The Abbotsford Canucks are facing their toughest opponent yet when they open the third round of the American Hockey League playoffs on Friday against the Colorado Eagles. The Canucks began their road to the Calder Cup against seventh seed Tucson in the opening round and advanced to take on fourth ranked Coachella Valley in round two. Now they go up against the top team in the Pacific Division during the regular season in a best of five series that starts on Friday in the Fraser Valley.
So what makes the Avalanche farmhands such a formidable force? Let’s dig in and find out a little more about Abbotsford’s next opponent.
They can score
Colorado was the highest scoring team in the American Hockey League this season registering 250 goals in 72 games. They haven’t scored at quite that same rate in four playoff games, but they did outscore San Jose 13-8 in their four game series that wrapped up last Wednesday.
O from the D
Jacob MacDonald had a season for the ages. The 32-year-old blueliner scored 31 goals in just 63 regular season games. He led the Eagles and finished tied for sixth in the AHL in goals. Did we mention he was a defenceman? To give MacDonald’s season added context, he scored 31 goals this season while the next highest scoring defenceman in the league netted 18. And the next highest had 16. So McDonald nearly doubled all but one defenceman in the league in goals this season. Thirteen of his goals came on the power play which topped all d-men and was just one off the league lead overall. MacDonald hasn’t found the net in the playoffs yet. But neutralizing his offence from the point will surely figure in the Abbotsford game plan.
Home cooking
The Eagles were the best team in the league on home ice this season posting a formidable 26-6-4 record and outscoring opponents by 50 (149-89) in their 36 games at Blue Arena in Loveland, CO. The Canucks don’t have to worry about any of that right now with the series starting in Abbotsford, but they will have to win at least one game in that building to win the series. On the road, Colorado was a fairly ordinary 17-15-4 so perhaps that gives Abbotsford a leg up to protect home ice and head south with a 2-0 series lead.
A threat while shorthanded
Colorado was the seventh best penalty killing team in the AHL during the regular season. But more than successfully nullifying the penalties they took, the Eagles were a threat to score while down a man. Colorado finished the regular season with 15 shorthanded goals – second only to the Charlotte Checkers who bagged 16 shorthanded markers. Remarkably 12 different players cashed in while the Eagles were penalty killing. Tye Felhaber led them with three shorties while Chris Wagner had a pair. After that 10 other guys each chipped in with one.
Lots of local connections
Former Victoria Royals standout Matthew Phillips led the Eagles in regular season scoring with 57 points. Jayson Megna spent parts of two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks registering eight points in 59 games between 2016 and 2018. Defenceman Devante Stephens is a White Rock native who played 59 for Abbotsford in the 2021-22 season. And Trent Miner was the Vancouver Giants goalie when that team went to the WHL Final in 2019. Miner has started all four Colorado playoff games and broke through with a pair of NHL appearances for the Avalanche earlier this season.
Show time
The Eagles playoff roster includes three players that logged 10 or more NHL games in Colorado this season. The remarkably named Ivan Ivan played 40 games for the Avalanche scoring five times and adding three assists. Chris Wagner suited up for 28 Avs games while Nikita Prishchepov logged 10 big league games. There are a handful of other Eagles that got the call from the Avalanche: Tye Felhaber, Jason Polin, Jack Ahcan, TJ Tynan, Wyatt Aamodt and Trent Miner.
READ NEXT: Q&A: Max Sasson talks Abbotsford Canucks playoff run, Manny Malhotra, and more
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A win and the Abbotsford Canucks take a commanding 2-0 series lead in a quick best-of-five scenario.
So far, things were looking good as it had been a dream run for the Canucks up to this point.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end.
The Canucks shut out the Colorado Eagles in Game 1, a feat no team had accomplished at any point in the 2024-25 campaign.
With a chip on their shoulder, the away team came out of the gate pressing and got themselves up early with a quick and perhaps soft goal on Arturs Silvos.
From there, they never looked back. The Eagles scored five goals against the home team to even the series at one game apiece.
Although the Canucks made a late push to keep things interesting, they ulteimly spent the majority of the game playing catch-up.
With a 5-3 defeat, the Canucks now head to Colorado for the remainder of the series, which has now dwindled to a best-of-three mini-series.
Let’s check in on the action.
Why change what works? The Abbotsford Canucks ran the same lines as Game 1.
Bains – Sasson – Lekkerimäki
Di Giuseppe – Mueller – Karlsson
Blais – Khaira – Smith
Nielsen – Wouters – Kambeitz
Brisebois – Mancini
Hirose – Woo
Kudryavtsev – McWard
Silovs
It was a dream start for the away team.
After being held scoreless in Game 1 – the first time being shut out all season – the Colorado Eagles got redemption right out of the gate.
Colorado Goal – 1-0 – Jake Wise from Jacob Macdonald and John Ludvig
After a broken play, Jake Wise corralled the puck and threw it toward the net for a relatively innocent shot.
Without eyes on it, Silovs failed to track the shot, allowing it to trickle past him to break his shutout streak at roughly 138 minutes.
Silovs would settle in with a few saves following the weak goal, pushing forward for a strong finish.
However, the first five minutes were relatively tilted, with Colorado enjoying the majority of in-zone pressure.
The Canucks did grab a few chances, though. None better than a terrific read and interception from Linus Karlsson. Taking the puck from the cross-ice feed, he ripped the shot high and wide, but at least gave his team their best look early on.
He was also getting in on the heavy stuff, as the Canucks were once again leading the charge in the physical game. Karlsson led the way, driving his body through the Eagles forward for a massive hit in the defensive end.
He wasn’t the only one getting in on the hits.
Moments later, on the forecheck, Sammy Blais and Chase Wouters combined for a two-for-one crunch on an Eagles defender.
The offensive looks were few and far between in this one, so physicality was the primary focus.
