The 2025–26 season has not been kind to the Vancouver Canucks, but it’s been even less-so to their AHL-affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Abbotsford went through some pretty sizable changes to their roster during this off-season, moving on from Calder Cup Champions Artūrs Šilovs, Sammy Blais, Phil Di Giuseppe, Tristen Nielsen, Nate Smith, Christian Wolanin, Akito Hirose, Cole McWard, and more via trade and free agency. Fan-favourites Arshdeep Bains, Max Sasson, Linus Karlsson, Aatu Räty, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, and more have earned themselves positions with the NHL club, while Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo have yet to return to their lineup due to injury.
With all of this and more in mind, it’s not entirely shocking that Abbotsford currently sits at the bottom of the Pacific Division and near the bottom of the AHL entirely with a record of 4–13–3. The AHL Canucks have had to deal with injuries to not only their own lineup, but Vancouver’s as well (as the Canucks have also played a role in the depletion of Abbotsford’s roster). Here’s a bleak — but optimistic — recap of Abbotsford’s November.
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Stat Leaders
Team Stats:
Record: 4–13–3 (T-30th)
Points%: 0.275% (31st)
Goals-for: 38 (30th)
Goals-against: 83 (32nd)
PP%: 27.9% (4th)
PK%: 67.7% (32nd)
Points:
Ben Berard: 5–7–12
Joseph LaBate: 6–4–10
Sawyer Mynio: 2–7–9
Nils Åman: 1–8–9
Ty Mueller: 3–5–8
Goaltenders:
Jiří Patera: 2–2–1
Aku Koskenvuo: 1–2–0
Nikita Tolopilo: 1–3–1
C.J. Kier (EBUG): 0–0–0
Jonathan Lemieux: 0–0–1
Ty Young: 0–6–0
Photo: Kaja Antic-THN
Storylines
The Goaltending Conundrum
Just as Vancouver had a goaltending conundrum at the start of November, so did Abbotsford. With Thatcher Demko unavailable for the Canucks’ back-to-back at the start of the month, Vancouver ended up recalling Patera under emergency conditions, leaving the AHL Canucks with only Young for their game against the Colorado Eagles on November 7th. As luck would have it, Young sustained an injury that night, resulting in Abbotsford being forced to dress Colorado’s emergency backup goaltender C.J. Kier.
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With Young out, Tolopilo still dealing with an injury, and Patera up with the Canucks, Abbotsford brought both Koskenvuo and Lemieux up from the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings. Interestingly enough, it was Koskenvuo who snapped Abbotsford’s 11-game losing streak in his AHL debut, stopping 33 of 36 shots put on him by the San Jose Barracuda.
Home-Ice Woes
Abbotsford has had the most difficult time winning on home-ice since the season started (wins have been hard to come by in general, but at home, they’ve been even more difficult to grab). In eight home games throughout the start to now, the AHL Canucks have only managed one win. They have yet to win at home in regulation.
While at the newly-named Rogers Forum, Abbotsford has only managed to score 13 goals, averaging out to 1.625 goals scored per home game. They’ve been shut out twice when on home-ice and have scored two goals or less in one game six different times. When it comes to goals-against on home-ice, Abbotsford is tied with the Texas Stars for the fourth-most allowed (38).
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Despite the bleak stats, Abbotsford has one thing going for them while on home-ice — their power play. The AHL Canucks currently lead the AHL in power play percentage while at home with a whopping 42.1%, nearly 10% higher than the next team in this category. With that being said, Abbotsford has also been given the least power play opportunities in the AHL when on home-ice, as they have only received 19 but scored on eight of them.
Sawyer Mynio Has Had A Solid Start
In times when the AHL Canucks were suffering from roster depletion, it was Mynio who stepped up and provided solid play. With Victor Mancini, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Tom Willander all on Vancouver’s roster at one point this season, Mynio became the AHL Canucks’ most heavily relied-upon defenceman in both offensive and defensive scenarios (alongside Jimmy Schuldt).
During this span of time, Mynio was tasked with quarterbacking Abbotsford’s power play while also playing on their penalty kill. All this has occurred while Mynio adjusts to playing on the right-side — a position at which Abbotsford’s depth was paper-thin. For a 20-year-old AHL rookie, Mynio’s accomplishments so far have been impressive, especially considering the circumstances surrounding his team.
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What’s Up With Danila Klimovich?
Having won the Calder Cup back in June, expectations were mixed for an Abbotsford team that was expected to lose many of their top players to NHL call-ups. That’s one thing that has happened.
Even so, there’s still one AHL Canuck whose fate remains a bit of a mystery. The 2025–26 season is Klimovich’s fifth in the AHL, as he made the jump to North American pro-hockey immediately after being drafted by Vancouver in 2021. Since then, Klimovich has yet to make his NHL debut, with his entry-level contract being prolonged with every year he spends without making it.
Last season, Klimovich had looked as though he could be turning a corner after scoring a career-high 25 goals and 13 assists in 65 AHL games played. It was a solid message to send after struggling with injuries the season prior. However, throughout the first two months of the 2025–26 season, Klimovich only has two goals and two assists in 18 games played.
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Consistency has been one of, if not the biggest caveat in Klimovich’s game in the past. It appears this could be an issue this season as well. He went scoreless in the first 17 games of the year for Abbotsford, but then exploded for a two-goal performance in their 5–2 win against the Tucson Roadrunners on Saturday. While his lack of scoring consistency isn’t particularly for lack of effort, as he has the most shots on net of his team with 39, it’s something to keep an eye on from Klimovich as his fifth AHL season plays out.
Up Next
After a November that only saw them return to Abbotsford for two homestands, the AHL Canucks will begin December with a four-game home stretch beginning tomorrow, December 2nd, with back-to-back matches against the Calgary Wranglers. They’ll also host their ever-popular Teddy Bear Toss on December 6th and their 5th Anniversary Game on December 7th, both against the Coachella Valley Firebirds. The AHL Canucks will return to Abbotsford for one more homestand in December when they take on the Tucson Roadrunners on December 19th and 20th.
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