How Canucks' top prospects fit on the NHL roster next season

New York Times

08-05-2025

The Abbotsford Canucks won again on Wednesday to take a 2-1 series lead over the Coachella Valley Firebirds in their second-round Calder Cup playoff series.
Given the vacancy behind the Canucks bench, much of the conversation in the Vancouver market about Abbotsford has focused on head coach Manny Malhotra and whether he's ready to take over Rick Tocchet's old job at the NHL level. While there's no doubt Malhotra has excelled in his first season as a professional head coach, there are a variety of Canucks prospects powering Abbotsford's playoff run that are worth our focus and attention as well.
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As the Canucks enter this offseason, a number of key players are expected to depart as unrestricted free agents. The club is desperate for depth, goals and a revamp to their forward mix. Even with the salary cap going up to $95.5 million, a pipeline of cost-controlled young talent is essential for any team pushing to make the playoffs.
So which Canucks prospects are ready to break through? What can the club count on internally when planning for next season?
Let's go player by player and break down what Vancouver's top prospects might reasonably be able to contribute to the NHL roster next season.
Jonathan Lekkerimäki, RW, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Drafted No. 15, 2022
5-foot-11, 172 pounds
36 GP, 19-9-28
Complications from dental surgery have limited Lekkerimäki to just three appearances for Abbotsford in the playoffs to this point. He returned to action on Wednesday and recorded a primary assist on the game-winning goal.
The skilled, shoot-first winger flashed at the NHL level and was an excellent goal scorer in the AHL this past season, his first professional season in North America. It was an impressive campaign that has positioned Lekkerimäki very well to compete for a full-time NHL job at training camp this fall.
Lekkerimäki's NHL-level tools — his shot, in particular — are evident. Like most exceptionally talented 20-year-old players aspiring to earn a full-time job in the NHL, however, Lekkerimäki has a fair bit of work to do to add strength to his frame and a step or two to his skating stride.
While Lekkerimäki can be a dynamic puck carrier and often drives through the neutral zone, he's not NHL-level fast just yet, especially when adjusted for size. He likewise struggles at the NHL level to win puck battles and protect the puck below the hashmarks, despite maintaining a solid work rate.
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If Lekkerimäki is going to be a middle-six mainstay for the Canucks in the NHL next season, he'll need to improve on those areas of his game this summer. And in both cases, they're directly connected to physical strength and preparedness.
Lekkerimäki will require a big summer if he's going to level up to the point of being an impact NHL player next season. The production and skill level are there and showed up in flashes in his NHL appearances this season; he needs to graft professional-level functional strength onto his frame and he'll have a real opportunity to be a Matthew Coronato-type breakout contributor in Vancouver next season.
Linus Karlsson, RW, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Drafted No. 87, 2018
6-foot-1, 180 pounds
32 GP, 23-16-39
Now 25 years old, Karlsson was the standout performer among all of the Canucks' quadruple-A call-ups down the stretch this season.
The slow-moving, hard-nosed winger has proven a dominant offensive force at the AHL level. Down the stretch, he also demonstrated the hockey IQ and tenacity to hang in a bottom-six role in the NHL. If Tocchet, who clearly admired Karlsson's stick-on-puck battle-winning, were returning to Vancouver, Karlsson would have an inside track to earn an everyday fourth-line spot in Vancouver's lineup.
Will the next head coach feel similarly about Karlsson? Or might they prefer a player with more pace who provides more physical value?
Earning the trust of the incoming bench boss will be the challenge, although the commitment the club has already made to him — Karlsson agreed to a one-year, one-way extension this past spring — speaks volumes about how the organization views him. Karlsson is clearly a player we should expect to make a strong case to break camp with the NHL team next fall in a fourth-line role.
Aatu Räty, C, Abbotsford Canucks
Drafted No. 52, 2020
6-foot-2, 190 pounds
43 GP, 17-23-40
Not only should Räty be expected to break camp with the Canucks at the NHL level next season, we shouldn't be surprised if the club actively carves out a bottom-six spot for him this summer — either by permitting Pius Suter to walk as an unrestricted free agent, gauging the trade market for Teddy Blueger or both.
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Räty started his season with Vancouver last fall, was Abbotsford's best all-around forward at the AHL level and then performed exceptionally well down the stretch at the NHL level. He not only won draws at an excellent rate in the NHL, but he was also a productive five-on-five goal scorer and a decent two-way contributor, even if he still has room for improvement in that area.
For all Räty achieved this season, he remains a 'feet are his fate' sort of player. As much progress as he made this season, for example, he still lacks the skating speed to project as a full-time top-nine NHL centreman. He'll need another stellar summer of work to really hit that level.
Whether Räty can add enough quickness to his game to be a full-time NHL centre or not, it's clear he's going to be a long-term NHL player at this stage. His frame and skill level in traffic stand out, and his ability to win draws is relatively rare for a player his age. Those attributes will keep him around, even if his ultimate ceiling will be determined by whether his skating continues to improve at the same exceptional rate it did over the past 24 months.
Tom Willander, RHD, Boston University
Drafted No. 11, 2023
6-foot-1, 190 pounds
39 GP, 2-22-26
Despite the negotiating standoff the Boston University standout has found himself locked into with the Canucks over the past few weeks, Willander, the club's top pick at the 2023 draft, remains very much in the organization's NHL plans for next season.
Provided an entry-level contract gets hammered out between the two sides at some point this offseason, Willander will be given every opportunity to break camp with the NHL team in his first professional season. In truth, the Canucks believe Willander would've been capable of logging third-pair minutes this past season.
