2023-24 Abbotsford Canucks Thread

[Rusty Shackleford]

 

 

Edited September 16, 2023 by Rusty Shackleford

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

Roster Composition: 2023-24 season

 

Departures: Descending by Point totals in 22/23 season.

1) Justin Dowling (C) : CAN to New Jersey (NHL) -----------------------GP: 56, G: 11, A: 35, Pts: 46

2) Kyle Rau  (LW/RW) : Released from AHL deal  (UFA)--------------- GP: 68, G: 16, A: 19, Pts: 35

3) Vincent Arseneau (D) : AHL deal traded to Providence (AHL) -----GP: 35, G: 7, A: 3, Pts: 10

4) Matthew Alfaro      (C) : Released from AHL deal (UFA)------------- GP: 34, G: 3, A: 5, Pts: 8

5) Brady Keeper: (D) : CAN to Montreal (NHL) --- ----------------------- GP: 35, G: 1, A: 5, Pts: 6

6) Yushiroh Hirano: (D) : Abb to Utica (AHL) -------------------------------GP: 18;  G: 2, A: 2, Pts: 4

7) Zach Giutarri:   (D): Released from AHL deal (UFA) ----------------- GP: 17, G: 0, A: 3, Pts: 3

Carson Focht: (C) : Released from NHL deal (UFA) ----------------- GP: 3, G: 2, A: 0, Pts: 2 

9) Mike Regush: (C) : Released from AHL deal (UFA) -------------------GP: 17, G: 2, A: 0, Pts: 2

10) Andy Carroll: (D) Released from AHL deal (UFA) ------------------- GP: 5, G: 0, A: 1, Pts: 1

11) Dylan MacPherson: (D) Released from AHL deal (UFA) ---------- GP: 2, G: 0, A: 0, Pts: 0

 

Acquisitions:

1) Josh Bloom (LW): Acquired from Buffalo (NHL) Signed by Buffalo to NHL 3 year ELC deal (Due to being a CHL player and under 20, contract slid, so ELC deal starts this season) from North Bay (OHL)

2) Akito Hirose (D): Signed to NHL ELC 1 year deal - Re-signed to 2 year NHL standard contract - from Minnesota State U Mankato (CCHA)

3) Jermaine Loewen (LW):  Signed AHL 2 year deal - from Henderson (AHL)

4) Cole McWard (D):  Signed NHL ELC 2 year deal - from Ohio State (Big-10)

5) Aiden McDonough (LW): Signed NHL ELC 2 year deal - North Eastern Univ (NCAA)

6) Zach Sawchenko (G):     Signed NHL 1 year deal - Free agent signing from San Jose (NHL)

7) Nikita Tolopilo (G): Signed NHL ELC 2 year  deal - Free agent from Sodertalje (SHL)

 Cooper Walker (C): Signed to AHL 1 year deal - Free agent signing from Guelph (OHL)

 

 

AHL graduates to Canucks/NHL:

Nils Aman (C) - Abbotsford to Vancouver

Phil Di Giuseppe (LW) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Sheldon Dries (C) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Nils Hoglander (LW) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Noah Juulsen (D) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Spencer Maritn (G) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Vasili Podkolzin (RW) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

Christian Wolanin (D) - Abbotsford to Vancouver (NHL)

 

Who's returning : Contract status & 22/23 stats

 

Forwards:

 

   Centers

 

1) Chase Wouters: AHL deal - 1 year remaining /   --------- GP: 70, G: 8 A: 17, Pts: 25

2) John Stevens:  AHL deal - 2 years remaining /   --------- GP: 43, G: 6, A: 13, Pts: 19

3) Aatu Raty: NHL deal - 836K x 2 years remaining / ------ GP: 25, G: 2, A: 10, Pts: 12

4) Max Sasson: NHL deal - 870K x 2 years remaining / ---GP: 7, G: 1, A: 1, Pts: 2

 

   Left Wingers

1) Tristen Nielsen: NHL deal -  870K x 2 years remaining / ------- GP: : 64, G: 14, A: 27, Pts: 41

