scoring, trailing only defenceman Elias Pettersson.
Mueller has consistently impressed with his well-rounded game. Beyond his scoring touch, he has won 52% of his faceoffs while playing significant minutes on both special teams units. His versatility and two-way play have made him a valuable asset for Abbotsford on a nightly basis.
Unfortunately, Mueller took a nasty spill into the boards and left the game with 10 minutes remaining but skated off on his own. He missed Saturday’s game and is considered day-to-day, according to Manny Malhotra.
While Mueller and Karlsson have thrived, it’s been a challenging stretch for most of the team’s other forwards.
Arshdeep Bains has had a slower start to this season. He managed to score a goal over the weekend, but it was just his second since rejoining the team in late November.
Since his return, he’s collected 10 points in 13 games but has only 17 shots and a minus-1 rating.
Since his return, he’s collected 10 points in 13 games, but has just 17 shots and a minus-1 rating.
Aatu Räty has also had a relatively quiet return to Abbotsford. He picked up a single assist over the weekend and has just four points in nine games since rejoining the squad after a brief NHL stint. The good news? He’s excelling in the faceoff circle, boasting a 55% win rate on the year and 56% since returning in mid-December.
Expectations remain high for both Bains and Räty. As high-end AHL players with NHL experience, they are expected to provide consistent production and lift the team when struggling. So far, that hasn’t been the case.
Danila Klimovich has also hit a rough patch, going pointless in his last six games. While Klimovich possesses high-end skills, he needs more consistency to take the next step. Overall, it’s been an encouraging season, but his performance still leaves room for growth.
On the blue line, Cole McWard and Jett Woo each contributed an assist and a plus-1 rating over the weekend. Kirill Kudryavtsev grabbed a plus-2, while Elias Pettersson continued his steady play with a plus-1 rating.
Off the ice, it was Elias Pettersson who stole the show (prospect-wise). The 20-year-old became the third player in franchise history to be chosen to represent the team at this year’s AHL All-Star event.
The game will be held at Acrisure Arena in Palm Desert, California, home of the Canucks’ Pacific Division rivals Coachella Valley Firebirds. The Skills Competition will be on Sunday, February 2, followed by the All-Star Challenge on Monday, February 3.
In net, Arturs Silovs and Nikita Tolopilo each broke three game losing skids, resulting in a solid weekend of goaltending in Abbotsford. Silovs secured a 21-save win on Saturday, While Tolopilo stopped 29 of 30 shots to get the weekend going.

ECHL: Kalamazoo Wings

Ty Young was reassigned to the ECHL earlier in the week and made a start down in Kalamazoo. He put forth a solid effort, stopping 30 of 32 shots, but unfortunately, his team couldn’t provide any goal support, resulting in a 3-0 loss.
This has been a recurring theme for Young this season – strong individual performances often overshadowed by his teammates’ lack of offensive production. Young has been impressive, stopping 226 of his 243 shots faced this season, but he can’t seem to get the help when needed.
Josh Bloom also made his return to the Kalamazoo lineup after missing more than a month due to injury. He marked his return with a goal, but that was his only point over the two-game slate, putting him at five goals and seven points through 12 games.

NCAA

Tom Willander returned to Boston University after representing Sweden at the World Junior Championships. He seamlessly slotted back into his role on the blue line, picking up two assists over the weekend. With a single blocked shot this weekend, he’s now up to 25 on the year, which currently ranks fourth on the team.
Daimon Gardner, a 2022 fourth-round pick, scored his third goal of the season for St. Cloud State. While Gardner has shown flashes of his offensive potential, he’s struggled to find consistency at the NCAA level thus far.
Despite receiving decent minutes, mostly in the top six, he has just six points, eight penalty minutes, and a minus-1 rating through 16 games this season.
Aku Koskenvuo earned a much-needed win for Harvard, stopping 24 of 25 shots to snap a four-game winless skid.
Koskenvuo had a strong start to the season, earning the lion’s share of starts in the Harvard crease. However, freshman Ben Charette has recently emerged as a competitor for playing time, pushing Koskenvuo for starts. The rookie recently won the ECAC Rookie of the Week.
Hopefully, this recent win will act as a turning point for Koskenvuo, pushing him to become the prominent number one among the Harvard pipes.

Sweden

Melvin Fernström and Lucas Forsell are playing a game of “catch me if you can,” having experienced fluctuating roles with their respective SHL teams this season. In one game, they may be on their team’s top line, while in others, they are demoted to the fourth. Honestly, it’s been a crap shoot all season.
Neither player registered any points this week, but Fernström managed to fire seven shots over his three games. He’s currently up to six points (three goals, three assists), 34 shots, four hits, and 20 blocked shots on the season.
Forsell’s Farjestad team won 6-2 in Champions League semi-final action. This victory gave them a commanding four-goal aggregate lead over Sparta Prague in their semi-final series. Their next game in the tournament is next week.
Due to his overall potential with the Canucks’ organization, we’ve been fading Hugo Gabrielson this season, but he’s quietly putting together a strong season with his new team in the Allsvenskan (Nybro).
With two more assists this week, he recently hit a career-high in points with three goals and 16 points. Gabrielson has thrived in a larger role, enjoying top-four minutes and serving as a full-time powerplay quarterback for the first time in his young career.
Both Gabrielson and Forsell must be signed by this summer (2025).

CHL

Sawyer Mynio made his debut with the Calgary Hitmen this week, suiting up in two games while making an immediate impact.
With star defenceman Carter Yakemchuk sidelined due to injury (week-to-week), Mynio stepped into a significant role, logging major minutes (most minutes among the team) and even picking up his first point with his new squad in his debut.
While he wasn’t the team’s top-utilized player in game two, he still logged over 22 minutes in the match. The Hitmen currently co-lead the Eastern Conference, so it’s shaping up to be a fun spring for the soon-to-be 20-year-old defender.
Vilmer Alriksson added another point (assist) this week, bringing him to a point-per-game pace (six points in six games) with his new club (Brampton Battalion).
Alriksson has been given a top-six role and even saw time on the top line alongside potential top-5 pick Porter Martone. With 29 points on the season, he’s just four points shy of his rookie total and is on pace for a 55-point campaign.
Riley Patterson extended his offensive hot streak, collecting another two assists this week. He now has an impressive 11 points over his last nine games.
Anthony Romani, who’s set to join Patterson in Barrie, did not dress this week but is expected to make his debut very soon. We’ve been told that he could dress by this weekend.
Before leaving for World Juniors, Basile Sansonnens enjoyed top-paring minutes for much of the season with Rimouski. Since his return, he’s been placed on the third line. He picked up two secondary assists over the week and a plus-2 on the week.
Parker Alcos, a 2023 fifth-round pick, continues to enjoy elevated minutes with the Edmonton Oil Kings. He has seen time on both special teams units and has skated over 20 minutes in four of his last five games.
Thanks for tuning into another instalment of the Blackfish Prospect report.
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