Eventually, that hard work ground down the opponent and paid off, courtesy of the team’s sharpshooting rookie.
Abbotsford goal – 1-1 – Jonathan Lekkerimäki from Victor Mancini and Arshdeep Bains
Jonathan Lekkerimäki put a routine shot on net, leading to an offensive zone faceoff.
After Arshdeep Bains won the faceoff clean, Victor Mancini fired a shot on net, which led to a juicy rebound from Trent Miner.
Jumping on that puck was Lekkerimäki, who tossed the monkey off his back for his first career Calder Cup playoffs goal.
The Canucks did not have much to offer in the offensive department. However, that goal sparked the club, as they grabbed the games’ following string of shots and the obvious equalizer tally from Lekkerimäki.
The young rookie was right back at it, nearly linked up with Max Sasson on the next shift, thanks to a tremendous breakout from Akito Hirose and Arshdeep Bains.
Collecting the puck at the blueline was Lekkerimäki, who sent a near-perfect threaded pass toward Sasson, who was breaking toward the net.
He just missed the connection.
The teams ended the first 20 minutes even at one goal apiece, but the Canucks truly woke up in the second half to set up for a fun-filled second period.
Score: ABB 1, COL 1 | Shots: ABB 8, COL 6
After several back-and-forth attempts, Phil Di Giuseppe was delivered a nasty hit from behind by Devante Stephens, sending PDG to the ice.
He would eventually collect himself, as the Canucks head to their first power play of the match.
Nothing would come of the man’s advantage. In fact, the Canucks would take a penalty of their own just moments after their power play wrapped up.
But their penalty kill has been perfect, and it stayed that way.
24 for 24.
The Canucks didn’t allow a shot through on that kill, and it had been a solid stretch where Silovs did not see a shot.
When he did, he kept himself sharp, throwing up the blocker on Matthew Phillips off a good rush chance.
With a relatively slow period, this shot represented the best chance for either team.
That includes the next shot, which probably shouldn’t have found the back of the net.
Colorado Goal – 2-1 – Wyatt Aamodt from Oskar Olausson and Matthew Phillips
Collecting the puck in the corner, Wyatt Aamodt sensed Arturs Silovs cheating ever so slightly. With that, he elected to throw the puck on net, fooling the netminder on the short side while he fell back into his own net.
Those are two soft goals that Arturs Silovs certainly wants back.
The Eagles took the air out of the building late in the third, doubling their lead off a redirection.
Colorado Goal – 3-1 – Chris Wagner from T.J. Tynan and Bryan Yoon
With Silovs scrambling, T.J. Tynan slowed the pace before sending the puck toward the crease. With his stick in the right spot, Chris Wagner successfully deflected the puck past Silovs to give them their largest lead of the series, thus far.
While they did head into the dressing room down by two goals, they would be given some life.
With the buzzer sounding, John Ludvig caught Sammy Blais with a cheap shot to the face. Shockingly, both players were handed penalties, sending the start of the third period on a 4-on-4.
That’s just Sammy Blais being Sammy Blais.
Score: ABB 1, COL 3 | Shots: ABB 12, COL 13
It wasn’t the ideal start for the Canucks, with Tristen Nielsen seeing the gate for tripping just moments into the period.
While killing the penalty wasn’t necessarily the worry, it took up a good chunk of the time that could have been spent catching up.
As expected, they killed the clock successfully, extending their PK to a perfect 25-for-25.
But the Eagles tripled their lead just seconds later.
Colorado goal – 4-1 – Ivan Ivan from Bryan Yoon
Sticking with the pressure from their power play, Ivan Ivan collected the puck on the half wall and delivered a seeing-eye shot past Silovs.
Suddenly, they the Canucks were down 4-1 front of a sold-out Abbotsford Centre.
The Canucks continued to shoot themselves in the foot, taking another penalty midway through the frame.
Again, it was unfortunate more so because of time constraints. They killed the penalty successfully to make it 26 straight.
And as the Canucks continue to do, they continued their crawl back into the game.
Abbotsford goal – 4-2 – Chase Wouters from Akito Hirose and Sammy Blais
Following the Akito Hirose point shot, Chase Wouters pounced on the rebound to push it past Miner to cut the deficit in half.
Tempers blew up directly after the goal, when Sammy Blais got extremely hot after being thrown to the ice by John Ludvig. That eventually led to him throwing an opponent’s helmet and grabbing an unsportsmanlike penalty for roughly 20 minutes of penalty minutes, along with the assist — quite the shift for the veteran forward.
Blais had been playing on the edge all playoffs, mainly for the better. Eventually, he crossed the line and paid the price.
With the goalie pulled in the final few minutes, the Eagles iced the game.
Colorado goal – 5-2 – Jayson Megna from Chris Wagner and Calle Rosén
But wait, the Canucks had life.
Just after the empty net goal, the Canucks were handed a power play of their own and made it count.
Abbotsford goal – 5-3 – Linus Karlsson from Kirill Kudryavtsev and Jonathan Lekkerimäki
With time winding down, Kirill Kudryavtsev fed Linus Karlsson with the perfect feed for the one-timer.
That was Karlsson’s first goal of the playoffs, and Lekkerimäki’s second point of the match for what was likely his best game of the playoffs so far.
Despite a late push, that was as close as they’d come. The Colorado Eagles would come alive to triple up on the home team and even the series at one game apiece.
From here, it’s a best-of-three heading to Colorado for the remainder of the series.
Final score: ABB 3, COL 5 | Final shots: ABB 30, COL 21
The series will take a few days off as it switches gears into a best-of-three in Colorado. Game three will be played on Wednesday, May 21. The puck drops at 6:05 p.m. PT at Blue Arena.
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The 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs continue, and the Vancouver Canucks fanbase continues to hold their collective breath for the real offseason to begin.
