Luckily for Klapka, Kannok Leipert is not here at the Young Stars tournament.

Some other players to watch from the Flames include 2023 first-round pick Samuel Honzek, who is a centre with the Vancouver Giants in the WHL.

Etienne Morin (LD-2023 second-round pick) and Jeremie Poirier (LD-2020 third-round pick) will be the two other players to watch from the Flames tonight.

I’ll include this video of my projected lineup for the Canucks and then let’s get into what we heard in the post-practice media availability.

Here’s what was said at morning skate.

What was said

Abbotsford Canucks head coach Jeremy Colliton spoke extensively about Danila Klimovich’s developmentlast season. The Canucks’ 2020 second round pick is heading into his third year in Abbotsford, and this will be his second year at the Young Stars tournament.

“I thought last year was a big development year for me,” said Colliton. “You look at the picture in September versus the end of the year. Emotionally, just how he managed the game when he was on the ice. And also he saw some success. He had some games where he was really effective, scored some big goals for us. That’s exciting. Obviously, the challenge is to build on it and not even pick up where he left off, but just continue to understand what it takes to be in big moments for the team. To be counted on when the game’s on the line. So tonight it’s a great opportunity for him. It’s his third year here so he knows what to expect and we’ll see how it goes.”

Klimovich took a well-documented huge step in Abbotsford last season, but still has plenty of room to grow as a player. This tournament will be a good litmus test for him.

Colliton also spoke about local kid Arshdeep Bains, who grew into a leadership role and became one of Colliton’s most trusted players down the final stretch of the season and into the playoffs. Bains was also selected by the organization to speak at the Canucks’ development camp back in July.

“How he plays and how he carries himself, his improvement throughout the year, the transition he made in his game, he’s definitely a guy the other players I know look to,” said Colliton. “It’s important to have him here because he’s just going to provide stability. He’s a really good player and he’ll help us.”

The Young Stars haven’t gotten much prep time as a team, but Colliton spoke about this and painted the picture of a pretty fun and high-flying game.

“We had one day of practice and then this morning to kind of get some structure in, so it’s not going to look pretty out there probably. We want to see guys be aggressive, play on their toes, don’t be worried about making mistakes. If you make mistakes, let’s have them be aggressive mistakes. Their instincts will take over and that will give us a good view of who’s competitive.”

Game time is scheduled for 7:30 and you can watch on the Canucks’ YouTube channel with Sportnet 650’s Brendan Batchelor on the call. Cody Severtson will have a recap of the game up here at CanucksArmy shortly after the final horn.