2) Arshdeep Bains: NHL deal - 816 x 2 years remaining /   ------- GP: 66, G: 13, A: 25, Pts: 38

3) Karel Plasek: NHL deal - 846K x 1 years remaining /     -------- Loaned overseas to Czechia

 

   Right Wingers

1) Linus Karlsson: NHL deal - 883K x 1 year remaining /   ------- GP: 72, G: 24, A: 25, Pts: 49

2) Danila Klimovich: NHL deal - 855K x 3 years remaining / ----- GP: 67, G: 17, A: 12, Pts: 29

3) Marc Gatcomb: AHL deal - 1 year remaining /                 ------- GP: 45, G: 3, A: 5, Pts: 8

 

 

Defensemen:

 

   Left handed Defensemen

1) Jack Rathbone: NHL deal - 850K x 1 years remaining / -------- GP: 37, G: 5, A: 9, Pts: 14

2) Guillaume Brisebois: NHL deal - 775K x 2 years remaining / --- GP: 36, G: 1, A: 5, Pts: 6

3) Quinn Schmiemann: AHL deal - 1 year remaining / -------------- GP: 31, G: 2, A: 4, Pts: 6

4) Chad Nychuk: AHL deal - 1 year remaining / ---------------------- GP: 13, G: 0, A: 5, Pts: 5

 

   Right handed Defensemen

1) Jett Woo: NHL deal - 775K x 1 year remaining / ---------------- GP: 68, G: 7, A: 14, Pts: 21

2) Alex Kannok-Leipert: AHL deal - 1 year remaining / ------------ GP: 44, G: 0, A: 4, Pts: 4

3) Filip Johansson: NHL deal - 883K x 1 year remaining / ----    Joined during AHL playoffs

 

Goalies:

Arturs Silovs: NHL deal - 786 x 1 years remaining /  ---------- GP: 44, W: 26, SV%: 909

 

Management & Staff:

General Manager - Ryan Johnson 

Head Coach: Jeremy Colliton 

Assistant Coach: Gerry Agnew

Assistant Coach: Jeff Ulmer

Goaltending Coach: Marko Torenius

 

Stories to follow as the season goes:

 

1) With the emergence of several veteran players such as Di Giuseppe, Dries, Wolanin, Juulsen, and Brisebois playing significant games for the parent club (and likely to be the few players that make the jump onto the main roster in the fall), Abbotsford will be sporting a very youthful team. The oldest player on roster at the moment signed, is John Stevens at age 29. Everyone else is 25 and younger with the average age being 22, which will likely be one of the younger teams in the AHL. Jeremy Colliton and the rest of the coaching staff had a huge impact on the younger players last season, no doubt he will have a tall task to get a very young group to come up to speed.

 

2) With the Vancouver Canucks signing Tolopilo and Sawchenko this offseason, it will be interesting to see how the goalies are managed. Silovs will see the bulk of the starts and minutes in goal but after that, its a toss up. Tolopilo and Sawchenko may start with Abbotsford at the beginning of the season and likely one will be sent down later to ECHL affiliate Kalamazoo Wings. 

 

3) How will sophomore players Linus Karlsson, Arshdeep Bains, and Aatu Raty respond after having strong campaigns in their first AHL season? All three were major contributors to Abbotsford's success down the stretch drive and into the playoffs. No doubt they will be counted upon to be the key cogs for Abbotsford's offense with the loss of key veterans in Justin Dowling and Kyle Rau.

 

4) Jett Woo had his redemption season along with Danila Klimovich. Both showing again they are legitimate prospects in the Canucks' pipeline, however, will Jack Rathbone have a bounce back season? With the new additions of Akito Hirose, Cole McWard, and Filip Johansson, the blue line is very crowded. Jack Rathbone finished with 5 goals and 14 points last season. In the same number games in the 21/22 season Rathbone amassed, 10 goals and 40 points to finished 1.00 PPG average and sunk below that this past season playing behind Christian Wolanin for much of the season. Can Jack evolve his game? Or will he continue to fall down the pecking order and with him being waiver's eligible this season along with Jett Woo. Its do or die for him to cement himself as a legitimate NHL option with this organization.

