Canucks offseason preview mailbag, part 2: Abbotsford's champs, Vancouver's options in net

New York Times

24-06-2025

The meat of the NHL offseason is upon us now and hockey news is beginning to flow at more regular intervals as the NHL Draft approaches.
Just on Monday, we saw some real, impactful trades go down, an ordinary course buyout get exercised and a variety of fascinating extensions get signed. Meanwhile, the rumours are reaching a feverish crescendo as we move closer to draft day and the start of a new league year on July 1.
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And of course, in the foreground of it all, the Abbotsford Canucks captured the Calder Cup with a thrilling 3-2 victory over the Charlotte Checkers on Monday evening. It's the first professional hockey championship won by a British Columbia based team in 100 years, and the first championship at any level in Canucks history.
Abbotsford's championship victory marks an impressive achievement for Abbotsford general manager Ryan Johnson, first-year head coach Manny Malhotra and a group of players that bought in and made a collective decision to go for it this spring — and got it done.
As we await an anticipated flurry of Canucks activity this week, we wanted to get to some of the most pressing questions that you, the VIPs, wanted answers to. In part one of our mailbag on Monday we covered all sorts of ground, including Quinn Hughes' Canucks future, under-the-radar unrestricted free-agent targets and more.
Now let's get into part two of your Canucks offseason preview mailbag.
Note: Submitted questions may be edited for clarity and style.
Do you see Sammy Blais getting a shot next year for the big club? He is the Tom Wilson of the AHL! — Russil L.
I honestly hope so. In my view, the Canucks should be actively looking to lean on the players who have sacrificed to make this Calder Cup championshp occur at the NHL level next season, and that includes Sammy Blais, who has brought a level of size and grit and gamesmanship that Vancouver lacks.
I wouldn't go so far as to say the Canucks should leave a spot for him in their NHL lineup while building out their depth chart this summer, but rewarding him for what he accomplished this season (and throughout this playoff) with an NHL-level deal seems warranted.
I think he's got real game and can probably help Vancouver in a fourth-line role.
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Can any of Blais, Karlsson, Šilovs or any of the standouts from the Calder Cup run legitimately impact the Vancouver Canucks roster next season? — Randolph J.
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is also yes, but it's difficult to know precisely which players will matter at the NHL level in the short and medium term.
There are two types of breakout players on championship-level AHL rosters. The first type is the easiest to spot, and it's the young player with serious pedigree who is just starting their professional hockey journey and is probably too good to stay in the AHL for long, and it shows. Recent Calder Cup winners to fit this archetype would include guys like Aliaksei Protas, Connor McMichael and Martin Necas.
The Abbotsford Canucks don't have a player that neatly fits this profile and stood out during the championship run. Jonathan Lekkerimäki starred in Game 5 of the Final, but was in and out of the lineup and was largely a non-factor after an otherwise very promising first North American professional season. Probably the best fit for this breakout type is Kirill Kudryavtsev, who really impressed the organization and was probably Abbotsford's most impactful two-way skater in the final two rounds. I know the Canucks were also really impressed with Ty Mueller, who is now firmly on the radar as an organizational depth prospect to watch going forward.
The other type of breakout player is the mid-20s AHL journeyman. This player type is often characterized as having 'low upside,' but in truth, there are many examples of players sticking in the AHL and developing into top-six forwards over time. Los Angeles Kings forward Trevor Moore, Seattle Kraken forward Mason Marchment, ex-Canucks defender Jalen Chatfield and current Canucks forward Dakota Joshua are examples who were on recent Calder Cup finalist teams. Obviously, Florida Panthers clutch goal-scoring specialist Carter Verhaeghe is the most famous recent example of this sort of breakout player.
