Adam Novotný scores his first goal of the 2026-27 season in style 🔥 #Canucks
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Blackfish: Welcome to the Adam Novotný show
Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
As always, we begin by encouraging you to check out this week’s episode of the Blackfish Prospect Show, where Tyson Cole and I break down all the latest from around the Canucks prospect pool. You can watch this week’s episode below:
We are nearing October, and hockey is officially in full force, with the NCAA and AHL circuits very close behind.
A ton of Vancouver Canucks prospects saw their first reps of the season this week. But really, there’s only one place we can start.
Adam Novotný is off and running
After an impressive summer that began with five goals and six points at the U20 Five Nations tournament and ended with a strong debut training camp with the Canucks’ main squad, Adam Novotný carried that momentum into his return to the Peterborough Petes.
In fact, his opening weekend provided some early indications that he could push to become one of the OHL’s premier producers this season. The 24th overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft jumped out of the gate for two goals and two assists in his season debut against the Sarnia Sting, delivering a dominant performance from start to finish.
After being held off the scoresheet in Game 2, Novotný was right back at it against the Ottawa 67s, adding another goal and an assist to finish his opening weekend with three goals and six points through three games.
Adam Novotný rips home his third goal of the season. #Canucks
The production was undoubtedly encouraging, but what we enjoyed most was the volume and sheer dominance of some of his shifts. Novotný registered 18 shots across those three games (7-7-4), while all three of his assists came as primary helpers. No matter the situation, when his blades hit the ice, he seemed to make something happen. He was a pure driver and looked every bit like the go-to offensive option for this Petes team.
Adam Novotný has been dominant through two periods thus far. His two goals and seven (7!) shots are impressive, but he's driving play every single time his skates hit the ice. Its shaping up to be a fun year.
He was shooting from everywhere, too. A strong individual effort on a breakaway, an in-tight tuck and a heavy one-timer. Three goals, three different looks.
Of course, the performance earned him OHL Player of the Week honours.
We spent plenty of time over the summer discussing Novotný and wondering whether his strong international showing was simply the product of a great tournament or an early indication that Vancouver may have found something special with its first-round pick. It is obviously far too early to answer that question. But six points in his first three games certainly keeps that conversation interesting.
Rogowski handed a major role in Oshawa
Sticking in the OHL, Brooks Rogowski also enjoyed a productive opening week with the Oshawa Generals. The towering 6-foot-7 centre picked up three assists through his first three games, including a pair in Oshawa’s 4-2 victory over Barrie.
Rogowski didn’t score, but he kept finding ways to impact the offence, including going a plus-three rating through three games while going 21-for-42 in the faceoff circle. At his size, Rogowski doesn’t necessarily need to develop into a major point producer to become an interesting prospect. But if there is another offensive level to uncover, his combination of size and skill suddenly becomes considerably more intriguing.
Perhaps more importantly, he’s already being used as Oshawa’s workhorse. Rogowski was the team’s most-used player, averaging just over 20 minutes per game and playing in virtually every situation. It’s safe to say he’ll play a major role in whatever success — or struggles — this Generals team experiences this season.
Bernat makes his OHL debut
Over in Owen Sound, Lucian Bernat made his OHL debut and picked up a pair of assists across two games, finding the scoresheet in each. Of all Vancouver’s prospects currently playing in the CHL, Bernat might be the one we have the most questions about.
There will naturally be an adjustment period as he gets accustomed to the smaller North American ice surface and a completely different style of hockey, so opening his OHL career with assists in each of his first two games is certainly encouraging.
We don’t expect him to be heavily utilized on the penalty kill, but with a blazing shot at his disposal, he was already seeing significant work on Owen Sound’s power play. That will be an area to watch closely. If Bernat can carve out a role as a legitimate power play weapon while adjusting to the pace and physicality of the OHL at even strength, he could put up some numbers.
Bryzgalov earns an immediate promotion
In the WHL, Yaroslav Bryzgalov also made an immediate impact after returning from Canucks camp.
Bryzgalov was held off the scoresheet in his first game back with the Medicine Hat Tigers but responded one night later with a two-goal performance in a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oil Kings.
One of those goals came from exactly where you would expect the 6-foot-4 winger to do his damage — around the crease, where he jumped on a rebound and buried it.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov bangs home his first goal of the 2026-27 season. #Canucks
The second? A howitzer from the half-wall while operating on Medicine Hat’s first power play unit alongside the Ruck twins. And that deployment might be the most interesting part of the start of his season.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov rifled a one-timer for his second goal of the game. He was named as the games first star with two goals, five shots and four penalty minutes. He's getting top PP early this season – we like.
Despite putting up decent numbers last season, Bryzgalov did not see time on the top power play unit with the Ruck twins. Now, he’s opening his draft-plus-one season with top-six minutes at five-on-five and PP1 responsibilities.