Then, a promised summer of change can take place, and the roster of the 2025/26 Canucks can start to take shape. Before we get to the acquisitions and departures, however, there’s plenty that can be said about the roster that already is – and how much of it is likely to stick around for the next campaign.
The Canucks had an awful lot of players suit up for them in 2024/25. A full 36 different skaters and four different goaltenders, for a grand total of 40 individuals, hit the ice for the Canucks this past season. Naturally, a number of those individuals were prospects who started out the year as members of the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks. And each of those players, in turn, has designs on making a more permanent home for themselves in Vancouver for 2025/26.
One factor that will play an important role in determining who makes the cut? Waivers. The summer of 2025 is also a summer in which a number of Canucks players and prospects will see their waiver exemptions run out, making them newly eligible for the waiver wire as of Training Camp 2025. And that can’t help but to influence roster-related decisions.
Waiver exemption and eligibility is determined by a somewhat-complicated array of thresholds related to when a player signed their first contract, how many seasons have passed since them, and how many NHL games a player has played in that time. In short, the earlier a player signs, the higher the thresholds.
For games played, the threshold is typically between 60 and 160. For seasons passed, it’s between two and five, or up to six for goaltenders. Everyone’s ‘waiver clock’ is a little different, but everyone’s runs out eventually all the same.
Here, courtesy of our friends at PuckPedia, is where the Canucks’ various waiver-exempt individuals stood as of the conclusion of the 2024/25 hockey season:
From PuckPedia
As one can clearly see from that chart, waiver eligibility can range quite wildly depending on that first ELC. And as one can also see, a number of key Canucks’ assets will see themselves become waiver-eligible as soon as the puck drops on 2025/26. They are…
Arshdeep Bains
As of yet, Bains has only played 21 NHL games for the Canucks. But he’s just completing his third AHL season with Abbotsford, and because he signed his ELC at age 21, three years is all he gets.
Starting with July 1, 2025, Bains will become newly eligible for waivers. We won’t repeat what this means for each player, but we will for the first on our list: it means that Bains would have to be placed on the waiver wire and made available to every other NHL team before he could be assigned to the AHL again. That’s true whether the reassignment happens during the summer, during training camp, or at any point thereafter.
Bains will be in a concerted battle to make the Canucks’ roster out of camp next year. That said, he doesn’t strike us as a major risk of being plucked by another team. His changed waiver status might play a small role in any decision-making related to him, but not a major one.
Ty Glover
Glover is a prospect who slips under a lot of radars. He’s been with the Abbotsford Canucks for two seasons now, but signed his ELC with the Pittsburgh Penguins back at the age of 21 before being traded to Vancouver with Mark Friedman for Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek.
Add in that first AHL season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and Glover is now at three-out-of-three professional seasons, and will thus also be eligible for waivers as of July 1, 2025. It doesn’t impact his chances of making this particular Canucks roster much, however.
Akito Hirose
Hirose has become a bit of a forgotten one after two quiet, injury-laden seasons with Abbotsford. But he, too, has run out of waiver-exempt time.
Hirose’s situation is a little more complicated. He signed his ELC as an NCAA free agent at the fairly advanced age of 24. That ELC was a one-year deal, and it was ‘burned’ by Hirose playing seven NHL games for the Canucks at the tail-end of the 2022/23.
We’d rather not relive our Hirose hype days. But combine that ‘season’ with his subsequent two in Abbotsford, and that puts Hirose at three-out-of-three professional seasons and renders him eligible for waivers as of July 1, 2025. And as an LD with very little chance of cracking the 2025/26 blueline, he’ll almost certainly be hitting that wire at some point.
Linus Karlsson
We reach our first potentially-consequential waiver eligibility switch here. With Karlsson, the perception is almost the opposite as with some of the previous players listed – he’s been around so long, how is he just running out of waiver exemption now?
The truth is that although Karlsson was drafted way back in 2018 and traded to the Canucks in 2019, he didn’t sign his ELC until the summer of 2022 at the age of 22.
Since then, Karlsson has split three seasons between Abbotsford and Vancouver, and those three seasons are all the waiver exemption he gets.
As of now, Karlsson is probably at least penciled in to the Canucks’ 2025/26 lineup. But as more players get added to the mix, he’ll have to fight to maintain that spot. If he doesn’t make the cut, he’ll now have to go through the waiver wire. Karlsson is also the first player on the list we’d be worried about another team claiming. If anything, this gives him a slight edge in any theoretical close competition with a waiver-exempt teammate.
Cole McWard
McWard falls into the same category as Hirose, which makes sense, as they were signed at around the same time. McWard signed his two-year ELC at age 22 – which is young for an NCAA free agent, but old for a prospect in general. He then burned the first year of the ELC with five NHL games for the Canucks at the tail-end of the 2022/23 season, just like Hirose.
Two seasons in Abbotsford have transpired since without McWard getting another chance in Vancouver. Those three ‘seasons’ bring an end to his waiver exemption, and as of July 1, 2025, he’s got to go through the waiver wire to get back down to Abbotsford.
Though McWard has only six NHL games to his name, he is a right-shooting defender who can skate, and that always makes a waiver claim possible, especially if another team experiences a RD injury or two in the preseason. It’s also possible that McWard just starts the season as the Canucks 4RD, and here his new waiver eligibility could actually help tip the scales in favour of his making the cut.
Aatu Räty
Räty is the highest-profile prospect on this list, and his situation is a little different. Drafted by the New York Islanders in the second round of the 2021 Entry Draft, Räty was signed to an ELC a few months later, still 18. Normally, a player signing at 18 would receive five years of waiver exemption. But Räty then stayed for most of the 2021/22 season in Finland, only coming over to North America for the very end of the Bridgeport Islander’s AHL campaign. This meant his waiver clock didn’t start ticking until he was already 19, leaving him with four years of exemption – and with 2021/22 now counting as one of them!
