Canucks: How a focus on having fun helped Ty Young turn in a massive first season of pro hockey

Less than a year ago, he didn’t know where he was going to play.

And yet, Ty Young still had a smile on his face when we talked at Vancouver Canucks training camp in Penticton last season.

After it became clear that Joshua Ravensbergen would be the Prince George Cougars’ preference to man their goal crease in 2024-25, Young didn’t really know where he’d end up last season.

There were basically two options: get traded in the WHL and go play another year of junior, or turn pro as a 20-year-old and try to find a place to play between the ECHL and the AHL.

“I really don’t know where I’ll play, and I’m trying not to worry about things that I can’t control. I’m just here to stop pucks,” he said, gesturing toward the ice sheet at the South Okanagan Events Centre.

The preference likely would have been to get traded in the WHL, but that’s not what happened, as most WHL teams had their plans in the crease already set. So instead, Young turned pro, and spent most of his time in the ECHL with the Kalamazoo Wings. There, he amassed a .926 save percentage through 22 ECHL games, the highest save percentage of any goaltender in the Canucks’ organization.

Young also spent some time with AHL Abbotsford, where he put up similarly impressive results, posting a .904 save percentage through 11 games as one of the youngest players — no pun intended — to suit up for AHL games. To put it bluntly: Young took big steps in his game this past season.

“I did a different summer plan this last year, I went to Kelowna for about a month to work with Adam Francilia for a bit. So I think that helped a lot, because that was a whole bunch of new stuff I’ve never done, and just new techniques I’m working on. Mobility off the ice we work on, and then also just on the ice we do a lot of stuff I’ve never really done; like med balls, plates, or weights on the ice or stuff like that, but he does that. So I felt like I got a lot stronger, and it really helped.”

Francilia has worked with some of the game’s top goaltenders, including Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko, three-time Vezina winner Connor Hellebuyck, Andrei Vasilevskiy, and many more.

With that work with Francilia proving to be so beneficial, it might surprise you to find out that Young said the biggest thing he improved on this past season was his work on the mental side of the game. More specifically: a focus on having fun.

“So it was lots of that [work with Francilia] but the mental [side] too,” Young said when asked where he feels he took the biggest step in his game last season. “Just to have a lot of belief in yourself and a lot more confidence, and also just… having fun. It’s always easier to have fun when you’re playing well, but even when things were kind of maybe not as great… Like with lots of travel this year and lots of ups and downs, not really having a secure spot to sleep and have all your stuff, almost like living out of a suitcase a little bit, you can take that and just be like, ‘okay, it’s kind of hard, but it was also just a blast’, like, that’s gonna be the funnest times [to look back on]. Just to get an opportunity to be able to do that, I actually think it was really fun.”

As for the biggest thing he learned this season? Take advantage and make the most of every opportunity you’re given, no matter where that is.

“You really learn that you really got to take advantage of the opportunities that you get,” Young said. “When you don’t know what’s gonna happen and there are so many uncertainties, you just gotta do your best with whatever spot you’re put in. And I think that’s definitely what I learned over the year, because I got a lot of opportunities due to injuries and just tried to make the most of them.”

Now heading into the 2025-26 season, Young has undoubtedly put himself on the map as a prized goaltending prospect for the Canucks organization. Fellow prospect Aku Koskenvuo signed his entry-level contract towards the end of this past season, but it’s almost a guarantee that Koskenvuo will do what Young did this past season and go start his pro hockey journey in the ECHL. Meanwhile, Young should get every opportunity to go be “the guy” in Abbotsford with a three man rotation of Jiri Patera and Nikita Tolopilo.

No matter where he plays next season, one thing is for sure: Ty Young is going to have some fun.