 

5) Chase Wouters acquitted himself well in his year as the Abbotsford Canucks captain, and being the first ever franchise captain to note. Wouters was Abbotsford rock this season being only 23 years old. Can he find another step and earn an NHL deal? Ryan Johnson and Jeremy Colliton glowed about Wouters in their season end media availability. With a young group, he will be counted on to lead this group.

 

6) Balancing development vs winning. After the Abbotsford Canucks reaching the playoffs for the first time in franchise history this past season, the Fraser Valley became the hot spot for post season fever. A fan base that is starving for playoff success on any level, will surely expect a similar if not better result this season. However, that will be a tall task for a team that will look significantly more younger this season. Will be interesting to see how Colliton and the staff manage this young team in development while continuing the culture of winning and excellence moving into the 2023/24 season.

 

7) With a successful season he had in Abbotsford, at the beginning of the offseason, Jeremy Colliton's name came up as potential suitors for a vacant NHL head coaching job. Although it has not come to fruition as of yet, its has been reported that his name is held in high regards around the NHL for what he has done in one season with Abbotsford. Would not be surprise to see Colliton's name pop up again. Should an NHL team fire their coach and begin searching mid season...Colliton's name will be high among the lists.  Canucks may need to start looking at a succession plan in the case that it happens. Same goes for Abbotsford GM Ryan Johnson, his name has been surfaced at times as an upcoming GM option in the NHL. He too, may be a name to watch for if a GM firing occurs this coming year. 

 

Just resubmitting from CDC...excited to see where Colliton takes this young team this year.

[-AJ-]

Posted this in the training camp thread, but I think it's relevant here too:

 

The battle for the bottom defense roles is an interesting one. An interesting aspect of it is if the Canucks will carry 8 defensemen or not. Doing so may involve having a fairly young guy scratched. Here's my gut as to what'll happen:

 

Vancouver:

3LD: Wolanin - His waiver eligibility and overall skill level likely wins him this spot IMO

 

3RD: Myers - I highly doubt there's a chance he could lose this role

 

4LD: Irwin - Would love to have the option to opt for skill or physicallity, depending on what we need each nice. He and Wolanin could switch off easily to adapt for our team's need.

 

4RD: This is the trickiest one. The most likely bet is probably Jett Woo, because he's now eligible for waivers. The catch is then we have him stuck in Vancouver, almost never playing games unless we have injuries, so I'm not sure that's really a great option.

 

Abbotsford:

1LD: Hirose - Probably is NHL ready, but because of his waiver status, it's easier just to send him down for big Abbotsford minutes and call up if we need another LD in the case of injuries

 

1RD: Cole McWard - Seems better than other options like Juulsen who were already in Abby.

 

2LD: Rathbone - Sad to see, but I think he's fallen quite a bit down the depth chart. This is assuming he's not claimed on waivers.

 

2RD: Juulsen - There have been rumblings of him getting NHL time, but I can't see how he's ahead of Myers or McWard and probably not even Woo. 

 

3LD: Brisebois - Weird to see a guy with 27 games of NHL experience this far down, but the race on LD in Abbotsford is fairly tight and I don't think it would be crazy to see all three of these guys switch up their roles, depending on how they're playing.

 

3RD: Johansson - Hasn't been super impressive so far in camp. He will rely on Woo staying in Vancouver to get decent minutes in Abby, otherwise, may end up being a scratch in Abbotsford. Like the Abbotsford LD though, the RD is also quite tight and McWard, Juulsen, and Johanssen could all swap around if one surprises or another disappoints.

[Canuckle]

McWard was playing top line minutes with Hughes. The fucking guy might end up making the NHL team!

 

[Kootenay Gold]

38 minutes ago, Canuckle said:

McWard was playing top line minutes with Hughes. The fucking guy might end up making the NHL team!

 

If he earns it through his play I'm totally fine with that. Johansson and Woo did no favors to themselves in their performances in Calgary

[Alflives]

2 minutes ago, Kootenay Gold said:

If he earns it through his play I'm totally fine with that. Johansson and Woo did no favors to themselves in their performances in Calgary

Juulsson was horrid too. We need one of Juulsson, McWard, or Woo to force themselves into our lineup. The basically need to push out Myers. And right now they’re not doing that. 