No prospect may have improved his stock more during this year’s Canucks training camp than Bryzgalov. If he can carry that momentum into a breakout CHL season, don’t be surprised if we’re talking about him as a legitimate top-10 prospect in the organization before long.
Still waiting on Medvedev
One prospect we’re still waiting to see is goaltender Aleksei Medvedev. Medvedev was returned to the London Knights following Canucks camp but did not see game action over the weekend, meaning his 2026-27 OHL season has yet to officially begin.
Don’t panic, folks. While the reason he isn’t dressing is unclear, it’s entirely possible London simply gave him time after a lengthy NHL training camp and the travel required to rejoin the team.
As the more experienced goaltender in London’s tandem, the crease should be Medvedev’s to lose this season. And after an inconsistent 2025-26 campaign, we’ll be watching for consistent starts.
NCAA hockey gets underway
While the CHL prospects have already gotten their seasons underway, we’re now just days away from another significant portion of Vancouver’s prospect pool joining them.
The NCAA schedule gets going this week, and October 2 is the first date for Canucks fans to circle.
That will mark opening night for Caleb Malhotra, Niklas Aaram-Olsen and Aiden Celebrini, while Kieren Dervin, Matthew Lansing, Parker Alcos and Wilson Björck are also scheduled to begin their seasons on October 2.
From there, we’ll have to wait another week for a few more names to join the action.
Anthony Romani and Connor Davis are scheduled to open their seasons on October 9, followed by Matthew Perkins on October 10.
That means by this time next week, these Blackfish reports will get considerably busier.
Several intriguing NCAA storylines are worth following this season, but perhaps none is more interesting than seeing what some of Vancouver’s younger prospects can do as they make the jump to college hockey.
So, for anyone looking to follow along, here are the dates to keep on the calendar:
- October 2: Caleb Malhotra, Niklas Aaram-Olsen, Aiden Celebrini, Kieren Dervin, Matthew Lansing, Parker Alcos and Wilson Björck
- October 9: Anthony Romani and Connor Davis
- October 10: Matthew Perkins
Abbotsford wraps up preseason
Down in Abbotsford, the baby Canucks opened their official preseason slate with a two-game set against the Calgary Wranglers, picking up wins in both.
For starters, Ty Young delivered a 60-minute shutout in Game 1, while Aku Koskenvuo was perfect through his half of the crease in the second half of the back-to-back.
But our two standouts were Braeden Cootes and Vilmer Alriksson. Both were inserted into the lineup for Game 2, with Cootes centring the team’s top line. From the get-go, he was involved. Cootes showed good speed, was consistently around the puck and didn’t take long to score his first unofficial goal in an Abbotsford uniform.
Braeden Cootes has his first unofficial goal as a member of the Abbotsford #Canucks.
After an impressive NHL preseason, there hasn’t been much of a transition period required. He continues to look comfortable playing against professional competition, and now the real test begins as he settles into his first full AHL season.
As for Alriksson, we don’t think it’s a stretch to say that this may have been his best performance as a professional — with a giant preseason asterisk attached, of course.
We’ve often talked about wanting to see him begin combining all of his individual tools into one package. For stretches of this game, we thought he did exactly that. On his goal, the towering Swede took a stretch pass off his skate, walked into the offensive zone and fired a short-side laser to beat the Wranglers netminder clean.
Vilmer Alriksson snaps home his first of the preseason. Would love to see more of this this season. #Canucks
Beyond the goal, Alriksson looked creative. He played with confidence. His motor was noticeable, and he appeared willing to attack with the puck rather than simply reacting to the play around him.
That’s the version of him we’ve been waiting to see. Of course, it’s preseason. Now comes the important part: doing it consistently when the games actually count. But as far as starts go, we’ll happily take it.
And we won’t have to wait long to see whether he can carry it over. The Abbotsford Canucks officially kick off their 2026-27 season Friday when they visit the Calgary Wranglers at the Scotiabank Saddledome for the first half of a back-to-back set.
Finally, we finish with Basile Sansonnens, who not only scored his second goal of the season but racked up 50 penalty minutes in a single game with this hit and fight.
Here is the clip of Basile Sansonnens catching an opponent in the numbers and throwing down.
Was doing some prep for Blackfish, looking through some #Canucks prospects game log, and found that Basile Sansonnens logged 50 penalty minutes in a single game?!?!?!
The CHL is underway. The NCAA is arriving. Abbotsford is about to drop the puck.
Blackfish season is officially back.
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Vancouver CanucksTeam Cap Summary
Cap Summary
2026-27
2027-28
Projected Cap Hit
$88,074,947
$71,329,167
Projected Cap Space
$15,925,053
$42,170,833
Current Cap Space
$15,925,053
$42,170,833
Active Players
23/23
13/23
Draft Picks
Round
'27
'28
1
1
1
2
2
2
3
1
1