Abbotsford Canucks announce opening night roster for 2025-26 season

The 2025-26 American Hockey League season is set to get underway, with the Abbotsford Canucks set to defend their Calder Cup championship.

On Friday, the Vancouver Canucks‘ primary affiliate revealed its opening night roster for the new campaign. Here’s a full list of the Canucks’ opening night roster:

Forwards (16)

Nils Åman, Vilmer Alriksson, Ben Berard, Josh Bloom, Dino Kambeitz, Danila Klimovich, Vitali Kravtsov, Jackson Kunz, Joseph LaBate, Mackenzie MacEachern, Ty Mueller, Anri Ravinskis, Max Sasson, Chase Stillman, Cooper Walker, and Chase Wouters.

Defencemen (7)

Joe Arntsen, Derek Daschke, Nikolai Knyzhov, Kirill Kudryavtsev, Sawyer Mynio, Jimmy Schuldt, and Tom Willander.

Goaltenders (4)

Aku Koskenvuo, Jiří Patera, Nikita Tolopilo and Ty Young.

There are 11 players from last year’s championship team, including forward Ty Mueller, who is the leading returning scorer from last year’s team. The Edmonton native notched 12 goals and 39 points during he regular season before posting 12 points in the playoffs.

There is plenty of experience up front that will give the team some offensive punch in the wide-open Pacific Division. Max Sasson spent a good chunk of time with Vancouver last year, but still managed to score 13 goals and 32 points in 41 games with the Abby Canucks, while adding 14 points in the postseason.

Despite the amount of turnover from last season, there’s still quite a bit of familiarity with the core in Abbotsford. Sixteen players have played at least one game in Abbotsford over each of the past two seasons, including Danila Klimovich and captain Chase Wouters, who are entering their fifth campaigns with the club.

Nine rookies are looking to make an impact in their first year with the team, most notably defenceman Tom Willander. The Canucks didn’t sign the former Boston University star late last season, waiting until the end of the 2024-25 campaign before signing his entry-level contract.

The goaltending situation is slightly different. Reigning playoff MVP Arturs Silovs was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins this past offseason. Nikita Tolopilo, who played the majority of the 2024-25 season, is back between the pipes. Ty Young, the former Prince George Cougar, spent most of last season in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings, and will look to make the full-time jump to the AHL this season.

The Canucks open up the new campaign on Friday night, as the team visits the Henderson Silver Knights, the Vegas Golden Knights’ top farm team. Abbotsford is on the road for the first two weeks of the season before hosting the Los Angeles Kings’ primary affiliate, the Ontario Reign, on Oct. 24 and 26 for their banner-raising night.