The Vancouver Canucks have a healthy shelf full of talented prospects. Because of this, some names occasionally end up flying under the radar. One of such players is none other than Vilmer Alriksson, a mobile 6’6 forward who has impressed at the team’s recent prospect events. The 2023 fourth-round pick is projected to spend the 2025–26 season with the Abbotsford Canucks and is looking to make a big impact — both in stature and in play.
“I expect bigger guys, stronger guys, faster. More physicality. I think that’s good for me,” he told The Hockey News of what awaits him in the AHL.
Prior to his expected start with Abbotsford this year, Alriksson spent two seasons in the OHL with the Guelph Storm and Brampton Steelheads. In 2024–25, he ramped up his offensive performance with a 17-goal, 16-assist effort in 26 games with Guelph. He’d also scored four goals and eight assists in 17 games with Brampton before being sidelined for the rest of the season due to injury.
“I haven’t played a game since February, actually,” Alriksson explained, discussing what kind of off-season training the injury resulted in. “Just made me work on my strength, conditioning, and I had a long off-season. I think I’m very prepared for this year.”
As well as becoming stronger, Alriksson also worked on becoming faster and more agile during his off-season training, which will undoubtedly come in handy. One of the forward’s biggest assets is his size and how mobile he is despite being 6’6. This has been something that has stood out about his play throughout Canucks prospect events and development camps, and ultimately helped lead the team to sign Alriksson to his entry-level contract last September.
“It was really fun and exciting. That was just a dream come true and made me want to work even harder,” he said of signing his first NHL contract.
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As mentioned, Alriksson is preparing to make the jump from the OHL to the AHL. Had he not spent time playing junior hockey in Canada, he would have had to go right from Swedish hockey leagues such as his former team, Djurgårdens IF, to Abbotsford. The forward credits his two seasons in the OHL with helping him transition faster.
“I think getting kind of used to it with two years in the OHL, I feel like I’m ready to take the next step. It’s been working well so far.”
Part of Alriksson’s preparation for the upcoming year has been taking part in pre-season games. The forward has played in two of the Canucks’ three pre-season games, the first of which was on home ice out in Abbotsford on Wednesday night. With this potentially being his main home rink for the 2025–26 season, Alriksson reflected on what he saw from the fans in his first pre-season game of the year.
“It was great. Fans were really good. [There] was a lot of people there, and it was just a really good atmosphere.”
At the end of the day, after missing so much playing time last year, Alriksson is most excited to just play some hockey. Coming into the season armed with health and a new opportunity in the AHL, the forward is just ready to play in some games.
“It’s fun, just playing hockey again, it’s going out to compete. It’s just what you want to do.”
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