2023-24 Abbotsford Canucks Thread

[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

8) 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)

8) 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. 

Edited July 19, 2023 by CRAZY_4_NAZZY

[-Vintage Canuck-]

Thread pinned.   

[Crabcakes]

Nice summary @CRAZY_4_NAZZY informative.

 

I'm most interested to see what happens on the back end with Abby and Vancouver.  We saw some nice work from Wolanin, Juulson, Brisebois and Hirose coming down the stretch in Vancouver.  They were filling in but it looked like successful tryouts to me.  Now, of course, Hronek, Soucy, Cole and Irwin have been added.  Does this force the above back down to Abby?  You would have to think so.  Brisebois (turns 26 on July 21) has a new 2 year contract, the 2nd year is 1-way.  Juulson and Wolanin both earned 2 year, 2-way contracts with healthy minor league salaries.  Irwin is on a similar contract but for only 1 year.  So they're all players of interest to the Canucks with contracts that will keep them from looking towards Europe at the very least.  The only thing that these 4 young players don't offer is size (weight) and grit.  6 foot, 200 lb Jett Woo does play with some grit and signed to a 1 year 2-way contract after a better AHL season.  Woo still has no NHL games after his 3rd year of pro.

[Nucker 67]

I'd like to see Raty take a big step. Hope he's putting in the work this off season. 

 

I went to a couple of Abby games last season and they were good fun, the atmosphere, the prices, and the quality of hockey, exciting games. Definitely going to try and get back for a few more games this season. 

[-AJ-]

I presume you're still working on the OP, since some of the stats and facts seem a year out of date.

 

Excited for the team, especially on defense. Eager to see if Rathbone bounces back or if he fades away into permanent AHL territory. Woo has a chance to take a top pairing job this year if he keeps playing well. Might even earn some NHL time. If Wolanen goes back to Abbotsford though, then it could get tough with Rathbone as competition.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[kenhodgejr]

Its nice the see the Abbotsford thread start new at the beginning of each season because the team changes so much. This lets us have a better idea of the line ups going on in Abbotsford. 

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Dick Dastardly]

What do the line combinations look like now that we pretty much know the full team?

 

[CRAZY_4_NAZZY]

On 7/24/2023 at 8:18 AM, Dick Dastardly said:

What do the line combinations look like now that we pretty much know the full team?

 

Its really dependent on what happens with the slew of guys with Dries, Aman, Di Giuseppe, Studnicka, Juulsen, Wolanin, Hirose, and Brisebois.

 

I would forcast for now the lineup to look something like this to start opening night. I also expect that Ryan Johnson will add a few AHL veterans on AHL deals. Currently right now: Brisebois and Stevens are the only projected veterans on the roster that have played more than 260 pro games. That could change should Juulsen, Dries, Wolanin or Di Giuseppe are sent down.

 

Nielsen-Dries-Karlsson

Bains-Sasson-Stevens

McDonough-Raty-Klimovich

Bloom-Wouters-Gatcomb

 

Loewen/Walker

 

Brisebois-Woo

Rathbone-Johansson

Hirose-McWard

 

Schmiemann/Kannok-Leipert

 

Silovs

Sawchenko/Tolopilo

[Dick Dastardly]

Where does Studnicka start the season? Abbotsford or Vancouver?

 

[Gawdzukes]

1 hour ago, Dick Dastardly said:

Where does Studnicka start the season? Abbotsford or Vancouver?

 

Hopefully Abbotsford. He sucks.

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[Dick Dastardly]

On 7/26/2023 at 6:58 PM, Gawdzukes said:

Hopefully Abbotsford. He sucks.

He was solid when he played for Oshawa Generals....has his game dropped that much or just didn't transfer to next level??

[-Vintage Canuck-]

 

[JamesB]

Nice OP @CRAZY_4_NAZZY. The only think I would add is some of the guys who "graduated" will have to start the season in Abby, just due to the numbers.

 

To be consistent with the OP, the left side on the Canucks would be Hughes, Soucy, Irwin, and Wolanin and the right side would be Hronek, Cole, Myers and Juulsen.

That means 8 guys on D and therefore only 13 forwards.

 

That will include the following 10 guys: Petey, Miller, Kuz, Mikheyev, Boeser, Beauvillier, Bluegar, Garland, Joshua, and Hoglander (as he is no longer waiver exempt).

 

The following guys will be competing for the final 3 forward spots: Aman, Podkolzin, PDG,  Pearson, Dries, Studnika,

 

There is a chance Pearson stays on LTIR. Dries and Aman will be fighting for the 4C spot. Tochett likes PDG, Hard to see Studnika making the team and I think the odds are against Dries as well. And if Pearson is healthy enough to play and good enough to make the team, then probably Podz or PDG will be sent to Abby.

 

Personally, I would pencil Dries and Studnika into the Abby lineup right now.

 

 

 

 

 

[Dick Dastardly]

With all these players heading to Abbotsford what does the starting night line up look like?

[Kootenay Gold]

4 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

With all these players heading to Abbotsford what does the starting night line up look like?

Pretty sure all 4 signings will be playing in the ECHL at the start of the season. Fulfills a commitment to Kalamazoo to help stock their roster.

 

 

[Kootenay Gold]

19 hours ago, Dick Dastardly said:

With all these players heading to Abbotsford what does the starting night line up look like?

As for the starting lineup: Not sure how they will be positioned but expect to see these forwards in the lineup: Karlsson. Nielsen, Bains, Raty, Stevens, McDonough, Klimovich, Bloom, Sasson, Bloom, Loewen, Rau and Wouters

On defense I am expecting to see: Johansson, McWard, Leipert, Schmiemann and other possibles Woo , Brisbois and Juulsen. This is going to be a younger team than last year with more prospects playing. That said it has the makings of a very competitive team IMO. Especially with Silovs manning the net most nights

 

 

[Dick Dastardly]

Looks like another signing with the Big Club and Suter will clearly be the third centre. If we assume that bumps Blueger to the fourth centre there could be a few unexpected faces in Abbotsford.

 

What are the thoughts as to where Dries, Aman, Studnick start the season?   I've got to think there is another trade coming.....too many warm bodies could hurt development down on the farm.