Vancouver Canucks Recall Victor Mancini, Jonathan Lekkerimaki
The Vancouver Canucks announced today that defenseman Victor Mancini and forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki have been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. In a pair of corresponding moves, the Canucks placed forward Brock Boeser and defenseman Zeev Buium on injured reserve. Both IR placements were made retroactive to Jan. 25.
In the Canucks’ loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Sunday, Boeser took a high hit from Penguins forward Bryan Rust, which appears to have left Boeser with an injury. The NHL Department of Player Safety announced that Rust will have a hearing tomorrow for the hit, while Boeser now figures to miss at least three games. The earliest Boeser can return is for Vancouver’s contest against the Utah Mammoth on Feb. 2. There also appears to be a chance Boeser will not return until after the league’s Olympic break, though a more detailed recovery timeline for the forward was not disclosed by the club.
Buium was struck with a puck to the face early in Vancouver’s contest against the Canucks, and after missing some time in the game, returned wearing a bubble cage for the rest of the contest. A more detailed recovery timeline for Buium was also not made available, but like Boeser, he will miss at least three games due to his injury.
While the Canucks’ season, as far as playoff contention is concerned, is all but over already, the loss of both Buium and Boeser for these few games is nonetheless unfortunate.
Buium was the centerpiece of the Quinn Hughes trade from the Canucks’ perspective, as one of the game’s top blueliner prospects. The 20-year-old former college hockey star has averaged 20:24 time on ice per game as a Canuck and has six points in 20 contests. Boeser, 28, is one of Vancouver’s core players, signed through 2031-32 at a $7.25MM AAV. While his 25 points in 50 games certainly represents a scoring decline compared to prior years, his presence in Vancouver’s forward lineup nonetheless helps give some of the team’s younger, developing players an experienced, accomplished veteran to line up next to. Because of this injury, the Canucks lose that presence for the next few games.
Replacing Boeser in the lineup is Lekkerimaki, who was the 15th overall pick at the 2022 draft and is among the club’s top prospects. The 21-year-old has scored 16 points in 16 AHL games this season, and added two points in his eight games of NHL experience in 2025-26. There’s a chance he could slot directly into Boeser’s vacated spot on the Canucks’ second line, putting him in a trio with Filip Chytil and Drew O’Connor. That would be a significant opportunity for a forward who has thus far averaged 10:53 time on ice per game this season.
Taking Buium’s spot on the Canucks roster is another young player: Mancini. The 23-year-old was acquired from the New York Rangers last season as part of the J.T. Miller trade, and has had an up-and-down stint in the Canucks organization thus far.
He’s excelled at times, both in spurts at the NHL level and more consistently at the AHL level, where he helped Abbotsford win the Calder Cup last spring. So far this season, he’s only skated in nine games at the NHL level, averaging just 13:12 time on ice per game with little usage on special teams.
This recall places Mancini in a position to push young blueliner Tom Willander, who missed Sunday’s game with an illness, for a regular spot on the right side of the Canucks defense. Filip Hronek and Tyler Myers, the two veterans on that side of the blueline, are unlikely to be going anywhere, meaning Willander, the 11th overall pick at the 2023 draft, represents the clearest candidate from whom Mancini might try to win a lineup spot.
While it’s likely Willander has a clear leg up in terms of his chances of dressing in head coach Adam Foote’s nightly lineup, this recall is still a significant opportunity for Mancini as he tries to stake his claim to a spot in the Canucks’ future plans. At this point, Mancini’s place in Vancouver’s long-term strategy is unclear.
Three days ago, The Athletic’s Harman Dayal wrote that “the lack of improvement in his NHL play is becoming a bit concerning,” adding that “the clock is ticking for Mancini to make meaningful strides and prove he’s still an important piece of the organization’s future.” While he might not receive a significant amount of NHL time on this current recall, making the most out of whatever opportunities he receives will be imperative for the pending RFA.
Photos courtesy of Chris Jones-Imagn Images
Canucks Reassign Jonathan Lekkerimaki
The Canucks have returned top forward prospect Jonathan Lekkerimäki to AHL Abbotsford, per a team announcement. They now have an open roster spot, which is expected to go to Nils Höglander as he nears an activation from long-term injured reserve.
Lekkerimäki, 21, had made the team out of camp but was in and out of the lineup to begin the campaign, only skating in four of their first six contests before sustaining an undisclosed injury against the Capitals on Oct. 19. That kept him out of commission until mid-November and, when he was activated from injured reserve, was sent to Abbotsford.
The skilled Swedish sniper had 19 goals in just 36 games for the AHL club last year, and he picked up where he left off with three goals and a pair of assists in five minor-league games. That earned Lekkerimäki a quick recall back to the NHL roster on Nov. 29. He’d suited up in the Canucks’ last four games, notching his first assist of the season on Friday against the Mammoth, but was relegated to fourth-line duties in yesterday’s win over the Wild and skated just 6:35 of ice time. He also only managed one shot on goal during this stint on the roster, coming back on the 29th against the Kings.
