Welcome back to another edition of the CanucksArmy Blackfish Prospect Report.
As we approach the holiday break, things have begun to settle down in prospect land. NCAA teams have officially hit their end-of-semester pause, junior leagues are gearing up for the World Juniors with their roster freezes nearly in place, and European teams took a collective breather for this past week.
With that said, there’s still plenty to dissect, particularly from a red-hot Abbotsford Canucks team.

Abbotsford Canucks

After a rocky and inconsistent start to the season, Abbotsford is absolutely cooking as of late. With another perfect weekend sweep — and we mean perfect — the Baby Canucks have now won four straight and eight of their last ten.
Much of this success can be attributed to returning reinforcements like Linus Karlsson and Phil Di Giuseppe, combined with better team health and timely performances.
Let’s kick things off with a player who literally got the crowd roaring. Jett Woo stole the show Saturday, opening the scoring with a slick toe-drag shot as the trailing defender to trigger Abbotsford’s annual Teddy Bear Toss.
It’s one of the best traditions in sports, and Woo got to live out a lifelong dream of being the one to release the teddy bear madness.
Beyond the fun, Woo added an assist on one of Linus Karlsson’s two goals that evening, bringing his season total to eight points. While his production is down compared to last year, it’s to be expected given his shift away from power-play opportunities.
He remains a staple in Abbotsford’s 5-on-5 play, penalty kill, and shutdown matchups, quietly solidifying his role as a dependable leader on the back end for the Abby Canucks.
Kirill Kudryavtsev nearly had his second goal of the season on Sunday, resulting from a slick rush and cutback play from Arshdeep Bains. Unfortunately for Kudryavtsev, the puck deflected off Aatu Räty before hitting the back of the net, so he had to settle for his 10th assist of the season. No matter — Kudryavtsev’s stock continues to rise.
He’s now firmly entrenched on the second power-play unit, has earned consistent top-four minutes, and even spent another weekend sliding over to the right side.
His calm decision-making, smooth skating, and ability to transition the puck have been standout qualities all season. With steady production and impressive two-way reliability, Kudryavtsev’s growth trajectory has been one of Abbotsford’s biggest stories.
While the spotlight shone on Abbotsford’s younger blueliners, Cole McWard quietly led all defenders with seven shots over the weekend, contributing one assist. He now sits at eight points (1G, 7A) and is pacing for a career-high 23 points this season.
McWard may have lost his special teams job, but he continues to provide steady, reliable two-way play, making him an easy target for the team’s next promotion.
Aatu Räty was reassigned for Sunday’s game and made an immediate impact, scoring his first AHL goal (see above) since November 2nd after a 17-game stint in Vancouver.
He finished the night with three shots and a plus-2 rating while centring a line with Arshdeep Bains and Jonathan Lekkerimäki. Räty’s two-way presence and polished pro game were a welcomed addition to a top-six that’s looking extremely dangerous at the American League level.
His return couldn’t ignite a certain Swede, though. After bouncing back last week, Jonathan Lekkerimäki had a quiet weekend, registering just three shots with no points.
It wasn’t just the lack of production but also the lack of impact. Outside of two dangerous chances on Sunday, both set up by Bains, Lekkerimäki struggled to generate any real chances, let alone high-danger opportunities.
This dip mirrors his sluggish stretch when he returned to the lineup weeks ago before finding his rhythm. Patience is key, as adjusting to the AHL grind takes time.
Between the pipes, Nikita Tolopilo stole the show. With Arturs Silovs recalled to Vancouver, Tolopilo got back-to-back starts and took that opportunity to make a little Abbotsford history.
In a relatively quiet night, he opened the weekend with a 15-save shutout — his second season. The team kept the visiting Manitoba Moose to eight four shots in the final 40 minutes…
The following game, he flipped the script, facing 13 shots in the first period alone and stopping all 27 shots in total. With this performance, Tolopilo became the first goalie in Abbotsford Canucks history to record back-to-back shutouts.
He now co-leads the AHL with three shutouts this season and has allowed just seven goals over his last five starts, four victories and three shutouts.
Meanwhile, Ty Young was reassigned to the ECHL to continue as Kalamazoo’s starter. He made the most of his opportunity, stopping 23 shots in a 4-3 overtime win to improve his record to 2-1-0 with a stellar 1.66 GAA and .951 SV%.
It’s a bittersweet moment for us here at Blackfish, as one of our most popular report members has not only made the leap to the NHL but appears to be thriving.
Max Sasson has finally scored his first career NHL goal and now has three points in as many games and five points in total. The way that he’s been playing, he may graduate sooner than expected.
Congratulations to Max!