Räty would split 2022/23 between New York, Bridgeport, Abbotsford, and Vancouver. He’d spent 2023/24 entirely with Abbotsford, and then split last season between the AHL and NHL. That brings him to the end of his waiver exemption as of July 1, 2025.
But fret not. There’s absolutely no way the Canucks would risk placing a player as useful as Räty on waivers. He was already very likely to make the Canucks’ opening night roster on his own merits. The fact that he’s newly-waiver-eligible just cements that status.
Arturs Silovs
Goalie waiver rules are weird, and in general, they get a longer clock, because goalies tend to develop slower than skaters.
Silovs has had a strange path. He was drafted in the sixth-round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft and then signed right away, which is unusual in and of itself. That left him with six full pro seasons of waiver exemption, but the clock also started ticking immediately.
He joined the Barrie Colts for the 2019/20 season, which counted as the first of the six. He spent the COVID-laden season of 2020/21 playing all over the place, including on the Canucks’ taxi squad and four games with the Manitoba Moose. The 2021/22 season wasn’t much better, with Silovs playing 10 games for the Abbotsford Canucks and 10 more for the Trois-Rivieres Lions of the ECHL.
It wouldn’t be until 2022/23 that Silovs would settle into a permanent spot in Abbotsford, where he’s been for the last three seasons running, interrupted only by occasional stints in Vancouver. That brings him to Professional Year Six-of-Six, and the end of his waiver exemption.
And this one definitely matters. As of now, the plan is probably to have Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen share the Canucks’ crease in 2025/26. But Silovs has had one heck of a season down in Abbotsford, and is currently dominating the AHL playoffs. Would the Canucks really want to risk passing him through waivers during Training Camp, knowing how dry the leaguewide goalie market is right now? Or is Silovs’s loss of waiver exemption all the more reason to trade one of Demko or Lankinen this summer?
Either way, it is Silovs’s waiver status that promises to have the greatest impact on the Canucks and their upcoming offseason decision-making process.
Others Worth Mentioning
That’s the end of the list of Canucks who will see their waiver eligibility automatically change as of July 1, 2025. But there are a couple others worth mentioning who may hit their ‘NHL games played’ thresholds in the course of 2025/26, and who will instantly lose their waiver exemptions the moment they do.
Victor Mancini is completing his first professional season, and what a first professional season it has been. That would normally leave him with two more seasons of waiver exemption, but Mancini has also already played 31 of his 70 maximum NHL games. As soon as he plays his 39th NHL game of the 2025/26 season – a number he seems likely to hit – Mancini loses his waiver exemption.
The same goes for professional sophomore Max Sasson. He technically has another pro season to go until he loses his exemption, but only has a games-played threshold of 60, and has already played in 29 of them. With 31 more NHL games, Sasson loses his exemption – or, he does automatically as of July 1, 2026, whichever comes sooner.
READ NEXT: JPat’s Monday Canucks Mailbag: How different will things be under Adam Foote?
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The Vancouver Canucks have made their choice and promoted Adam Foote to the role of head coach. It’s now going to be on Foote to deliver improvements across the board for a hockey club that fell well short of its stated goals last season.
Speaking of delivering, that brings us to another Monday mailbag. Many of you had questions about the coaching decision, the coaching staff and the type of lineup Foote will have to work with. Some of those questions will require time. Many of the other questions posed this week can be tackled head on. And that’s exactly what we plan to do. So let’s jump right in.
The Dallas Stars seem to be the model franchise in the NHL these days. They are stacked with talent, they are aggressive at the trade deadline and they win. A lot. Year after year. The Stars will be appearing in the Western Conference Final for a third consecutive season. That is a lot of home playoff dates. In fact, Dallas and Florida have played a league-high 27 home playoff games each over the past three seasons. And that’s where real playoff revenue is realized. That’s a lot of tickets sold, a lot of merchandise purchased, beers consumed and a lot of hot dogs eaten. In other words, that’s a lot of revenue for ownership. The goal should never be just to creep into the postseason. It should be all about building for deep runs with the hope that everything comes together and yields a championship. The way the Stars have gone about their business for years now should serve as a template for every franchise in the league, not just the Canucks.
The Sedins name surfaced at Adam Foote’s introductory press conference, but so too did the need for an offensive assistant coach and a defensive-minded helper. The Sedins seem to have settled into their roles in player development, but have yet to show interest in full time jobs as assistant coaches. That’s not to say it couldn’t happen, just that it doesn’t seem like it’s going to.
There have been lots of suggestions in the days since Adam Foote was promoted. Marc Crawford, Tony Granato, Dallas Eakins, how about Gerard Gallant? Foote played for Gallant in Columbus and it’s fair to wonder how badly Gallant wants back into the NHL having been out of the league for a couple of seasons now. I do think it makes perfect sense for Foote and the Canucks to find someone with NHL head coaching experience to be the top assistant. Most NHL benches are constructed that way these days. While we wait for the rumour mill to churn out legitimate candidates, all we can do is speculate as the Canucks go through the process of identifying their targets. Hockey is such a people business and Foote needs to be completely comfortable with the people he brings in. So don’t be surprised if he leans on someone he played for or with during his 20-year career.
No. Canucks fans should expect more offence under Foote. More of the same won’t accomplish anything. So without knowing who he’ll have at his disposal in terms of top end talent, it’s hard to make predictions at this point. Obviously, he needs a whole lot more from Elias Pettersson. Beyond that, both Nils Höglander and Dakota Joshua have to have bounce back seasons. I’m banking on Quinn Hughes finding some way to take his already remarkable game to yet another level (although he may be nearing his ceiling in terms of raw point production). Foote has to know that another season of low-event, low scoring hockey will be a tough sell to a market that didn’t exactly embrace that from his predecessor. So I expect the Canucks to try to find ways to generate more than they did last season. It may be easier said than done.
