The Abbotsford Canucks have signed Major Junior free agent forward Cooper Walker to a one-year AHL contract, general manager Ryan Johnson announced Thursday afternoon. The contract will run through the 2023-24 season.

Walker is the son of Vancouver Canucks alumni Scott Walker, whom the Canucks drafted 1993. Walker has served the Canucks in a variety of different roles and was most recently behind the bench as one of Bruce Boudreau’s assistant coaches prior to this past season.

As for Cooper Walker, the 20-year-old just wrapped up his third season in the OHL with the Guelph Storm, who he served as captain for. A right shot centre, Walker ranked third on the Storm with 21 goals this season. He reached OHL career highs in all major statistical categories while skating in 66 of the Storm’s 68 regular season games. During the 2023 OHL Playoffs, he ranked second among Guelph players with five points (two goals, three assists) while skating in all six of the team’s postseason games.

Here’s what Guelph’s head coach Chad Wiseman had to say about Walker when he was named captain.

“Cooper is someone that exemplifies what it is to be a Guelph Storm hockey player,” said Wiseman. “You know what you are getting every day when Cooper shows up to the rink. He plays the game the right way, has tremendous on and off-ice habits, and leads by example daily for his peers.”

Last year, the Canucks added Arshdeep Bains via Major Junior free agency, as the Surrey native had just wrapped up a season in which he led the WHL scoring race. Bains’ well-documented development this year in Abbotsford certainly bodes well for the Canucks’ chances at landing future CHL free agents, and it will be interesting to see if the organization can add Cooper Walker’s name to that list by this time next year.

Over the course of his four-season AHL career, the 6-0, 174-pound centre skated in 179 regular season games and tallied 38 goals, 56 assists, and 47 penalty minutes.