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Blackfish: Cootes matches career high while Patterson sets new ones, plus a CHL/NCAA postseason primer
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Dave Hall
Mar 25, 2026, 15:30 EDTUpdated: Mar 25, 2026, 15:08 EDT
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Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
The CHL regular season is all wrapped up, setting up for an always exhilarating Memorial Cup run. With several Canucks prospects set to play meaningful roles on competitive teams, it’s shaping up to be a fun spring in Canucks prospect land. With both Vancouver and Abbotsford sitting at the bottom of their respective leagues, Canucks fans could sure use some good news. In the NCAA, the tournament field has been finalized, giving a pair of prospects the opportunity to extend their seasons on the national stage.
It’s championship run time, folks.
Let’s dive in.

Abbotsford Canucks

The Abbotsford Canucks travelled to California for a three-game swing against the Ontario Reign and San Jose Barracuda. As expected against some of the Pacific Division’s top dogs, they dropped all three games to extend their losing streak to five. They managed just four goals on the trip and continue to struggle to find the scoresheet, ranking second-worst in goal scoring.
Now sitting 20 points back of the final playoff spot, Abbotsford was officially eliminated from postseason contention. And wouldn’t you know, that happened to coincide with their parent club in Vancouver.
Ty Mueller continued to score from the bumper spot on the power play after a quick feed from Bennett Schimek below the goal line. Mueller now leads the team in goals and sits just one point behind Nils Åman for the team lead in points.
Kirill Kudryavtsev also found the scoresheet, recording his first goal since late November with a seeing-eye shot from the point. Speaking of Schimek, he picked up a secondary assist on the play, providing a net-front screen that left the goaltender with little chance.
Ty Young saw a single start through the three games and failed to pick up a win. He did play well, stopping 33 of 36 shots to bounce back from a dreadful game against the Henderson Silver Knights. We’ve said it before over the last few weeks, and at this point, goaltending numbers across the board need to be taken with a grain of salt. For Young, it’s about building consistency and enjoying small victories, and a 30-plus save effort checks that box.
Down in Kalamazoo, Aku Koskenvuo picked up a win, stopping 25 of 26 shots for his fifth victory of the ECHL season.

CHL

Braeden Cootes wrapped up his regular season with five points over two games, finishing the year on a high note despite missing the Raiders’ final game for undisclosed reasons.
Those five points brought him to 63 on the season, matching his previous career high in 15 fewer games. That’s good for an impressive 1.40 points-per-game pace, which nearly snuck into the top-10 (13th) leaguewide. He also ranked sixth in the WHL with a 59.6% faceoff win rate across 661 draws.
The Prince Albert Raiders finished first in the Eastern Conference with a dominant 52-10-5-1 record and enter the playoffs on a six-game winning streak. They’ll face the eighth-seeded Red Deer Rebels in the opening round.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27 at Prince Albert, 6:00 PM
Riley Patterson capped off a breakout season in style, recording two goals and three points in his final regular season game. He finished with 84 points (40 goals, 44 assists) in 60 games, with his 40 goals tied for third in the OHL and his points-per-game rate ranking among the league’s best. He led Niagara in virtually every offensive category, finishing 24 points ahead of the next closest teammate, and posted a 53.5% faceoff win rate across more than 1,000 draws.
In addition to earning two coaches’ votes (best shootout and best playmaker), he was nominated for this year’s Red Tilson Trophy, awarded to the league’s most outstanding player.
The IceDogs secured the seventh seed and will face the Barrie Colts — Patterson’s former team — in the opening round.
Game 1 – Thursday, March 26 at Barrie, 4:00 PM
Gabriel Chiarot closed out his season with a highlight-reel goal, stripping a defender and finishing with a soft move. He ends his draft-plus-one-year with 36 points (20 goals, 16 assists) and 78 penalty minutes in 62 games.
Kitchener finished atop the Western Conference and will face Saginaw in Round One.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27 at Kitchener, 4:00 PM
Kieren Dervin finished his first full OHL season with 42 points (17 goals, 25 assists) in 53 games, ranking third on the Frontenacs. He also co-led the team with five game-winning goals and handled top-six centre duties throughout the season. Sporting a 44.4% win rate, however, he struggled a bit in that regard. Kingston will take on Ottawa in the first round.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27 at Ottawa, 4:00 PM
It’s safe to say that Aleksei Medvdev has lost the crease and will ride the bench for the London Knights’ playoff push. Barring an injury or drop in form from Sebastian Gatto, of course.
It was a tale of two seasons for the young netminder, who began as one of the league’s best goaltenders but struggled mightily down the stretch. He finished his draft-plus-one regular season with a 16-15-2-1 record, a 3.26 goals-against average, and a .891 save percentage.
The London Knights will face the Soo Greyhounds in Round One.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27 at London, 4:00 PM
Parker Alcos wrapped up a career year, doubling his previous production with 30 points (5 goals, 25 assists) while posting a plus-43 rating, good for seventh among WHL defencemen.
The Kelowna Rockets finished fourth in the Western Conference and will take on the fifth-seeded Kamloops Blazers in Round One. As Memorial Cup hosts, Kelowna has already secured a berth in the tournament.
Game 1 – Friday, March 27 at Kelowna, 7:05 PM
You can find all six Canucks representatives’ schedules here.

NCAA

The NCAA Tournament field is officially set, with two Canucks prospects preparing for a run at a national title. The tournament is divided into four regional brackets, each featuring four teams battling for a spot in the Frozen Four, set for April 9 and 11 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Anthony Romani and Michigan State earned an at-large bid after a strong regular season and will headline the Worcester Regional at the DCU Center in Worcester, Massachusetts, on Thursday, March 26. The winner will advance to face either Dartmouth or Wisconsin in the regional final on Saturday, March 28, with a trip to the Frozen Four on the line.
Matthew Lansing and Quinnipiac also secured an at-large bid and will compete in the Sioux Falls Regional. where they are set to face Hockey East regular-season champion Providence on Thursday, March 26, at the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center in South Dakota.
The winner will advance to the regional final on Saturday, March 28, to take on either North Dakota or Merrimack for a chance to move on to the Frozen Four.

Rest of the World

Basile Sansonnens and Lausanne HC have opened their playoff series against Genève-Servette, splitting the first two games. As a 19-year-old, Sansonnens is playing a limited role, averaging under nine minutes per game.
Ilya Safonov wrapped up his regular season with three assists, finishing with 33 points (16 goals, 17 assists) — just shy of his career high. Ak Bars Kazan finished third in their conference and opened their playoff series against Traktor Chelyabinsk. Safonov picked up the game-winning assist in Game 1.
With the CHL prospects set to embark on their postseason journeys, we have tons to cover over the next few weeks.
As always, we’ll be tracking it all in Blackfish.
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