I generally think of the new coach bump coming in-season when one coach is fired and a new guy takes over. I don’t know that it applies months after the fact. Although, I’m sure Adam Foote is hoping he and the team get off to a quick start and then find a way to sustain it. The fact Foote is a familiar face and voice for the players probably softens the transition somewhat. That continuity was a big part of why he was promoted. But it also likely takes away the shock factor that often follows an in-season coaching change. So the transition from Rick Tocchet to Adam Foote isn’t so much about jolting this team to attention as it is to coax more out of just about every forward in the group as well as integrating offseason additions into the mix in the hopes of hitting the ground running at training camp.
How do you think Foote will handle the Vancouver media considering this is his 1st time as an NHL coach?
— Al Powell(@al_powell57674) May 17, 2025
I think he’ll handle the demands like the professional that he is. He acquitted himself quite nicely at Thursday’s press conference. He is not coming into this blindly. He has a feel for the market and the things it can throw at a coach. He may not have experience as an NHL head coach, but he was always a willing and forthcoming interview as a player so he has experience from that to draw on. Will he always enjoy that part of the job? Probably not. Will he be the quote machine Rick Tocchet was? Again, probably not. But I have no doubt he’ll settle in and find his groove. And if he doesn’t realize it already, Adam Foote will soon find out that winning will make that part of his job much easier. At least, it should make the tone and topic of questions much more palatable.
It is getting crowded in the Canucks crease. Both Thatcher Demko and Kevin Lankinen are under contract at the top of the depth chart, then Arturs Silovs and Jiri Patera are locked in at the AHL level and youngsters Ty Young and Aku Koskenvuo both looking for places to play. And, of course, Nikita Tolopilo needs a new deal as a restricted free agent. It does feel like something has to give this summer. The goaltending market is always difficult to predict as is the value of minor league netminders. But I would expect you’ll see the Canucks peddle one of their mid-range guys in the offseason to ease the log jam and continue a path for their younger prospects plus any goalie they may add to the stables through the draft in June.
I’m not buying the whole ‘bring Bo home’ movement that I see and hear. As pointed out, it would be a glaring admission of asset mismanagement on the part of the front office. But also, Horvat has full no trade protection early on in the new contract he signed with the New York Islanders. I have a difficult time seeing him choosing to return to a team – and a front office – that punted on him. He and his young family seemed to have settled in New York and he likely wants to see who will be running the show on the Island to get a better sense of the direction of the hockey club. Look, I like the player and the person and don’t mind the contract (six years left at $8.5M). He’d fill a need at centre and would make the power play better. But so would Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon. The point is that we can throw names around all we want. I just don’t see Bo Horvat returning to Vancouver except once a season with the Islanders.
First of all, thank you. That reminds me I need to pay my credit card bill. Beyond that, this is life for an organization that whiffed on three top 10 picks in the span of six drafts not that long ago. Those kinds of misses leave gaping holes in the lineup. And then you’re playing catch up trying to find elite talent that you missed out on (and got nothing for in return). Beyond the draft busts, trading away a bunch of first-round draft picks simply to remain competitive also puts you behind the eight ball. And eventually, to bring it back to your analogy, you have to pay the creditor. In this case, that means running out of options to make your team better. The Canucks have a surplus of good, young defence prospects. It only makes sense to deal from a position of organizational strength. But it would all feel so much better if they had true blue chip prospects in the system knocking on the door. The Abbotsford playoff run is largely on the backs of good veteran pros with the team’s top prospects either not in the lineup or struggling to find their way as the stakes rise in the Calder Cup push.
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There’s just one Vancouver Canucks prospect outside the American League system who continues to play hockey in mid-May.
That player is 2024 seventh-rounder, Basile Sansonnens.
Skating on loan with the Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL), the 18-year-old defender has enjoyed an extended playoff push, including a trip to the QMJHL finals.
Despite a hard-fought effort, Rimouski was eliminated on Monday afternoon, falling to the Moncton Wildcats in six games.
The defensive-minded stalwart played in 23 games during his team’s four-round run, contributing a goal, five points, four penalty minutes, and an even plus/minus. He patrolled the team’s second line pairing during the run.
Despite being eliminated from league play, Sannsonnens’s season will continue with Rimouski. As this year’s host for the 2025 Memorial Cup, the Océanic were awarded an automatic spot as the tournament’s fourth team.
As a result of the auto-berth, Moncton had punched a berth into the tournament, regardless of the outcome of the league’s finals.
Now, he’ll gear up for the four-team tournament, which kicks off on Friday afternoon. All games can be viewed at TSN/TSN.ca.
Your official 2025 #MemorialCup schedule!
https://t.co/lBpOm9RXz1 pic.twitter.com/Up4A6vLznC
— Canadian Hockey League (@CHLHockey) May 17, 2025
Here is Rimouski’s full schedule:
May 23 – vs. Medicine Hat — 4:00 pm PT
May 25 – vs. London — 3:00 pm PT
May 28 – vs. Moncton — 4:00 pm PT
The 6-foot-4, 205 pound defender was drafted 221st overall by the Canucks in 2024. Just days following his NHL draft, Rimouski selected him 31st overall in the CHL import draft, where he played out his draft-plus-one season.
In his rookie season, he posted one goal, 12 points, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-21 across 54 regular-season games. He played a solid defensive role for an Océanic team that finished second in the entire QMJHL.
Considered on loan, Sansonnens is expected to return to Switzerland this summer, where his playing rights are held by Lausanne HC of the National League (Switzerland). That’s unless another loan agreement comes to fruition before the 2025-26 season.
The series has switched to Loveland, Colorado.
As the higher seed, the Colorado Eagles chose home-ice advantage, meaning the series now shifts to Blue Arena for the remaining three games (if necessary).
