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Two Vancouver Canucks rookies making NHL debuts tonight

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Apr 14 2025, 6:58 pm
Two Vancouver Canucks rookies making NHL debuts tonight
Abbotsford Canucks/Facebook

Tom Willander won’t be in the lineup, but the Vancouver Canucks will have two players making NHL debuts tonight.

Both goaltender Nikita Tolopilo and defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev will play in tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks at Rogers Arena.

Tolopilo was called up from Abbotsford this weekend, along with centre Ty Mueller. Mueller played his first NHL game in Saturday’s overtime loss to the Minnesota Wild.

Tolopilo has played more games than any other Abbotsford netminder this season, posting an 18-14-2 record in 34 games with a .901 save percentage. It’s the 6-foot-6 Belarus native’s second season in North America after the Canucks signed him as an undrafted free agented two years ago.

Kudryavtsev has seen his stock rise fast after the Canucks picked him in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft. The 21-year-old Russian was the highest-scoring defenceman on the Soo Greyhounds in each of his past two OHL seasons before making the jump to pro hockey in Abbotsford this season. He has 26 points (5-21-26) in 63 games in the AHL this season.

“It means a lot. It was a quick phone call yesterday,” Kudryavtsev told reporters at Rogers Arena this morning about getting called up. “Really excited. It’s my first game. I know it probably doesn’t really mean a lot in the standings for the NHL team, but it means a lot for me and for Tolo also.”

It’s been a great year for the Abbotsford Canucks in more ways than one. Fresh off a 13-game win streak and a 14-2-1 record since March 1, the Manny Malhotra-coached team could be poised to make some noise in the AHL playoffs.

Vancouver has utilized their AHL affiliate a ton this season, with Abbotsford call-ups like Aatu Räty, Max Sasson, Jonathan Lekkerimäki, Linus Karlsson, and Elias Pettersson all appearing in over 20 NHL games.

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