Vancouver Canucks promote young defenceman for late-season audition
Time is ticking for the Vancouver Canucks to give some of the AHL prospects an NHL opportunity.
They recently rewarded centre Ty Mueller with a recall to the big club, and now they’ve just brought up one of his teammates.
On Saturday, the Canucks announced that Kirill Kudryavtsev has been recalled. Expect to see him get a shot in the lineup with five games remaining in the season.
The 22-year-old defenceman got a similar late-season audition last year, suiting up for the Canucks’ final two games.
After that, he was a lynchpin on defence for the Abbotsford Canucks in the playoffs, acting as a top-four anchor in their defence as they went on to win the Calder Cup.
The 2025-26 season has been a rougher ride for Kudryavtsev and the entire Abbotsford squad, the young defenceman has remained a steady presence on the blueline.
Kirill Kudryavtsev provides the heads up pinch, poking the puck down to Chase Stillman. He finds Ben Berard in the high slot to double Abbotsford’s lead. #Canucks pic.twitter.com/7cmIn9H8Em
— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) March 29, 2026
He’s been tasked with more responsibility thanks to Abbotsford’s dwindling depth, and Kudryavtsev has maintained a similar points-per-game average even with the team’s offence cratering.
The Yaroslavl, Russia native has registered 0.42 points-per-game this season, up slightly from 2024-25 when he posted 0.4 points-per-game. When you consider that Abbotsford went from being the fourth-highest scoring team in 2024-25 to dead last this season, that’s an applaudable feat.
Kirill Kudryavtsev grabs his second of the season from the point.
Arshdeep Bains picks up the primary, while Bennett Schimek picks up the secondary assist for his third AHL point. pic.twitter.com/fMCF6U7Dr1
— Dave Hall (@davehall1289) March 22, 2026
Kudryavtsev has also battled through injury this season, missing 27 of Abbotsford’s 68 games this far.
After being a seventh-round pick in 2022, Kudryavtsev has enjoyed an impressive rise up through the Canucks organization. Even in last year’s playoffs, the young defenceman was a healthy scratch during their first-round series before cementing himself as a mainstay in the lineup. Kudryavtsev finished the playoffs with a +18 rating, which was the highest total among all AHLers.
The Canucks have been regularly using defenceman Pierre-Olivier Joseph on the left side of the blueline of late. There’s definitely logic in sitting him for a couple of games to see what Kudryavtsev can provide.
Vancouver has four games remaining in their nightmarish season.