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Blackfish: EBUG action in Abbotsford, Bloom’s first AHL goal, and a six point night for Cootes
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Dave Hall
Nov 12, 2025, 15:44 EST
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Welcome back to Blackfish: Our Weekly Vancouver Canucks Prospect Report.
From emergency goalies in Colorado to six-point explosions in the WHL, this week felt like the entire Canucks system was auditioning for a reality show.
Abbotsford iced just one goaltender and had to finish a game with an insurance rep between the pipes. Josh Bloom collected his first in the American League, while Braeden Cootes casually dropped a six-spot on the city that drafted him.
Meanwhile, we’ve got injury updates, overseas tournament notes, and some international auditions to chat about.

Abbotsford Canucks

It just keeps getting weirder in Abbotsford.
Travelling to Loveland, Colorado, to face the AHL’s top-ranked Colorado Eagles, the Canucks brought a heavily depleted roster and only one healthy goaltender. But they left with zero.
Following Jiri Patera’s recall to Vancouver, Ty Young travelled solo to Colorado as Abbotsford’s only active netminder. Despite allowing two goals through two periods, he was dialled in, stopping 18 shots and looking poised to finish strong. But he did not return for the third and was shut down for the rest of the weekend.
Enter the ever-growing player carousel.
In his place, 21-year-old CJ Kier, an insurance rep from Denver, was forced into action as the team’s emergency backup goalie. With no professional experience and a background in NAHL hockey, Kier strapped on the pads and played a full 20 minutes. He made five saves, allowing just one goal to former Abbotsford forward Tristen Nielsen. Despite the oddity of the situation, Kier gave the team a legitimate fighting chance.
The next day, Aku Koskenvuo was on a flight to rejoin the team, but it was recent call-up Jonathan Lemieux who got the start.
Koskenvuo must have been in a good mood on that flight, though. The Finnish prospect secured his first professional win on Friday night with Kalamazoo, stopping 35 shots in a 5–4 victory. He even carried a shutout into the third before a barrage of late goals narrowed the margin.
As for Nikita Tolopilo, CanucksArmy has learned that the injury sidelining him appears to be a groin issue and that he is roughly a week away from returning. Whether he’s ready in time for the California road trip remains to be seen. Ty Young was back in the lineup on Tuesday.
Up front, Josh Bloom finally got the monkey off his back. He picked up his first career AHL goal after collecting the puck in the neutral zone, turning on the jets to burn a flat-footed defender, and sliding the puck five-hole on the netminder.
It took 23 games, but with a recent surge in chances, the goal felt inevitable. Bloom has quietly been trending upward, and this goal was a long time coming.
Vilmer Alriksson, who already had his first AHL goal under his belt, added another in Friday’s 4–1 loss.
In a game where the Canucks generated almost no offence, Alriksson stayed with his own rebound and buried it past the netminder to give his team its only goal. That kind of second-effort play is becoming a staple in his game.
With Abbotsford’s injury woes, opportunity has knocked to give Alriksson a steady role on the team. He was bumped up to the top line on Saturday and has been rewarded with strong deployment in the last stretch.
While adding a bit more “jam” to his shift-to-shift game would help round out his profile, he’s quickly becoming a respected and trusted piece on this roster and a netfront headache for opponents.
He even dropped the gloves for his first professional fight.
He’s not NHL-ready yet, but he’s doing the things necessary to project as a potential middle-six contributor down the line.
It was another rough showing for Danila Klimovich, who continues to slide down the depth chart. Just three shots over two games and multiple turnovers in all three zones have his stock trending downward — fast.
It’s disappointing, especially coming off a career year, and with such a golden opportunity to shoulder some offensive weight. But so far, he hasn’t stepped up.
Chase Stillman remains out, and we’re hearing the injury is a broken fibula. A return does not appear imminent.

CHL

Braeden Cootes had himself a night.
Facing the Vancouver Giants, Cootes exploded for six points in a 7–3 blowout. That performance gave him 13 points (5G, 8A) through eight games. He went 16-for-24 in the faceoff dot, was a plus-3, and fired five shots on goal for a career night.
He opened the scoring with a heavy one-timer that forced its way through the netminder, followed it up with two primary assists (a silky backdoor feed and a quick one-touch pass), and even his secondary assist was highlight-worthy as a spinning backhand cross-ice saucer. He capped the night with a standard empty-netter, earning third star honours — somehow not even first or second.
He now ranks sixth in the WHL in points per game (1.63) and is making a strong early-season case to be named to this year’s Canadian World Junior team as an 18-year-old.
In Edmonton, Parker Alcos missed each of his team’s games and continues to be out. The WHL has yet to post its weekly report, so we cannot confirm that it is due to injury. However, after reviewing the tape, he took a slash to the hand late in a game last week and has not played since.
In the OHL, Aleksei Medvedev continues to impress. He dropped one game this week, allowing four goals on 34 shots, but bounced back with a 24-save performance in a 4–1 win.
His athleticism continues to impress us night after night. Yes, he overcommits to this shot below, but the recovery is incredible.
His 1.99 GAA slipped slightly to third in the league, but his .926 save percentage still tops the charts to continue his excellent draft-plus-one campaign.
Gabriel Chiarot moved into third in scoring on the Brampton Steelheads with a two-goal, two-assist weekend. He also scored a slick shootout goal during a rare Brampton win.
Brampton remains near the basement of the Eastern Conference standings (8th of 10), but Chiarot has been an early bright spot. He’s the only forward with a positive plus/minus (plus–3) and now has 13 points (7G, 6A) on the year.
Riley Patterson added two points this week, including a nifty shorthanded breakaway goal. He now sits third in scoring on Niagara with 18 points.

NCAA

It was a big weekend in East Lansing, as Anthony Romani’s Michigan State squad hosted Penn State in a marquee series.
With Gavin McKenna in town, the series attracted plenty of NHL eyes from executives around the hockey world, and Romani made the most of his stage. He scored twice, once with a spinning slot shot and again with a power play rocket from the top of the circle.
He now has three goals and five points on the season, skating primarily on the third line with second-unit special teams usage. He’s yet to eclipse the 16-minute mark in ice time, so he continues to play in a secondary contributing role.
Wilson Björck returned from injury and notched a power play assist over the weekend.
While his box score impact was limited, his energy and involvement never were. He continues to show strong situational awareness and engagement, often driving plays that don’t show up on the scoresheet. In our eyes, he has fit just fine at the NCAA level.
Even here, he doesn’t get credit for an assist, but was a major reason this goal happened. He’s just always running.

Around the world

Basile Sansonnens spent the week away from his club team, suiting up for Switzerland at the Five Nations U20 tournament. A lock for the upcoming World Juniors, Sansonnens picked up a goal and rotated between top and second-pairing duties.
It’s a strong indicator that Switzerland views him as a top-four option heading into the holiday tournament.
That will do it for this week’s Blackfish Prospect report.

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