The Abbotsford Canucks, however, arrived armed with history: after dropping Game 2 in all three playoff rounds, they’d roared back for Game 3 each time, outscoring opponents 8-1.
Could they make it three?
Early signs weren’t promising as the Canucks surrendered the first goal — again — within five minutes and racked up three minor penalties in the opening frame. Despite clawing back to tie it before the buzzer, they had handed momentum to the home team.
A seesaw second period ended with a late Eagles goal, putting Abbotsford on the ropes entering the third.
But resilience has defined this Canucks team all season long. And with their backs against the wall, they battled back to force overtime on enemy turf.
After surviving a flurry of chances, Linus Karlsson played hero by calling Game 3 in dramatic fashion.
Let’s break down the action.
The Abbotsford Canucks welcomed back Christian Wolanin to their blueline, a considerable addition to the team’s transition game from the backend. He replaced rookie defender Kirill Kudryavtsev.
Meanwhile, Danila Klimovich returned to the lineup after being healthy scratched (presumably) for the last four games. Not only was he back in the lineup, but he was tossed into the top six, which enables him to play to his strengths rather than his typical (playoff) fourth-line role. He replaced Dino Kambeitz.
Bains – Sasson – Lekkerimäki
Blais – Mueller – Klimovich
Nielsen – Wouters – Kalrsson
Di Giuseppe – Khaira – Smith
Brisebois – McWard
Hirose – Woo
Wolanin – Mancini
Silovs
The Abbotsford Canucks were the away team, which is already a slight disadvantage for a playoff game.
But to make matters worse, Tristen Nielsen took a tripping penalty just 28 seconds into the match.
Tripping, you say?
That said, the team’s penalty kill has been incredible all postseason long, and this one was no different. Giving the Eagles nothing on the inside, the Canucks held their ground for their 27th consecutive kill.
One of the big reasons for the team’s PK success has been Victor Mancini, who single-handedly made the Eagles’ power play a living nightmare.
But the Eagles would eventually grab first blood.
Colorado goal – 1-0 – John Ludvig from Oskar Olausson and Jacob MacDonald
Gaining the zone was Oskar Olausson, who fired the puck toward the net. With Arturs Silovs steering it aside, the puck would squirt to the top of the circles, where John Ludvig collected and sent a relatively routine shot toward the net.
Unfortunately, the shot handcuffed the netminder, squeezing through the wickets as Silovs attempted to close his pads.
Silvos has been the team’s top star throughout these playoffs, but that’s a shot he likely wants back.
Slow starts have been a consistent issue for this Canucks team, and this game was no exception.
Over at the other end, the Canucks collected just a few shots through the first 10 minutes, mainly off of a two-minute power play stretch.
But the majority of the play favoured the Eagles.
The best chance came just before the midway point, thanks to a heads-up play off the defensive end faceoff by Tristen Nielsen.
Nielsen went to his strong side as the puck dropped, collecting the breakout pass and sending a streaking Chase Wouters. The captain fired the puck to the blocker side, with a trailing Akito Hirose nearly cleaning up the rebound.
Finally, that slight stretch of momentum led to an equalizer just after the period’s midway point.
Abbotsford goal – 1-1 – Victor Mancini from Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Christian Wolanin
Victor Mancini picked up the puck off the offensive zone faceoff win before making a tremendous drive and cut-in toward the net.
The puck jumped out to the high slot, where Jonathan Lekkerimäki picked it up and fired his patented shot toward the net.
Sitting on the doorstep, Mancini was still battling after his net drive. He pounced on the rebound to grab his second of the Calder Cup playoffs.
Mancini had been the team’s most noticeable player leading up to the goal, so the finish was a fitting result.
Lekkerimäki’s assist was his third point in two games, after he had collected just one assist through his first five games.
Not long after the goal, Chase Wouters was called for an easy boarding penalty, sending his team to another early penalty kill.
.
Of course, they made it look easy, killing their 28th straight penalty.
Later in the period, the Canucks thought they had taken the lead late, after a tremendous drive from Ty Mueller.
Danila Klimovich made the play happen in the defensive zone, forcing a turnover that sent Mueller to the races.
Skating alongside a defender, he dropped the shoulder and drove for a good chance, sending goaltender Trent Miner sliding into the net.
With a good view of the puck, the referee instantly called the goal off, as it had not officially crossed the line.
The period concluded with the Canucks on yet another penalty kill. This time, Nate Smith was called for a slash, catching John Ludvig in an unfortunate spot for an unnecessary penalty.
Killing off the first 40 seconds, the penalty would carry over to the second period.
After an undisciplined opening period, the Canucks were happy and perhaps a little lucky to emerge unscathed and even at one goal apiece.
Shots: ABB 12, COL 13 | Score: ABB 1, COL 1
The Canucks successfully killed the remainder of the penalty and you know what that means…
29/29.
The Canucks had a couple of low-grade chances to start the second, but Colorado had the majority of the good looks.
First, Calle Rosén sent a seeing-eye shot through traffic, which beat Silovs’ blocker side but not the post.
With the Eagles continuing their press, Jake Wise sent the puck to the slot, where Mark Senden got a stick on. Silovs slid over for this one, dropping his pads on the redirect.
At the other end, Trent Miner was making his own presence felt with his best save of the game.
With Danila Klimovich cycling the puck, he spun and threw the puck toward the net. After hitting a skate in front, the puck bounced right to Sammy Blais with a wide-open cage.
Kicking the leg out was Miner, who made the save to keep the score even and keep Blais off the scoresheet in the series.
Meanwhile, Silovs stymied former Vancouver Canuck forward Jayson Megan. Not once, but twice.
First, Megna made a tremendous toe drag around a sliding Abby defender before being stopped point blank.
Moments later, he enjoyed a favourable bounce, with the puck falling to him alone at the net front. Silovs threw up his shoulder calmly.
