On March 5, the Canucks traded veteran defenceman Jett Woo to San Jose in exchange for then 23-year-old Jack Thompson. Thompson went on to earn 13 points in 14 games, becoming a key offensive defenceman late in the year for the struggling Abbotsford team.
People always say that making a good first impression is one of the most important things in life, and Jack Thompson did just that after getting traded to the Vancouver Canucks organization on March 5 in exchange for Jett Woo. The defenceman had played 42 games with the San Jose Barracuda ahead of the trade, and came into the Canadian market with a “chip on [his] shoulder” at the unexpected move.
“You want to perform and have a great start with your new organization,” Thompson told The Hockey News as the Abbotsford Canucks' 2025-26 season wound down. “I thought I came in and had been playing some good hockey, so it was nice to get some opportunities that Abbotsford gave me here with the power play and playing important minutes. It grew my confidence, and I think that is a big thing for a hockey player.”
Thompson was drafted into the NHL shortly after his sophomore OHL season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. He was picked 93rd overall by the recently crowned Stanley Cup champion Tampa Bay Lightning. His point production had doubled from his first major junior season, going from 16 points (six goals, 10 assists) in 52 games for the Sudbury Wolves to 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 63 games for the Wolves the following year.
He made his pro debut for the 2020-21 season, after the OHL season was outright cancelled due to the ongoing pandemic. Thompson was loaned out to Surahammars IF in the Swedish HockeyEttan, the third tier in the Swedish system, along with Wolves teammate Blake Murray. He scored 18 points (nine goals, nine assists) in 18 games before returning to North America and notching an assist in his first AHL game for the Syracuse Crunch.
“We were living on our own for the first time in a different country, and it was definitely an experience,” Thompson recalls with a smile, “It was a lot of fun. I definitely look back on that all the time and have good memories.”
Thompson returned to Sudbury for the 2021-22 OHL season, with 23 points (eight goals, 15 assists) in 29 games, before being traded to the Soo Greyhounds, where he would continue scoring with 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 36 games, and would lead his team in points during the postseason, with a whopping 14 points (six goals, eight assists) in nine games. He shared locker rooms with future teammates Chase Stillman and Kirill Kudryavtsev, with Stillman being his Wolves teammate in the 2019-20 and 2021-22 seasons, along with Kudryavtsev on the Greyhounds ahead of the Russian’s selection by the Canucks in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft.
The young defenceman credited his experience with Stillman and Kudryavtsev, along with former Barracuda defensive colleagues Cole Clayton and Jimmy Schuldt, as helping him adjust to the new team, saying, “I played with guys, or knew guys, so I found it really easy to come in and feel comfortable right away.” Schuldt had signed with Abbotsford out of free agency during the 2025 off-season, while Clayton had been acquired through the January 19 trade that sent Canucks fan favourite Kiefer Sherwood to the San Jose Sharks.
Thompson has 34 NHL games to his name. Most of them came with San Jose in the 2024-25 season, when he recorded his first 10 NHL points (four goals, six assists) in 31 games. He had been with the Sharks organization for parts of three seasons after being traded there in March 2024, in a deal that sent Anthony Duclair the other way to Tampa Bay.
The 2026 trade came as a surprise to Thompson, who was en route to Wisconsin for the Barracudas’ weekend series against the Milwaukee Admirals.
“I found out on the plane. We were going from San Jose to Denver, and then Denver to Milwaukee. I found out on the first flight from San Jose to Denver, and I had to go on the connecting flight to Milwaukee.”
“It’s kind of crazy, a whirlwind, you know, finding out on a plane. I had no service or anything, my coach just told me. It was interesting, but it was a good memory, and it’ll be funny when you look back on stuff like that.”
Thompson got off to a quick start with his new team, with two goals and three assists in his first two games in Abbotsford. He finished the year with three goals and ten assists in 14 games, wearing the Johnny Canuck on his jersey. He credited the Abbotsford coaching staff with adjusting to the systems in the Lower Mainland and helping build confidence in his still-developing play style.
“Coming in, they told me just to play and not think too much. I think it’s what I needed, and they pushed me and helped me grow my game in this little bit here, and gave me some confidence and put me in those opportunities to be confident. […] I want the puck on my stick right now, and I think in San Jose, I wasn’t playing quite my style of hockey, and now I feel like I’m getting back to myself, and it’s been nice.”
Jack Thompson of the Abbotsford Canucks (Photo Credit: Kaja Antic/The Hockey News)It might’ve been a small sample size for the 24-year-old, but it was certainly impressive on an Abbotsford team that struggled in a season that followed their glorious Calder Cup victory in 2025. Thompson finished fourth in defensive scoring for the Canucks, behind rookie Sawyer Mynio (21 points), former junior teammate Kudryavtsev (20 points), and former Barracuda teammate Schuldt (18 points).
Abbotsford finished the year on a four-game win streak, their longest of the season, and head into an off-season of uncertainty across the Canucks organization. Thompson is one of seven restricted free agents who will need new contracts before next season. He is joined by forwards Jayden Grubbe, Chase Stillman, Danila Klimovich, and Nils Aman, along with defencemen Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Cole Clayton, with Clayton, Joseph, Aman, and Thompson eligible for arbitration.
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