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Blackfish: Youth movement 2.0, Lekkerimäki heats up, Cootes’ case for Team Canada, and more
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Dave Hall
Dec 16, 2025, 17:00 ESTUpdated: Dec 16, 2025, 15:17 EST
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Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
Unless you’re just returning to civilization following a weekend trekking in the mountains, then you’re probably well aware of the news. Yes, last Friday night, the Vancouver Canucks sent Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild in a blockbuster deal that returned them three young players and an unprotected 2026 first-round draft pick.
While the three players returned in the trade are too established in their NHL careers to be included in our reports, that future-first return was music to our ears! Assuming they don’t trade that pick away, that’ll be another high-end player added to Blackfish in the years to come.
As for the three Blackfish-ineligible players, we have several deep dives here at CanucksArmy to tie you over:
At 24 years old, Marco Rossi has graduated from prospect to NHLer and will slide in as the team’s second-line centre, once Elias Pettersson returns to the lineup.
Though 21-year-old Liam Öhgren fits the age threshold to be included in Blackfish reports, he has already surpassed the 25-game NHL mark. He’s a well-rounded middle-six type with a booming shot, blazing speed, and a motor that won’t quit.
Then there’s Zeev Buium, who just turned 20 last week. Like the others, he’s well beyond the games-played threshold. Buium is a special piece and the crown jewel of the Hughes trade return. Buium has legitimate top-pair upside and has already shown potential to become a significant contributor on Vancouver’s blue line for years to come.
With that, let’s turn our attention to the players who do meet our guidelines.
The schedule was lighter this past week, but there was still plenty to unpack. The Abbotsford Canucks travelled to Calgary and came away with three of a possible four points thanks to a lethal weekend from Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Team Canada opened up its World Junior camp with Braeden Cootes in attendance, and the CHL group continued to push forward in meaningful roles with their respective clubs ahead of the Christmas break.
Let’s get into it.

Abbotsford Canucks

With AHL-quality bodies back on the farm, the Abbotsford Canucks have begun to string together more competitive outings. They visited the Calgary Wranglers this past weekend, where they pushed both games to overtime, splitting results for three points out of four.
At the centre of it all was Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
The Swedish sniper, who had notably struggled to find consistent minutes during his stints in Vancouver, was back looking like his peak-dangerous self. In game one, he fired a game-high six shots and scored the overtime winner.
Working his way into the zone, he cut to the middle to freeze coverage before snapping a perfectly placed wrist shot into the top corner. As indicated by his celebration, or lack thereof, the highlight-reel snipe was just another goal to him—straight to the bench and down the tunnel off an overtime game-winning goal. A simple signal that Lekkerimäki’s swagger has returned? Or a confident way for him to say, “Get me back to Vancouver.” You be the judge!
Less than 24 hours later, Lekkerimäki came out flying again. After collecting the puck in his own end, he burst up ice to take an inexperienced defender one-on-one. For the second night in a row, he confidently cut to the middle and wired another wrist shot top corner.
He went on to record a career-high nine shots, with most coming during extended power play sequences. Later, he recorded an assist on a game-tying goal from Captain Chase Wouters that forced overtime.
Lekkerimäki is now riding a stretch with goals in four straight games and points in six straight. Over that span, he’s fired a whopping 35 shots, cementing himself as Abbotsford’s primary offensive dagger.
You’re probably asking, “Should he be recalled to Vancouver?”
If we’re being honest, we’re leaning toward no. Unless he’s being called up to play meaningful minutes with significant power play time, then there’s little reason to disrupt what he’s building down in the AHL. Despite the rebuild and “culture built by the youth” talk, Adam Foote has still taken every opportunity given to scratch Aatu Räty. The confusing handling of youth with decent upside in favour of stable, older vets like Drew O’Connor (playing out of position) indicates that there should be no rush to bring Lekkerimäki into the fold at the risk of knocking him off his current track.
That reverse sentiment can be argued for the newly acquired Öhgren. The two have past chemistry from several years spent in their pre-draft days in Sweden, so why not lean on that and have both in the AHL, plying their trade in a less uncertain environment?
Elsewhere up front, Vilmer Alriksson showed off his meaner side in Calgary. In what turned out to be a fairly abrasive set of games, Alriksson dropped the gloves for the second fight of his pro career. Though he didn’t register a point, he remained a menace around the net and in the corners. He continues to show well for a young player of his stature.
On the backend, Kirill Kudryavtsev added two assists, but his impact went far beyond the scoresheet once again. The 21-year-old continues logging heavy minutes across all situations, operating as a key backbone piece of the AHL blueline.
Meanwhile, Sawyer Mynio missed Sunday’s game. It remains unclear whether he was a healthy scratch or if his absence was injury-related. After a strong start to the season, carrying the weight of a depleted blueline, Mynio has hit a slump. Despite manning the first power play unit, he has struggled with consistency. Over his last eight games, Mynio has just a single assist.
Making matters worse, he gifted the Wranglers a goal with a tremendously poor giveaway in game one. We’ve used the phrase a lot in the past, but Mynio appears to be fighting the game a little bit. With players like Victor Mancini and Jett Woo in the fold, a short reset from the press box wouldn’t be surprising if Mynio was good to go.
Both Ty Young and Aku Koskenvuo were reassigned to Kalamazoo. For Young, the move paid immediate dividends. After going winless in his last seven AHL starts, he responded with back-to-back wins, stopping 65 of 71 shots. Being reassigned to the ECHL is hardly the dream scenario for a young prospect, but sometimes a reset of that magnitude is what’s needed. With the NHL club aiming for 32nd, and the AHL club aiming to not be 32nd, it will be good for Young to string together some wins in a zero-stakes environment to gain some confidence following a tough start to his season.
Koskenvuo, meanwhile, made 40 saves in his lone start in Kalamazoo, but received zero run support in a 4-nothing loss. As long as Nikita Tolopilo and Jiri Patera remain healthy, both young netminders should have the opportunity to ease back into their roles through time spent rebuilding their games at the ECHL level.