YOUR ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS ARE THE 2025 CALDER CUP CHAMPIONS! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/h8ZJKInQ4D
— X – Abbotsford Canucks (@abbycanucks) June 24, 2025
There's a ton of potential Abbotsford players that could be on this trajectory. Max Sasson is a clever, high-motor forward who has a shot to impact NHL games with speed in the future. Linus Karlsson is somewhat limited by his skating speed, but is skilled at the net front, creative in traffic and can win a ton of battles with his high hockey IQ and heavy stick. Arshdeep Bains set up the Calder Cup game winner with a trademark 'eyes in the back of his head' backhand feed to Karlsson, and though he's played too cautiously and conservatively at the NHL level in his brief stints in 'the show' the past two seasons, there's more to his game than that. All three players have a shot, and if they make it, they can be truly impactful NHL players.
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Finally, we get to Blais, who would have to be a late-career breakout to reestablish himself as more than a depth option at the NHL level. We see these types of breakouts now and then — New Jersey Devils forward Stefan Noesen is a recent example — but they're rarer.
And then, of course, if Artūrs Šilovs can ever work through how to battle through traffic and navigate layered screens consistently in the NHL, he'd have all the tools to be at least an impactful 1B-type netminder (and, given his big-game bona fides, maybe more).
More than anything, Abbotford's success should make us more open-minded about the probability that a couple of these players may be better — and possess higher ceilings — than we previously thought.
I think it would be very sensible for the Canucks to lean heavily on some of their playoff standouts in depth roles next season. That's not to say they shouldn't prioritize landing true difference-making forwards exclusively on the open market and in trades this summer — those contributors are sorely needed — but there's no reason to overspend on bottom six players when they have a relatively large group of AHL players who powered Abbotsford to a championship and have actual NHL upside (and perhaps even more than we previously would've thought).
Between Jason Robertson and Marco Rossi, if the Canucks could somehow magically only trade for one or the other, which one would you pick in terms of impact and the acquisition cost? Is there a world where both could be had? Or would the cost just be too great? — Mel H.
The answer here is Jason Robertson, even factoring in what his next contract looks like beyond next season and the greater acquisition cost it would require to land him.
I view Robertson as a bona fide elite, difference-making star, whereas I view Marco Rossi as an intriguing, undersized centre with an opportunity to be a top-of-the-lineup-calibre piece with a unique profile, provided he continues on his current developmental trajectory.
As such, I'd look at Robertson as the more impactful potential acquisition.
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Like Rossi, Robertson isn't a perfect player. He's not especially fast nor consistently dialed in defensively. Ironically, he would've been a better match for a more methodical, possession-based playmaking centre like J.T. Miller than he would be for Elias Pettersson — but he's a pure game breaker of precisely the variety this Canucks team is desperate for.
Rossi, on the other hand, is secretly sort of a grinder, despite his 5-foot-9 height. He lives in the dirty areas of the ice and succeeds by creating offence there. I like the way his game is progressing, but it's worth noting he's been riding shotgun with Kirill Kaprizov or Matt Boldy across his two NHL breakout seasons. Whether or not he can drive top-end results independently of those star-level players is an open question, and he has a shallower track record compared to Robertson.
Overall, Robertson is a higher calibre of forward and precisely the sort of environment-altering star player the Canucks are desperate for and should do everything possible to land if he's really made available.
Do you think there's a realistic spot to be had for Räty and/or Karlsson? And if so, do you think they'll take it? — B.C.
There is absolutely a realistic spot for both Aatu Räty and Linus Karlsson to be every day NHL players in Vancouver next season, and in Räty's case, I would be outright stunned if it didn't happen.
Both players turned heads with their performance in the NHL down the stretch this season, but Räty distinguished himself with his faceoff-winning ability and production. He also managed to add a step to his skating speed last summer, and if he could add another one this offseason, he'd really be cooking with oil.
I could see Räty carving out a spot in Vancouver's middle six next season, and he should at least be the club's fourth-line centre. I could see Karlsson, meanwhile, carving out a niche as a bottom-six forward with power-play utility at the net front.