[Kootenay Gold]

3 minutes ago, Alflives said:

Juulsson was horrid too. We need one of Juulsson, McWard, or Woo to force themselves into our lineup. The basically need to push out Myers. And right now they’re not doing that. 

Given that the game was basically an NHL team vs an AHL team the outcome was to be a bit expected. One thing that I think the coaches were focused on was those players that tried to stick to the things they were being taught in practice and also the effort level of each player when the game was out of reach. That says a lot about what type of player you actually have just as much as his skill level.

 

[Canuckle]

1 hour ago, Kootenay Gold said:

I'm totally fine with that

 

Me too! Just saying for a guy with a total of FIVE nhl games under his belt playing top pair with Huggy is crazy! And if so, talk about a huge confidence booster for McWard.  I'd love that!

Edited September 27, 2023 by Canuckle

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

 

[-AJ-]

31 minutes ago, CRAZY_4_NAZZY said:

 

 

Love that the twins can still school these guys even at 43.

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[Rip The Mesh]

 

[27 Percent]

I didn't even realize Bains was sent down. Thought he played well enough to earn a game or 2.

[Kootenay Gold]

21 hours ago, 27 Percent said:

I didn't even realize Bains was sent down. Thought he played well enough to earn a game or 2.

Salary Cap and ELC determined his destination not so much his play. They do not risk losing him whereas they might lose one that isn't on an ELC.

Aman may also be sent down now that Lafferty is on the team as he does not need to clear waivers

 

 

[Kootenay Gold]

So where is Cole McWard?? Cap Friendly says he is in Abby yet I did not see or hear of any movement by the club on this. Is he still with Vancouver or did I or Cap Friendly make an error?

 

[Analyst82]

How competitive are we going to be this year? On paper, this team looks damn good. 

 

I want more of that playoff atmosphere like last year! 

[JamesB]

On 10/4/2023 at 4:41 PM, Rip The Mesh said:

 

Really appreciate the updates from Abby's training camp. Thanks a lot.

[JamesB]

On 10/8/2023 at 5:09 PM, Kootenay Gold said:

So where is Cole McWard?? Cap Friendly says he is in Abby yet I did not see or hear of any movement by the club on this. Is he still with Vancouver or did I or Cap Friendly make an error?

 

 Much of the "movement" over the past few days is just paper transactions designed to maximize cap flexibility by getting the largest possible LTIR salary and bonus pools. Once the pools are locked in the Canucks will likely make one or more additional moves. 

[AatuD2]

17 hours ago, Analyst82 said:

How competitive are we going to be this year? On paper, this team looks damn good. 

 

I want more of that playoff atmosphere like last year! 

 

 

We lost Justin Dowling and Spencer Martin.  I know that there's lots of other guys that played some games like Brady Keeper, Vincent Arseneault, etc, etc but Dowling and Martin are the two notables that will have the biggest impact.  

 

We had one of the youngest teams in the AHL last year, for sure the youngest in our division, so I think that we will be a playoff team once again as long as our goaltending holds up with Silovs and Tolopilo/Sawchuk. 

[Kootenay Gold]

4 minutes ago, JamesB said:

 Much of the "movement" over the past few days is just paper transactions designed to maximize cap flexibility by getting the largest possible LTIR salary and bonus pools. Once the pools are locked in the Canucks will likely make one or more additional moves. 

I am aware of that but he is likely going to be back on the roster shortly after the season officially starts I think some of the moves in the last day or so were to maximize LTIR Cap space.

 

[Analyst82]

1 hour ago, AatuD2 said:

 

 

We lost Justin Dowling and Spencer Martin.  I know that there's lots of other guys that played some games like Brady Keeper, Vincent Arseneault, etc, etc but Dowling and Martin are the two notables that will have the biggest impact.  

 

We had one of the youngest teams in the AHL last year, for sure the youngest in our division, so I think that we will be a playoff team once again as long as our goaltending holds up with Silovs and Tolopilo/Sawchuk. 

 

Im really hoping silovs will make great progress.