The Eagles finally found one late.
Colorado goal – 2-1 – Jake Wise from Matthew Phillips
The puck reached Matthew Phillips below the goal line after a failed clearing attempt from Jett Woo.
Showing patience, he found Jake Wise in the slot, who fired the one-timer past the netminder for the late go-ahead goal.
The Canucks played a solid period, but just could not hold a pressing Eagles team for a full 20 minutes.
Shots: ABB 18, COL 20 | Score: ABB 1, COL 2
Without being too dramatic, the third period felt like a must-win period.
A loss, and you’re forced to win two straight on the road against the Western Conference’s top team.
No easy feat…
But the Eagles came out hot, grabbing several looks early to force Silovs to remain strong.
But after being hemmed in for much fo the period, the Canucks were gifted a power play and a big chance to even the score.
Both units struggled to maintain possession, however. The Abbotsford netminder was forced to make the stretch’s best chance, with Megna testing Silovs once again.
The Canucks did pick up their best chance of the period with the penalty expired. Akito Hirose broke into the zone before dropping it back to Linus Karlsson, who made several strong moves before firing a shot labelled for the short side.
After a few missed opportunities, the Canucks finally solved Miner in the third period.
Abbotsford goal – 2-2 – Max Sasson from Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Jett Woo
Collecting the puck at neutral ice was Lekkerimäki, who sprung Sasson with a heavy pass.
Using the defender as a screen, he snapped the puck far side, just above Miner’s pads.
And they didn’t stop there.
Cutting into the middle was Arshdeep Bains, who was hauled down on the cross. Sending the puck back, it found its way to Jonathan Lekkerimäki with time and space.
But he rang it off the crossbar…
The final five minutes offered an incredible pace, with both teams exchanging several chances.
First, Jacob MacDonald is fed alone in the slot but robbed by Silovs’ blocker.
Turning things over quickly during the transition, Bains nearly connected with Lekkerimäki to send him all alone. The puck hopped over his stick to put an end to the rush.
The good news was that Lekkerimäki had his handprints all over the period, generating several chances for his team.
Meanwhile, Silovs continued to stand tall for the Canucks.
In fact, the final minutes saw several frantic chances for each side, with the goaltenders coming up big at both ends.
With a commanding series lead on the line, this one needed overtime.
Shots: ABB 27, COL 30 | Score: ABB 2, COL 2
It was a hesitant start to the extra frame, but the Canucks were handed an early power play.
Penalties are stiff to come by during playoff overtime, but this one was clear as day.
With an Eagles player down, Linus Karlsson was nearly off to the races to grab the puck and turn the play over. However, he was dropped by stretched out stick to send the Canucks to the man advantage.
Chase Wouters picked up the best chance. After some good movement, the puck reached Wouters at the netfront. He spun and went backhand to forehand, but Miner stood tall to set the chance aside.
That play represented the overtime frames’ best chance for quite some time, with both teams playing apprehensive overtime hockey.
That was until under five minutes, when Silvos made the game’s save.
Jett Woo coughed up the puck with an egregious pizza up the middle, handing it right to Jayson Megna.
After being stopped seven times before, he was all alone to settle the score.
Going backhand to forehand, he stretched Silovs out, but the netminder was able to get the best of him. Again.
That’s a total of eight (8) saves on Megna.
And in hockey, there’s an unwritten rule that when one team gets a prime chance one way, something even more major has to go down at the other.
Abbotsford goal – 3-2 – Linus Karlsson from Ty Mueller
And with just over one minute to go in overtime, Linus Karlsson did what Linus Karlsson does, and that’s dig out and battle for a puck at the netfront.
Going above the shoulder of Miner, the Swede called the game to give his team the 2-1 series lead and just one game away from a berth in the Conference Finals.
How can you not be romantic about hockey?
Final shots: ABB 33, COL 37 | Final score: ABB 3, COL 2
Game 3 will take place on Friday, May 23rd, at Blue Arena, as the Colorado Eagles are on the brink of elimination. Puck drop is at 6:05 pm PT, with Game 5 (if necessary) coming on Monday, May 26th, at 2:05 pm PT.
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It was a win and you’re in scenario for the Abbotsford Canucks on Friday night.
After a thrilling 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3, the Canucks were just one win away from punching their ticket to a Western Conference Final appearance for the first time in franchise history.
And with a 12-0-1-0 record on the road that dates back to February, history was on their side to lock things up and head home for series four.
Unfortunately, Abby elected to keep things interesting and give their fanbase a do-or-die match to enjoy on Monday afternoon.
Once again, the team allowed the game’s first goal and spent the remainder of the night playing catch-up. While starts had been an issue for this team for most of the postseason, this game felt like that sluggish start haunted them until the final buzzer.
Any time they’d find their legs, even slightly, the Colorado Eagles would push back. But hey, Colorado was the best team in the American Hockey League for a reason.
With the loss and the season on the line, everything lines up for a thrilling battle on Monday afternoon for a must-win game in Loveland, Colorado.
Let’s check in on the action.
The Abbotsford Canucks won Game 3, and with most of the team healthy – still no Aatu Räty –, Manny Malhotra ran near identical lines for Game 4, with the small swap of Linus Karlsson and Danila Klimovich.
Bains – Sasson – Lekkerimäki
Blais – Mueller – Kalrsson
Nielsen – Wouters – Klimovich
Di Giuseppe – Khaira – Smith
Brisebois – McWard
Hirose – Woo
Wolanin – Mancini
Silovs
Despite eventually winning most games, the Canucks have made an unfortunate habit of starting games slow.
Although they failed to score, they appeared to have broken that curse and kicked things off with the game’s first chance.
After a bobbled puck at the blueline, Jujhar Khaira stripped the puck off an Eagles defender to rush up the ice for a clear-cut breakaway.