World Juniors

Braeden Cootes departed Seattle to attend Team Canada’s World Junior camp, and the early signs have been encouraging. Through three on-ice sessions, the Canucks’ 2025 first-rounder has skated on the second line. It’s still too early to read into the lines of training camp. However, Cootes spent day two alongside Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens) and Tij Iginla (Utah Mammoth). Day three saw Cootes playing with Carter Bear (Detroit Red Wings) and Cole Reschny (Calgary Flames). Cootes also saw time on a power play unit that featured Reschny, Gavin McKenna, Brady Martin, and Zayne Parekh. With Michael Misa sidelined due to injury, the lineup remains fluid, but the opportunities he has seen thus far speak volumes.
We thought we’d share this player card, made from the Managing Editor and Head of Amateur Scouting for RecruitScouting. He pulls data from Instat and creates player cards. It’s safe to say that Cootes’ has been quite good.
Canada now shifts its focus to exhibition play. On December 17, Canada plays a doubleheader against Wilson Björck and Team Sweden, followed by Team Denmark. Those games will provide a clear picture of where Cootes sticks in the lineup ahead of roster cuts.
Canada’s preliminary schedule:
Sweden – Dec. 17 & 20
Denmark – Dec. 23
The games against Sweden can be seen on TSN 4 (game 1) and TSN 2 (game 2).
As for Björck, he’ll join Sweden after Colorado College’s final pair of games ahead of the holiday break. He went out with a bang to cap off his first semester in North America. He recorded his first multi-goal NCAA game, scoring twice on wicked shots. The first came off a one-timer sent short-side to the top corner, and the second saw him collect the puck in the slot and scoop it upstairs to force overtime.
He wraps up the first half of his freshman season with five goals and eight points, sitting fourth on the team in scoring.
Sweden’s preliminary schedule:
Canada – Dec. 17 & 20
Switzerland – Dec. 23
Meanwhile, Basile Sansonnens and Team Switzerland open their exhibition slate this week with a matchup against Minnesota State (NCAA). Sansonnens is viewed as a near-lock to make the roster and is expected to play a significant shutdown role.
Switzerland’s preliminary schedule:
Minnesota State (NCAA) – Dec. 16
Denmark – Dec. 21
Sweden – Dec. 23

CHL

The Niagara IceDogs have been a middling team lately, sporting a 5-8-1-0 record over their last 10 games. Fortunately, that stretch has little to do with Riley Patterson, who has led the charge over the past month.
With another five points (one goal, four assists) over the IceDogs’ last three games, Patterson is leading Niagara in scoring with 35 points (15 goals, 20 assists) in 27 games. Though his production run dates back further, November 22 is where things truly took off. Since that date, only four players across the entire OHL have produced more points.
  • 20 points (11 games) – Nathan Aspinall
  • 16 points (8 games) – Kieron Walton
  • 16 points (8 games) – Dylan Edwards
  • 16 points (11 games) – Alex Kostov
  • 15 points (8 games) – Riley Patterson
Everything from opportunity, growth, and the fact that he’s now playing full-time centre has played into his strong draft-plus-two season. Points are never the be-all, end-all, but we always like to see drafted prospects show (at least) a point-per-game, so firing at an 86-point pace over 66 games has been an encouraging development.
Aleksei Medvedev suffered another loss over the week, allowing four goals on just 20 shots. The London Knights have hit a bit of a wall over the last few weeks, but Medvedev isn’t the primary reason for that slump.
Over in Brampton, Gabriel Chiarot added another goal and assist to his ledger. He now co-leads the Steelheads with 24 points (14 goals, 10 assists). His production remains steady, and while he’s still very much a long-term project, the grind-you-down energy continues to offer intrigue.
In Kingston, Kieren Dervin snapped an 11-game goalless drought with a determined effort. Carrying the puck from his own end, he held possession through traffic before driving the net and jamming away at a rebound. He’s now dropped to third on the team in points with 22 through 30 games.

NCAA

The remaining NCAA players are now on their respective holiday breaks.

Rest of the world

That will do it for another week of the Blackfish Prospect Report. It’s a new chapter in Vancouver, and we are excited (hopeful) about the youthful change in direction ahead of us here at CanuckArmy.

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