How would you rate the chances of Filip Chytil establishing himself as a viable second-line centre, assuming he is not slowed by injuries or concussions? — Adi N.
If Filip Chytil stays healthy, I think he's a low-end second-line centre immediately.
I was pretty impressed with Chytil before his injury last season, with his work driving play through the neutral zone as a puck carrier standing out.
He was a bit wasteful with his scoring opportunities, both as a playmaker and as a shooter, but he helped this club gain the zone and generate chances (or chances at chances) at a really solid clip. If he can keep that up, it's only a matter of time before the production follows as more pucks start to bounce his way.
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What would be your ranking of the best performances by former Canucks in the 2025 playoffs? — Peter N.
Obviously, Gustav Forsling stands alone atop this list, especially with the oppressive defensive performance he put in against Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the Stanley Cup Final. What a classy defender he's become.
I thought Chris Tanev was impressive and stout for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who pushed the champions closer to the brink than anyone else managed to this year. Oliver Ekman-Larsson was solid too, but Tanev was a standout — unsurprisingly — on the Toronto blue line.
I liked Vasily Podkolzin's game throughout the playoffs for the Oilers. He had the stomach for the fight in the hardest games of the year and was throwing the sort of hits that looked like they legitimately wore down Oilers opponents. I'm not sure if his finishing game or puck management will ever catch up to his motor and physicality, but I was very impressed.
Lastly, Jonah Gadjovich just rocks. It was a ridiculous, unforced error at the time that the club lost him for nothing on waivers to keep Matthew Highmore, and watching him provide the champions with grit and toughness in a fourth-line role just further reinforced that (though it was obvious at the time too).
My final ranking:
In your opinion, what is the most prudent approach the Canucks could take to managing their three goalies (Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen, Artūrs Šilovs), in advance of Šilovs being waiver eligible this fall? — Drew C.
I think it would be prudent, given that Lankinen is already locked up and performed solidly last season, for Vancouver to trade one of Thatcher Demko or Artūrs Šilovs this summer.
My strong belief, based on what I can gather about the organization's priorities, is that the club still prizes Demko and would prefer to keep him around and bet on him bouncing back from a nightmare injury-plagued 2024-25 campaign.
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Unless some remarkable, irrefusable offer crops up, the Canucks intend to get working on an extension for Demko at some point this summer. They want to build their team from the net out, and having a strong goaltending platoon — and Demko and Lankinen would offer elite upside as a duo — is key to that plan.
To editorialize, in my heart of hearts, if I were in the Canucks' shoes I would view extending Demko as a maneuver that outstrips my risk tolerance. Demko will turn 30 years old for this season and has never put together a campaign in which he accomplished all three of the following things in the same campaign:
Durability is a skill, as I see it, and it does not tend to get better with age.
I understand why the club would prefer to keep Demko in the fold, however, given that when healthy, he's one of the most dominant puck-stopping human beings on planet Earth.
As for Šilovs, he's a difficult evaluation. He's never sustained elite American League results, even, but every year he seems to come up huge in huge games (at the World Championship, in the Stanley Cup playoffs, in the Calder Cup playoffs). Obviously, he wasn't even baseline playable as a backup at the NHL level this past season, but he's a gifted netminder, he's still under the age of 25, and it's evident that he's at his best when the stakes are highest.
If I were in the shoes of Canucks management, personally, I'd be completely comfortable rolling with a platoon of Lankinen and Šilovs next season, and trading Demko to bolster my forward group. I completely understand the counterargument, however, and don't necessarily think it's a mistake for the club to chase the upside that Demko can offer if he's able to stay healthy.
The only true mistake that I think the club has to avoid in this situation would be losing Šilovs on waivers this fall without any sort of return. After this run in the Calder Cup playoffs, Šilovs should have some level of exchange value that the club should be able to mine if they're leaning toward extending Demko.
(Top photo of Artūrs Šilovs:)