CHL

Ever since he was selected for the World Junior Summer Showcase, we have been predicting Sawyer Mynio to eventually carve out a role on Team Canada for the upcoming World Juniors.
Last week, our prediction came true. The 19-year-old made a solid enough case to earn a spot among the team’s rotating defensive eight.
It’s a tremendous accomplishment for a prospect who has done nothing but increase his value since being drafted in the third round in 2023. The task now becomes earning a starting spot. With five left-shot defenders announced, it’ll be an uphill battle to ensure a spot come Boxing Day.
Team Canada’s final preparation is currently being done in Ontario. The team practices as a group between December 15 -18. From there, they will move into pre-tournament action. Canada will face Switzerland on December 19, Sweden on December 21, and Czechia on December 23 as it fine-tunes its game for the championship.
The 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship officially begins on Boxing Day, with Canada opening against Finland at the Canadian Tire Centre in Ottawa.
Team Canada’s Schedule:
December 26: vs. Finland @ 4:30 p.m. PT
December 27: vs. Latvia @ 4:30 p.m. PT
December 29: vs. Germany @ 4:30 p.m. PT
December 31: vs. USA @ 5:00 p.m. PT
Since we do not have any NCAA news, here is Tom Willander’s Swedish schedule for the tournament:
December 26: vs. Slovakia @ 9:00 a.m. PT
December 27: vs. Kazakhstan @ 2:00 p.m. PT
December 29: vs. Switzerland @ 9:00 a.m. PT
December 31: vs. Czechia @ 2:00 p.m. PT
Team Switzerland continues to have ten defenders marked on its roster, meaning we’ll likely see two more cuts before the real tournament. For our money, Basile Sansonnens has a strong chance of making the final roster.
What began as just another week with Vilmer Alriksson picking up a goal and two assists, giving him 11 goals and 23 points in the year, ended with him in a new home.
The 6-foot-6, 237-pound Swede was dealt from the Guelph Storm to the Brampton Steelhead in a move that fetched a second-round and two third-round picks.
Thanks to a potent offensive roster, Brampton is eighth in the Eastern Conference standings but fourth (tied) in the league with 130 goals scored.
The team holds several prospects, including Carson Rehkopf (SEA), Luke Misa (CGY), Jakub Fibigr (SEA), Finn Harding (PITT), Stevie Leskover (MIN), Angus MacDonell (DAL), and 2025 draft-eligibles Porter Martone (top-5 hopeful) and Jack Ivankovic (goalie).
Currently, they are facing some injury trouble and are missing five players to the WJC, so his immediate role should be quite lucrative.
Once the bulk of the squad returns, it will be interesting to see where and how he’s utilized in an offensively potent squad. His first chance to suit up with his new club will be on Wednesday.
Parker Alcos had a big week in that he crawled himself out of a never-ending hole of minuses. As a plus-5 over two games, he nearly cut his plus/minus in half and now sports a minus-6 on the season. He also picked up an assist to give him five on the year.

Sweden

The SHL paused for the week, but Melvin Fernström didn’t miss a beat. Dropping to the J20 ranks to keep his game sharp, the 18-year-old grabbed four goals and two assists in just two games.
He now boasts 11 goals and 18 points at the junior level this season, firing at a 1.50 PPG clip.
Fernström finds himself in a unique position. At the SHL level, he’s earning varying minutes against men, but hasn’t yet lit up the scoresheet. Conversely, his dominance in the junior ranks raises questions: Is it better for his development to produce heavily at a lower level or grind out tougher minutes in the SHL?
Let us know in the comments where you stand on this evergreen development debate!
This wraps up another edition of the Blackfish Prospect Report. The holiday break may slow the schedule, but the World Juniors and second-half pushes are just around the corner. Of course, we will have all of your WJC news here at CanucksArmy!
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