Willander's dynamic skating ability, defensive-mindedness and physical maturity will give him an opportunity to play a prescribed role immediately whenever he puts pen to paper and decides to turn pro. His puck skills and overall offensive game, however, remain at a developmental level and will need to improve significantly if he's going to hit his ceiling and compete for top-four minutes in the future.
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Max Sasson, LW/C, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Signed as an undrafted NCAA free agent
6-foot-1, 181 pounds
41 GP, 13-19-32
Sasson appeared in 29 games for the Canucks this past season, meaning he's already a smash organizations success given he was brought in as an undrafted NCAA free agent.
There's something there with Sasson, a well-spoken, clever, exceptionally quick forward who has produced at an auspicious level in his age-23 and 24 seasons in the AHL. Whether he can solidify himself as a full-time NHL player, however, remains to be seen.
Despite having plus skating, Sasson lacks the size and faceoff ability to profile as a bottom-six centre at the NHL level, and the overall offensive pop — he is, so far, unproven as an NHL penalty killer — to profile as more than a 12th or 13th forward type.
A pending restricted free agent, Sasson will require a new contract this summer. Assuming he's qualified, he should be in line for the sort of two-year, one-way deal the Canucks like to award players who have developed well and have a shot to break into full-time NHL duty. Sasson has put himself in that bucket, even if his NHL upside appears somewhat limited.
Arshdeep Bains, LW, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Signed as an undrafted CHL free agent
6 feet, 183 pounds
50 GP, 11-32-43
Bains' meteoric rise appeared to hit something of a plateau this season when the local product appeared in 13 NHL games early on in the season and then was passed on Vancouver's organizational depth chart by Sasson and Karlsson down the stretch.
Despite struggling to cement himself as an NHL option down the stretch, Bains' heavy game, overall intelligence and playmaking ability give him an outside shot at cracking Vancouver's lineup full-time next season. He'll require a new contract, as Bains is a pending restricted free agent, and an exceptional summer of training to add an extra step to his skating stride, but his development curve is still pointing upward. His ability to win puck battles and distribute could still land him in an NHL bottom-six full time, even if the odds are long at this stage of his development.
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Kirill Kudryavtsev, LHD, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Drafted No. 208, 2022
5-foot-11, 201 pounds
65 GP, 5-21-26
Kudryavtsev stood out at the Penticton Young Stars tournament this fall, earned praise from Tocchet during training camp, had a stellar first professional season in the AHL and made his NHL debut toward the tail end of the season. It was, all in all, an excellent first professional season for the defensive-minded, puck-moving blueliner.
The key to Kudryavtsev's success to this point has been the detailed smoothness of his game. Though he's not especially dynamic offensively and lacks the size and physical edge to profile as a shutdown option in the NHL, his mobility and two-way IQ will give him an opportunity to play NHL games as a call-up option next season. The Canucks, certainly, think highly of his game.
The issue for Kudryavtsev going forward is that it's difficult to carve out a full-time NHL niche as an undersized left-handed defender who isn't a dynamic point producer. The bar for him to leap over will be exceptionally high.
Sawyer Mynio, LHD, Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
Drafted No. 89, 2023
6-foot-1, 181 pounds
49 GP, 14-31-45
One of the top defencemen in the WHL this past season, Mynio has joined Abbotsford as a black ace for its playoff run. Organizationally speaking, he's a blue-line prospect the Canucks are excited about, even if the season he just put together — which included making Team Canada's World Junior Championship roster this past winter — could put him on the trade block as the club seeks significant forward upgrades this summer.
It's not a trade the Canucks are eager to make. There's a lot of internal belief in Mynio's intelligence, physical upside and ability to contribute at the NHL level as a defence-first blueliner and penalty killer.
Danila Klimovich, RW, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Drafted No. 41, 2020
6-foot-2, 203 pounds
65 GP, 25-13-38
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Klimovich played the best hockey of his professional career down the stretch for Abbotsford, but it's telling that he wasn't given a cup of coffee in the NHL when the Canucks were playing out the season. It's telling, too, that Klimovich was scratched for Game 3 of Abbotsford's second-round series with Coachella Valley.
At this point, you know Klimovich's deal. The Belarusian winger has a variety of NHL-level tools — including his size and violent, deceptive release — but is critically lacking in two-way hockey intelligence and competitive maturity. That's held him back, and as much as he's continued to chip away and improve his overall game, those flaws still linger.
Klimovich isn't out of time to deliver on his immense potential just yet, but his improvement will have to be exponential across the next year if he's going to factor into Vancouver's plans at this stage. For now, he remains a year away from being a year away.
Artūrs Šilovs, G, Abbotsford Canucks (AHL)
Drafted No. 156, 2019
6-foot-4, 203 pounds
21 GP, 14-5-2, .908 SV%
Šilovs started the first game of the regular season for Vancouver, struggled enormously in his NHL appearances, and was demoted back to the AHL. The Canucks' decision this spring to extend Kevin Lankinen to a long-term deal further clouds Šilovs' future, especially as the Latvian goaltender — a playoff hero for Vancouver in 2024 — will require waivers next fall.
While Šilovs' NHL struggles were pronounced this past season, it's worth noting he's been sharp in the playoffs over the past week and change. The 24-year-old has managed to win four of his six starts, including one shutout, while stopping 129 of the 140 shots he's faced in the opening two rounds of Abbotsford's playoff run. Even if he was ultimately chased in one of his appearances, Šilovs has once again proved to have the nerve to raise his game at the most important time of year.
Šilovs' future, at this point, is likely tied to what Vancouver does in net with its current tandem. Lankinen is set to be a long-term fixture and the club will hold extension talks with Thatcher Demko this season. If Demko extends, there won't be a job for Šilovs to compete for at training camp.
(Top photo of Jonathan Lekkerimaki: John Jones / Imagn Images)