2021 Abbotsford Canucks Offseason Player Tracker

On April 5, Utica Comets President Robert Esche filed a patent for the name “Utica Devils”, sparking speculation on who the New Jersey Devils would utilize as their AHL affiliate in 2020-21. On April 14, Binghamton Devils Executive Vice President of Operations Tom Mitchell was informed that New Jersey would be relocating their AHL franchise out of Binghamton.

A week later, the shuffle was made public — Binghamton would be relocated to Utica, and Utica would be relocated to Abbotsford, British Columbia. The AHL officially approved Vancouver’s AHL franchise relocation to Abbotsford on May 6, with the team’s nickname — the Canucks — being revealed on July 14.

The Canucks will open their season on the road against the Bakersfield Condors on Saturday, Oct. 16 (7:00pm PDT). Then, Abbotsford will host their first AHL game in seven and a half years against the Henderson Silver Knights on Friday, October 22 (7:00pm PDT).

Until then, we’ll keep track of Abbotsford building their roster for the 2021-22 season.

Follow along as players re-sign, come in from another team, or depart before the season kicks off in mid-October! Be sure to check out the rest of the offseason player trackers in the AHL Pacific Division below.

ADDITIONAL AHL PACIFIC DIVISION OFFSEASON PLAYER TRACKERS

• BAKERSFIELD CONDORS
• COLORADO EAGLES
• HENDERSON SILVER KNIGHTS
• ONTARIO REIGN
• SAN DIEGO GULLS
• SAN JOSE BARRACUDA
• STOCKTON HEAT
• TUCSON ROADRUNNERS

Note: Utica had two NHL affiliations in 2020-21: the original with Vancouver, and an additional with St. Louis. For simplicity’s sake, we will only be including last year’s players under contract with Vancouver or Utica.

(List accurate as of Tuesday, March 1, 2022)

UNDER CONTRACT OR RE-SIGNINGS

Forwards

• Vincent Arseneau – Signed a one-year AHL contract (August 10)
• Justin Bailey – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28)
• Carson Focht – Second-to-last year of entry-level contract
• Jonah Gadjovich – Last year of entry-level contract
• Ethan Keppen – Signed a one-year AHL contract (August 20); played seven games with Utica on ATO in 2020-21
• William Lockwood – Last year of entry-level contract
• John Stevens – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28)

Defensemen

• Guillaume Brisebois – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (August 12); extended qualifying offer (July 26)
• Jack Rathbone – Last year of entry-level contract
• Ashton Sautner – Signed one-year AHL contract (August 13)
• Jett Woo – Second-to-last year of entry-level contract

Goaltenders

• Michael DiPietro – Last year of entry-level contract

NEW ADDITIONS

Forwards

• Phillip Di Giuseppe – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with New York Rangers in 2020-21
• Sheldon Dries – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with NHL & AHL Colorado in 2020-21
• Jarid Lukosevicius – Signed a one-year AHL contract (August 12); played with Grand Rapids in 2020-21
• Tristen Nielsen – Signed a two-year AHL contract (August 13); played with Vancouver of the WHL in 2020-21
• Nic Petan – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with NHL & AHL Toronto in 2020-21
• Karel Plasek – Signed a three-year, entry-level contract (June 1); played in the Czech Republic in 2020-21
• Vasily Podkolzin – Signed a three-year, entry-level contract (May 30); played with SKA St. Petersburg of the KHL in 2020-21
• Sheldon Rempal – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with Carolina and AHL Chicago in 2020-21
• Chase Wouters – Signed a one-year AHL contract (July 22); played with Saskatoon of the WHL in 2020-21

Defensemen

• Madison Bowey – Acquired via trade with NHL Chicago (Jan. 28); played with NHL Chicago and Rockford in 2020-21
• Adam Brubacher – Signed a one-year AHL contract (October 14); played with Manitoba in 2020-21
• Kyle Burroughs – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with NHL & AHL Colorado in 2020-21
• Alex Kannok Leipert – Signed a one-year AHL contract (August 17); played with the Vancouver Giants of the WHL in 2020-21
• Brady Keeper – Signed a two-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with Florida and Syracuse in 2020-21
• Cameron Schilling – Signed a one-year AHL contract (October 14); played with Hershey in 2020-21
• Devante Stephens – Signed a one-year, two-way NHL contract (July 28); played with Syracuse in 2020-21

Goaltenders

• Spencer Martin – Acquired via trade with Tampa Bay (July 31); played with Syracuse in 2020-21
• Arturs Silovs – First year of entry-level contract; played with Manitoba and in Latvia in 2020-21

DEPARTURES

Forwards

• Sven Bärtschi – Signed one-year, two-way NHL contract with Vegas (July 28)
• Shawn Cameron – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Springfield (August 17); played 11 games with Utica in 2020-21
• Tanner Dickinson – Signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the St. Louis Blues (August 31); played three games with Utica on ATO in 2020-21
• Lukas Jasek – Signed a one-year contract with the Pelicans of Liiga (June 12); extended qualifying offer on July 26
• Kole Lind – Taken in Seattle Expansion Draft (July 21); signed one-year, two-way deal with the Kraken (August 6)

Defensemen

• Brogan Rafferty – Signed a one-year, one-way NHL contract with Anaheim (July 28); served on Vancouver’s taxi squad for almost all of 2020-21
• Mitch Eliot – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Rochester (August 18); not extended qualifying offer by Vancouver (July 26)
• Josh Teves – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Rochester (August 6)
• Josh Wesley – Signed a one-year AHL contract with Springfield (August 18)

Goaltenders

• Jake Kielly – Signed a contract with ECHL Kalamazoo on March 1, 2022 (not extended qualifying offer by Vancouver on July 26, 2021)

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(Special thanks to CapFriendly for all the contract terms and definitions for this offseason player tracker!)