Wednesday’s first day of Vancouver Canucks training camp in Penticton will be a homecoming of sorts for Dylan Ferguson.
The Lantzville, BC native’s first time on NHL ice was standing next to Roberto Luongo as an 11-year-old honourary Canuck in 2010. He played his junior hockey a few clicks up the Coquihalla with the Kamloops Blazers, and his first time playing in an NHL uniform came at Rogers Arena as a draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017.
Now, Ferguson is preparing to take full advantage of his new pro tryout with the Canucks, as the team navigates a Thatcher Demko-less existence to open the 2024-25 regular season.
Ferguson has just a few NHL games under his belt, though they’re memorable nonetheless. His first appearance came in emergency duty for the Golden Knights, where he faced two Edmonton Oilers shots in relief of the injured Maxime Legace. Two seasons ago, he made a pair of starts for the Ottawa Senators, winning one and posting a .940 save percentage.
Since that first emergency start, Ferguson has exactly 82 games of experience across four pro leagues – an unusually low total for a goalie five years deep into a career. Last season, after being unable to find another NHL home, Ferguson played a career-high 23 games overseas for the KHL’s Dinamo Minsk, winning nine starts as the main backup for Philadelphia Flyers prospect Alexei Kolosov.
Another stable role with ice time could be just the thing required to move his career forward, though that likely won’t come in Vancouver specifically. With Nikita Tolopilo and Jiri Patera expected to battle for promotion in the immediate absence of Demko and the Canucks still courting Kevin Lankinen to fill the gap, the AHL roster in Abbotsford might suddenly have an open spot or two to fill.
Of course, that all depends on how the next week goes, especially regarding the organization’s outlook for its goaltending depth. If Demko’s return is only three or four weeks away, or Kevin Lankinen ends up arriving on a cheap one-year deal, the team might feel more comfortable with the players already under contract. But if that delay is expected to last deep into October, Ferguson might get an extended look and a chance at starting some games in Abbotsford on an AHL deal.
That journey starts with the next week’s worth of skates and scrimmages in BC’s interior.