Canucks land college free agent prospect Max Sasson

The Vancouver Canucks have landed another NCAA prospect.

After re-signing their own draft pick Aidan McDonough, before he hit free agency, today the Canucks have convinced a brand new prospect to the organization.

Western Michigan University free agent centre Max Sasson has signed a two-year, entry-level contract with the Canucks. Sasson, 22, is coming off a season that saw him score 42 points (15-27-42) in 38 NCAA games.

“Dream come true today signing my first NHL contract with the [Canucks]. Can’t wait to get started!” Sasson said on Twitter following the announcement.

The 6-foot-1, 185-pound forward will report to the Abbotsford Canucks on an amateur tryout agreement, before his contract kicks in next season.

“We are very pleased to have agreed to terms with Max today and we are excited to have him join Abbotsford in time for their playoff push,” said Canucks GM Patrik Allvin. “He is coming off a very strong year with Western Michigan and has shown continual improvement in his game each of the last few seasons. We look forward to watching him develop at the professional level with our staff in Vancouver and Abbotsford.”

Sasson is just the latest client of agent Dan Milstein to join the Canucks organization in the last nine months, joining Ilya Mikheyev, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Vitali Kravtsov. Prospects Danila Klimovich and Kirill Kudryavtsev are also Milstein clients.

Adding European and college free agents to help restock a bare prospect cupboard was a stated goal of Allvin after he took the GM job in Vancouver 14 months ago.

“You’ve got to be open-minded and you’ve got to look for talent,” Allvin said in January 2022. “You’ve got to trust your scouting staff, the people that work for you. We want to play a fast, skilled game. In order to be successful, you’ve got to be able to find players outside the first round in the NHL Entry Draft. You need to compliment the organization with college and European free agents.”

Sasson scored 22 points (9-13-22) in 37 NCAA games in 2021-22, after graduating from the USHL, where he scored 49 points (20-29-49) in 48 games as a 20-year-old in 2020-21.

It remains to be seen if Sasson, who was never drafted, will become an NHL contributor. The Birmingham, Michigan native is a strong skater and centred his team’s top line last season, according to The Athletic’s prospect expert Corey Pronman. Pronman said question mark for Sasson is if he’ll be able to produce enough offence at the NHL level, saying “Sasson can make plays but he’s not a natural scorer with a ton of skill.”

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