Khaira held for the shot, and Trent Miner stood tall to close the door on the Surrey native.
Sure, scoring the game’s opening goal would have been nice, but generating chances early was a positive sign.
But in the end, it didn’t matter. The Eagles still managed to grab the game’s opening goal.
Colorado goal – 1-0 – Jean-Luc Foudy from Mark Senden and Hank Kempf
This time, it came off a juicy rebound. Jean-Luc Foudy collected the puck from behind the net and threw it on the net before Silovs could reset it.
With the goal, the Eagles scored first in Games 2, 3, and 4, scoring within the first five minutes of each match.
Jujhar Khaira’s chance aside, the away team started slowly after all, and that shot held as the lone chance through the game’s first eight minutes.
The Canucks did pick up a solid chance midway through the first period, following the Guillaume Brisebois point shot.
With Max Sasson causing havoc at the netfront, Trent Miner lost the puck as it trickled down his back to sit alive in the crease.
As one of the only players with eyes on the biscuit, Cole McWard made the push to jump on it, but the Eagles were able to stop him in his tracks.
Those two plays would represent the team’s best chances of the period. However, they did manage to take more possession and nearly even the shot totals by the period’s end.
If there was a positive from the period, the team took no penalties; something they could not say in Game 3 after taking three in the initial 20 minutes.
Small wins, folks. It’s all about the small wins.
Shots: ABB 6, COL 8 | Score: ABB 0, COL 1
The Canucks spent the initial five minutes of the middle frame with little to report.
Possession likely favoured the Eagles, but neither team mustered anything dangerous.
After the five-minute mark, Abbotsford did manage to grab the game’s first power play.
And it was an odd one.
In the bottom corner, Chris Wagner went down with Max Sasson. But rather than jump back up, he resorted to smothering Sasson for nearly 10 seconds.
It was an easy call for the referee, who had given him ample time to get up and move on.
The Eagles provided a flawless penalty kill, giving Abbotsford nothing to work with and zero shots on goal.
Moments later, Arturs Silovs made his best save of the evening (so far). After some good movement to gain entry, the Eagles found an open defender before Silovs flashed the blocker to set the puck aside.
Later, play saw a lengthy stoppage, as the referees went back to take a second, and perhaps a 10th, and looked at a play that had happened minutes before.
A Colorado forward threw the puck from behind the net toward Silvos, who held tight on the post. While players jammed away, and the netminder looked relatively unsure of the puck’s whereabouts, the play was deemed inconclusive.
But the Eagles doubled their lead just seconds later, anyway.
Colorado goal – 2-0 – Jayson Megna from Tye Felhaber
Right off the faceoff from that extended stoppage, Akito Hirose went to push the puck up the ice. Unfortunately, his pass redirected off a player’s skate and went airborne, falling right to the stick of Jayson Megna.
Catching Silovs off guard, the former Canuck found the corner to double their lead.
More importantly for him, he got revenge. Just 48 hours prior, Silovs had stymied him eight times in Game 3, so this one felt relieving for the veteran.
All in all, it was a sloppy and rather uninspiring period form the Canucks. Late in the period, as the team was on the verge of collecting momentum, Danila Klimovich took a very unnecessary roughing call.
Do we think Manny has the same disappointed glare as Rick Tocchet? Perhaps not, but we can report that this was the last we saw of Klimovich on the night.
That play sent the Eagles on a late power play, and handed back any pressure that the Canucks may have been building.
And unfortunately, it may have cost them the game in the end.
Colorado goal – 3-0 – Tye Felhaber from T.J. Tynan and Oskar Olausson
After Max Sasson nearly connected with Arshdeep Bains for a shorthanded chance, the Eagles transitioned back the other way and made them pay.
Going the other way, Colorado broke up four strong, before T.J. Tynan found a trailing Tye Felhaber. He beat Silovs through the legs for a heartbreaker late in the period.
One could argue that the hook on Bains, which led to the odd-man rush, could have been something. Which, of course, Manny Malhotra argued.
Instead, the club found itself down by a trio heading into the final period.
In addition to being down 3-0, that goal put an end to the Canucks’ penalty killing streak, snapping it at 30 straight. What a run.
The good news was that the Eagles took a late penalty of their own, which gave the Canucks a complete two-minute power play to kick things off with fresh ice in the third.
Shots: ABB 6, COL 8 | Score: ABB 0, COL 1
The Canucks not only failed to score during the full two-minute stretch but were also unable to register a shot for a second straight power play.
And with little happening, they got into serious penalty troubles. Although it felt like the game slipped away from them, Arturs Silovs continued to hold up his end of the bargain as he waited for his team to build up a comeback.
But Sammy Blais continued to take penalties, wasting valuable time for his team, and received a 10-minute misconduct.
It’s the second game of the series where Blais lost his cool to grab either a 10-minute penalty or a game misconduct.
But again, Silovs was doing everything he could to keep things where they were.
Not once.
But twice.
Those saves proved huge, as the Canucks finally brought some life in the back half of the frame.
Abbotsford goal – 3-1 – Nate Smith from Jujhar Khaira
Off the offensive zone faceoff, Jujhar Khaira protected the puck on the wrap-around, sending the puck toward the net.
Fighting for possession was Nate Smith, who cleaned up the rebound to cut the deficit to two goals.
The Canucks did pull their netminder with roughly three minutes remaining in an attempt to score two and even the score. Unfortunately, they notched just four shots on goal and could not find any offence.
The bad news? The Abbotsford Canucks dropped this one after a sloppy game.
The good news is that their season continues, with one last attempt to continue in a do-or-die game 5.
Shots: ABB 25, COL 30 | Score: ABB 1, COL 3
This series will see a do-or-die Game 5, which will occur at an unusual time on Monday afternoon. The puck drops at 2:05 pm PT for a Memorial Day matinee.
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