Welcome back to Blackfish — CanucksArmy’s weekly Prospect Report.
It was an exciting week as the Abbotsford Canucks opened up for their 2024-25 campaign. While the team’s roster was filled with its share of veterans, a handful of youngsters remained to keep tabs on.
With the AHL up and running, it’s now all systems go, with all Canucks’ prospects seasons underway.
Let’s dive right in.

Abbotsford Canucks

First things first, Jonathan Lekkerimäki was absent from the Abbotsford Canucks lineup this week, missing both games due to illness. Initially, we had concerns about being banged up after he left the team’s intra-squad scrimmage with an awkward fall into the boards, but it turns out he’s simply under the weather. Not only did the team relations confirm “illness,” but CHEK TV’s Rick Dhaliwal also confirmed. Of course, as is typically the case with Twitter, the masses got a hold of his reply and had some fun with it.
The Canucks are back in action on Friday in Colorado, and we hope to see Lekkerimäki make his debut then.
Elias Pettersson made his official debut as a full-time member of the Abbotsford Canucks, and he delivered as expected. While he had no standout moments, Pettersson played solid “D-Petey” hockey throughout both games. He even picked up an assist off a missed point shot that banked wildly off the backboard to Tristen Nielsen.
Pettersson averaged 15:06 of ice time across both games while manning the penalty kill and playing on the third pairing alongside Mark Friedman at even strength. He recorded seven shots, two hits, and two blocked shots—including one on a 3-on-1 opportunity to break up a dangerous scoring chance.
That’s exactly the type of commitment the Canucks expect from Pettersson.
Rookie defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev also looked strong, particularly in his debut game on Friday. Despite being slotted as the team’s seventh defenceman in both matches, Kudryavtsev had his moments to shine and, quite honestly, never really made mistakes.
Throughout the weekend, Kudryavtsev showed off his typical strengths that make him such an impactful two-way defender: his active stick and quick, accurate stretch passes. We also love his anticipation and willingness to pinpoint the right times to activate and jump up in the play. He knows when to pounce, and when it’s unsuccessful, he knows when to return and can do it promptly.
Although his role as the seventh defender limited him to just over eight minutes of ice time on average, he played shifts on the penalty kill, some shifts on the right side, and hopefully warranted higher minutes come next weekend. Based on what we saw over the weekend, he feels ready for a full-time AHL deployment.
Late in the third period, he picked up a loose puck and threaded a pass to a teammate in front of the net, resulting in his first professional point—a secondary assist.
As the final rookie to do so, Ty Mueller made his AHL debut this weekend and was quickly given steady ice time. He debuted as the third-line center on Friday and was utilized on both special teams. He played well enough to be promoted to the second line for Sunday’s game. While Mueller didn’t have any offensive contributions, he didn’t make any significant mistakes either—a good sign for a first-time AHL center.
Mueller averaged 14:08 of ice time over the two games and won 13 of his 20 face-offs, an area where this team desperately needs help in the depth charts.
There’s no way to sugarcoat it. Last season was a disaster for Danila Klimovich, and he rarely made it to this report. At least not for anything positive.
Well, it’s early, but there’s some good and bad news for the now 21-year-old sharpshooter. Offensively, he looked strong, scoring a goal in his season debut courtesy of a great release and threw five shots on target between the two games.
We’ve often talked about his need to play the powerplay to maximize his offensive looks, which was simply not the case last season. Luckily, he saw time on both power-play units and had some decent looks.
However, defensively, Klimovich still struggled and finished Sunday’s game as a minus-3. At this point, it’s hard to envision a scenario where Klimovich magically improves his defensive IQ. Still, if he can consistently provide offence, the team may be able to overlook some of his defensive shortcomings at the AHL level. The flashes come and go, but the issues typically stand out like a sore thumb.
Abbotsford’s two netminders, Nikita Tolopilo and Jiri Patera, split the season’s opening games. Tolopilo made 20 saves in a 4-3 victory on Friday, while Patera made 25 in a 4-3 shootout loss on Sunday, including several impressive sliding pad saves.
As expected, those will be your go-to goaltending options as the club announced the reassignment of Ty Young to the Kalamazoo Wings (EHCL). As a 20-year-old, this is likely the best-case scenario, as he’ll be handed ample games while still gaining reps among the older competition. Like the AHL, it’s a back-to-back habitat down in the ECHL, so he’ll get to slide into at least one, if not two, games per week. Young’s first chance to suit up will be this Saturday, as his team visits the Cincinnati Cyclones.

CHL

Unfortunately, there was some terrible news out of North Bay this weekend. Anthony Romani suffered a broken clavicle after taking a hit in the corner during the first period of a game against Erie.
A timeline for his recovery has not been given, but recovery times for such an injury range from 6 to 12 weeks. While that’s simply an assumption, it’s expected that Romani will be sidelined for a significant stretch.
Before the injury, Romani was firing at a point-per-game pace, with five points in five games as the Battalion’s primary offensive player.
As expected, Sawyer Mynio is off to a fantastic start with the Seattle Thunderbirds. Mynio recorded two goals and three assists last week, bringing his season total to nine points, placing him fifth among WHL defencemen. Of course, having only played six games, his points-per-game rate (1.50) sits second among defenders. He’s also one of just two Seattle defenders to hold a positive plus-minus, sitting at plus-4.
Last week, we were blessed with one of his patented one-timer goals, and this week, he showcased his wicked snap from distance. No matter where on the ice, Mynio has a proven penchant for beating netminder clean with various shots in his toolkit.
Vilmer Alriksson picked up his first assist of the season, using his long frame to drive to the front of the net and deliver a slick behind-the-back drop pass to his teammate.
While Alriksson has only two points in his first four games, he’s showing strong signs of development. He’s using his physicality more effectively to create space and opportunities.
Parker Alcos and Basile Sanssonens continue to fly under the radar, but both picked up assists this week while playing in their teams’ top-four defensive group. Admittedly, we have focused on the system’s more profiled names to kick off the season, but we plan on watching their games more closely as the weeks go on.

NCAA

Tom Willander picked up another assist while quarterbacking Boston University’s second power-play unit during their lone game of the week.
Though quieter on the stats sheet with just one shot on goal, Willander was effective in all zones, bringing his season totals to two assists, six shots, two blocked shots, and two hits while averaging 20:24 of ice time through two games.
It’s a small sample size, but so far, his aggressive shutdown ability hasn’t gone anywhere.
Jackson Dorrington made his season debut for Northeastern over the weekend, wearing an “A” as an alternate captain this year. Skating just over 21 minutes, Dorrington fired seven shots and picked up a secondary assist in a 5-1 win over Stonehill. In the play, the defender wrapped around the net, took a shot, and reset the puck from the blue line, ultimately leading to a goal.

Sweden

After five consecutive games on the SHL’s third line, Melvin Fernström was absent from Örebro’s most recent game. After a strong start with a few points and decent metrics, Fernström’s production has slowed, replacing him with his J20 linemate, Liam Danielsson.
With no games since, we aren’t sure if he’ll be back in the J20 for a quick stint or if his absence was a one-off, but we will know by mid-week.
Lucas Forsell has returned from his appendix surgery and is easing his way back into the lineup on the fourth line. For now, there’s nothing significant to report as he gets his legs back under him.
We haven’t covered much of Hugo Gabrielson this season, as he’s been healthy scratched multiple times with Nybro in the Allsvenskan. However, he picked up his first goal of the year with a top-corner blast from the blue line.
That will do it for this week’s report. As always, please feel free to ask any questions or give any suggestions in the comment section, and we will do our best to answer and fulfil those needs!
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