The Vancouver Canucks have recalled forwards Vasily Podkolzin, Nils Aman, and Phil Di Giuseppe from the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, general manager Patrik Allvin announced Saturday afternoon.

Podkolzin and Aman, along with Nils Höglander were sent down to Abbotsford in order to further develop their games instead of playing in the NHL Canucks’ bottom six. The main reason for Podkolzin’s demotion was to gain confidence after a string of healthy scratches under former head coach Bruce Boudreau. Through 28 games in the AHL, Podkolzin tallied seven goals and 11 assists, while being defensively responsible and learning to kill penalties under head coach Jeremy Colliton.

During his time in Abbotsford, Aman looked a step above everyone on the ice. Aman played plenty on the penalty kill, power play, and faced tough matchups at 5 on 5. Basically, he looked like an NHL player playing in the AHL, and hopefully that translates to some more NHL success this time around.

It was a similar story for Phil Di Giuseppe, who has been knocking at the door for an NHL opportunity with the Canucks for the past two seasons. He’s played in just one game for the Canucks this season after spending the entirety of last season with Abbotsford. The 29-year-old forward has tallied 13 goals and 17 assists through 33 AHL games this season.

As for the man who some may be surprised didn’t get a callup to the big club, the Canucks were hoping that Nils Höglander’s demotion would allow him to properly develop his two-way game and log some more ice time. Clearly, they feel as though he’ll benefit more by staying down in Abbotsford for a little while longer.

The NHL Canucks are back in action on Monday, as Abbotsford now gets set to continue their road trip without some of their key contributors. Last night, Abbotsford picked up a win in Aatu Raty’s debut, which you can read more about by clicking here. The Abbotsford Canucks are back in action this afternoon.