The Abbotsford Canucks have had just as rough of a season as Vancouver has.
As rough of a season as it’s been for the Vancouver Canucks, it’s also been a tough one for their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Currently, Abbotsford has only registered six wins throughout 26 games played, putting them 30th in the league’s overall standings. Things have looked bleak for them, but with some key players beginning to return to the lineup, the AHL Canucks may find their season’s slump ending a little sooner than expected.
The first thing to note is how stability in Vancouver’s lineup will positively impact Abbotsford’s. In the month of November alone, the Canucks made 11 different roster moves involving Abbotsford, while they made a total of 13 in the month of October. This type of constant movement is something that heavily impacts a team — especially one that has experienced so much turnover since the end of their previous season.
As the Canucks find themselves getting healthier and healthier, more players will trickle back down into Abbotsford’s lineup. The first instance of this is Jonatham Lekkerimäki, who was re-assigned to the AHL on December 7 as a result of Nils Höglander’s return and has scored in both games since his return. Lekkerimäki has been in-and-out of Abbotsford’s lineup as a result of the Canucks’ injury woes but has only gone scoreless in two of the seven AHL games he’s played in this season.
The next addition to Abbotsford’s lineup was the return of Jett Woo — a highly-experienced defenceman who’s been part of Vancouver’s AHL-affiliate (dating back to the Utica Comets days) since the 2020–21 season. The absence of himself and other veteran defenceman Guillaume Brisebois played a big part in Abbotsford’s lineup issues throughout the start, as Vancouver’s injuries resulted in the AHL Canucks placing rookie defenceman Sawyer Mynio in top-pairing minutes.
One of the biggest questions for both Vancouver and Abbotsford have been in goal, where Thatcher Demko’s injury issues have caused both teams to switch back-and-forth between different goaltenders. Prior to last weekend, the AHL Canucks had only iced their fully-healthy goaltending cabinet a couple of times. Nikita Tolopilo missed nearly a month due to injury after Abbotsford’s home-opener, then goaltending issues in Vancouver resulted in both himself and Jiří Patera being brought up and then sent down at varying times. With both Tolopilo and Patera available to start each game of their most recent back-to-back, Abbotsford managed to collect three of a possible four points.
Offence has been a bit of a struggle for Abbotsford, a team currently tied for last in the AHL in goals-for with 52. A player who will help with this issue is Lukas Reichel, who has previously excelled offensively at the AHL-level with the Rockford IceHogs — the Chicago Blackhawks’ AHL affiliate. In 121 AHL games, Reichel has scored 42 goals and 74 assists. While his scoring knack will definitely be a plus for Abbotsford, the Canucks are also actively looking to trade Reichel, meaning his time in the AHL may not go on for long.
The final piece added to Abbotsford’s roster so far is Arshdeep Bains, who was sent down to the AHL presumably to make space for center Elias Pettersson’s return. Bains’ return to Abbotsford may be one of the bigger — if not the biggest — positives for the AHL Canucks of all their returnees solely due to what Bains has proven he can bring at that level. Bains led Abbotsford in scoring last season with 11 goals and 32 assists in 50 games played while being responsible on both sides of the ice.
Slowly but surely, the holes in Abbotsford’s lineup are beginning to fill back up. As this happens, the AHL Canucks are sure to bounce back from their negative start to the 2025–26 season.
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