Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.

With the chaos of the CHL Trade Deadline and the World Juniors now in the rearview mirror, this week brought a more stable rhythm across the Canucks’ prospect system. Junior leagues are back in full swing as teams gear up for their second-half pushes, while the Abbotsford Canucks continue to hang near the bottom of the American League standings.

If there’s a silver lining to the 2025–26 season, it’s that the Vancouver Canucks remain well-positioned to land a high draft pick — a reality that only strengthens the long-term focus within our Blackfish reports. That picture became even clearer this week, as the organization added further draft capital by acquiring San Jose’s 2026 and 2027 second-round picks in the Kiefer Sherwood trade.

From there, it was business as usual across the system. Here’s how the week played out.

The Abbotsford Canucks played three games over the week, finishing the stretch 1-2-0-0. They opened the week in San Diego with a 5–3 win, but the offence dried up quickly thereafter, as the club failed to score a single goal over the following two games.

After missing the first game with illness, Jonathan Lekkerimäki returned to the lineup for the pair of shutout losses. Typically, he provides an immediate offensive spark, but even he struggled to find any rhythm this time around, registering just three shots across the two games.

With trades happening up in Vancouver, speculation has naturally turned toward whether the Swede could be in line for a recall. We’ve already argued our stance in previous reports, and given how much time he has missed due to injury and illness, further seasoning in the AHL still makes sense. That view was echoed by General Manager Patrik Allvin, who alluded to exactly that in a post-game interview following the Kiefer Sherwood deal, suggesting Lekkerimäki is likely to spend more time in Abbotsford for now. Don’t be surprised to see him in Vancouver at some point this season, but for now, it’s about finding his game in Abbotsford.

Also limited to three shots on the week was Danila Klimovich, another forward the Canucks need to generate volume to be successful. Klimovich picked up a primary assist, bringing his total to 11 points in 30 games, but it was another week when we were left wanting more, a theme this season.

Young defenders Sawyer Mynio and Kirill Kudryavtsev continue to sit out of the lineup with injury.

Making his first AHL start since December 7, Aku Koskenvuo held his own in a 3–0 loss to Coachella Valley. He turned aside 24 shots, keeping Abbotsford within striking distance against one of the conference’s top teams. However, as was often the case during his first stint in Abbotsford, he received virtually no offensive support.

Despite opening the week with another strong effort — a 29-save victory — Ty Young came back down to earth on Friday. The goaltender allowed five goals on just eight shots before being pulled from the game.

Young entered the week riding excellent numbers, but unfortunately, a performance like that has a way of sending numbers into a tailspin. He now holds a 6-2-0-0 record with a .910 save percentage through eight games in Kalamazoo.

Braeden Cootes hasn’t missed a beat since joining the Prince Albert Raiders, contributing four points in three games over the week. One of his assists came in classic Cootes fashion — pressuring a puck carrier into a turnover before quickly finding a teammate in the slot. His goal came via the empty net, and he finished the week plus-5 while firing nine shots on goal.

Although he has been listed on the third line throughout the week, his minutes remain healthy thanks to the team rolling lines well. He’s also a key piece of Prince Albert’s revamped top power-play unit, operating from the half wall. With 29 points in 22 games, Cootes is on pace to shatter his career high of 63 points in far fewer games.

It’s officially a career year for Parker Alcos, who has flourished since being traded to the Kelowna Rockets. With an empty-net goal and a beautiful cross-ice assist, Alcos recorded his second multipoint game of the season, pushing him to four goals and 17 points to surpass his previous high of 15.

At just 19 years old, the 6-foot-4 defenceman has made meaningful strides across multiple facets of his game. He’s building a solid defensive foundation with strong skating and an active stick, and lately, he’s begun to find his offensive legs as well. He needs to be signed by this summer, so it’ll be interesting to see if the Canucks feel the same and provide him with one of their 50 contacts.

After missing over a month with an upper-body injury, Kieren Dervin returned to the Kingston Frontenacs lineup and immediately resumed duties as the team’s top-line centre. He recorded two assists in two games, including a perfectly weighted cross-ice feed. While his play cooled leading into the injury, he’s shown flashes of offensive intrigue throughout the season. As a Penn State commit, the real test will be how that game translates to the NCAA level next year.

Although offence hasn’t followed consistently, Gabriel Chiarot continues to see top-six deployment with the Kitchener Rangers. He did, however, score his 17th goal of the season over the weekend. Beating a defender to a bouncing stretch pass, Chiarot gained body position and snapped a shot home off the rush for his second goal since joining the Rangers.

In Niagara, Riley Patterson missed three games due to an upper-body injury listed as day-to-day. It’s remarkable what missing just a few games can do to a scoring race, as Patterson has slipped to sixth league-wide with 52 points in 37 games.

Aleksei Medvedev earned another win, improving to 14-10-1 on the season. Once again, however, it came with a sub-.900 performance, as he stopped 25 of 29 shots. He has now allowed four or more goals in six of his last seven starts, winning just three of those games.

With another goal and assist, Anthony Romani continued his strong stretch, now recording points in six of his last seven games. His goal came via a slot deflection, bringing him to nine goals and 17 points in 22 games. Although his deployment briefly increased during the holiday schedule, he has since returned to a third-line role at Michigan State. The important part is that he’s finding rhythm and a way to contribute at this level.

It took 18 games, but Daimon Gardner finally scored his first goal of the season, pouncing on a loose rebound in the slot. Gardner hasn’t shown much offensive promise throughout his NCAA career, which is why his name hasn’t appeared often in this column.

The same largely applies to Matthew Perkins, who picked up an assist this week but continues to provide limited production overall.

As is often the case, there isn’t much to report on Basile Sansonnens from a boxscore perspective, as his value lies in steady, shutdown play. That said, his usage jumped notably this week. Sansonnens was promoted to his club’s top pairing, skating alongside former Canuck Erik Brännström. In both games, he eclipsed the 19-minute mark for the first time in his Swiss men’s league career.

That wraps up another week in the Canucks’ prospect pool. We’ll see how things build from here as schedules tighten up and junior hockey pushes toward the back half of the season. As always, we’ll keep tracking it. Until next week, folks.