Five Canucks will head from Vancouver to Abbotsford for AHL playoff run
There is magic happening with the Abbotsford Canucks right now.
Vancouver’s AHL affiliate has won 13 consecutive games and is surging up the standings just before the playoffs. They’ve clinched home-ice advantage for the first round, and more help is on the way.
Aatu Räty, Linus Karlsson, Max Sasson, Victor Mancini, and Jonathan Lekkerimäki will all be eligible for the AHL playoffs but are currently with the big club. Those five impact players will rejoin Abbotsford for their playoff push, making the already strong roster even better.
The Canucks made sure to send Mancini, Lekkerimäki, and Arturs Silovs down to the AHL before the roster deadline, which made those players eligible for the playoffs.
All five of those players have shown some exciting flashes at the NHL level this season, but Räty has been the best lately. The Finnish centre has four goals in his last six NHL games.
Abbotsford also has contributors like Arshdeep Bains, Sammy Blais, Jujhar Khaira, and Danila Klimovich on their roster. All have stepped up with some big performances on the team’s current win streak.
It’s also possible top prospect Tom Willander will join after his college season ends next weekend. It’s ambitious to believe the 20-year-old will star during his first professional games, but he will add depth and gain valuable experience.
Nils Åman and defenceman Elias Pettersson are not eligible for the playoffs. Åman is injured and could miss some time anyway, and the Canucks clearly no longer view Pettersson as a prospect.
The combination of such a strong team and some exciting prospects on the AHL roster means Abbotsford’s playoff run should be tons of fun for Canucks fans. The club is in second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division. They sit three points behind the division-leading Colorado Eagles with the same number of games played. First place in the conference gets a first-round bye and both teams have five games left.
Abbotsford’s final regular season game is on April 20, and the playoffs will start shortly thereafter. They’ll certainly have a ton of fans following along, especially since the Canucks NHL season will almost certainly be done by then.