With their highest-ceiling offensive prospect not getting much of a leash, there’s little use keeping him in limited NHL minutes when he could be continuing to gain confidence in the minors. His continued improvement there and impressive small-sample production on an Abbotsford team scoring an atrocious 1.96 goals per game this season should have him walking right into an opening-night job and top-nine role next season, if not sooner.
Canucks Recall Jonathan Lekkerimaki, Assign Jiri Patera To AHL
The Canucks have made a pair of roster moves heading into their game tonight against Los Angeles. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki has been recalled from AHL Abbotsford. To make room for him on the roster, goaltender Jiri Patera has been sent down.
Lekkerimaki started the season with Vancouver but suffered an upper-body injury in the fourth game of the season. That landed him on injured reserve for more than three weeks and upon being activated, he was sent to Abbotsford for what felt like a conditioning stint. The 21-year-old played in five games in the AHL and was productive, notching three goals and two assists.
Lekkerimaki has a goal in his four outings at the top level this season in just under 10 minutes a night of playing time. For his career, the 2022 first-round pick has four goals and three assists in 28 NHL outings. It wouldn’t be surprising to see him jump right back into a bottom-six role with Lukas Reichel being a candidate to lose his spot once again.
As for Patera, he was brought up on Tuesday when Kevin Lankinen stepped away from the team for a personal matter. He didn’t see any game action on this recall but did get into one game earlier this month where he allowed seven goals on 40 shots. The 26-year-old has a 3.10 GAA and a .894 SV% in five games with Abbotsford. While not announced by the team, this move suggests that Lankinen is back with the team with he and Nikita Tolopilo comprising the tandem that should dress against the Kings.
Canucks Activate And Assign Jonathan Lekkerimaki To AHL
The Canucks have been injury-riddled this season, to put things lightly, as they’ve had at times more than six players on injured reserve. That number is coming down by one as the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki has been activated. However, instead of returning to Vancouver’s roster right away, he has been sent down to AHL Abbotsford.
The 21-year-old has been limited to just four games due to an upper-body injury sustained more than three weeks ago. He was cleared to practice without contact last week and clearly, he has received the full green light with this assignment.
Lekkerimaki had just one point – a goal – over his first four outings to start the season after putting up three goals and three assists in 24 games with Vancouver in 2024-25 in his first taste of NHL action. He was quite productive in Abbotsford last season, however, notching 19 goals and nine assists in 36 games.
Considering the extent of Vancouver’s injuries up front (Teddy Blueger, Filip Chytil, and Nils Hoglander), it seems unlikely that Lekkerimaki’s stint in the minors will be a long one but rather more of a short-term conditioning stint. He only needs to play once before being eligible to be recalled and with Abbotsford in action later tonight, it’s plausible that Lekkerimaki is brought back up in time for Vancouver’s next game on Friday against Carolina.
At the moment, the Canucks still have a full 23-player roster so whenever they do decide to bring Lekkerimaki up, they will need to make a corresponding roster move to open up a spot first. At first glance, moving goalie Thatcher Demko to injured reserve would be the easiest approach after it was revealed today that he’ll miss two to three weeks with a suspected groin injury.
Pacific Injury Updates: Ducks, Flames, Oilers, Canucks
The early-season brilliance of the Anaheim Ducks has been one of the defining storylines of this young 2025-26 season so far, and it appears today that they will soon get some reinforcements in the form of veterans returning from injury. Per The Hockey News’ Derek Lee, Ducks head coach Joel Quenneville said today that veterans Ryan Strome, Mikael Granlund, and Radko Gudas are each getting very close to returning to the ice from their respective injuries.
Gudas hasn’t played since Oct. 23 due to a lower-body injury, while Granlund has been out since Oct. 25 with his own lower-body injury. Strome hasn’t played yet this season due to an upper-body injury, but Quenneville said he’s “very close to consideration” to play in tomorrow’s game against the Winnipeg Jets. All the Ducks have done despite the absence of those key veterans is win. Powered by a young core including breakout sensation Leo Carlsson, the Ducks have put together a five-game winning streak. Getting back Strome, who scored 41 points last season, alongside Granlund, who has eight points in eight games, should only further bolster what has been the league’s most lethal attack in 2025-26. The return of Gudas is unlikely to help in terms of scoring, but will provide the team with even more physicality on defense as well as useful veteran insulation for the club’s stable of still-developing young blueliners.
Other injury updates from the Pacific Division:
- Flames Nation’s Ryan Pike relayed two injury updates from Calgary Flames head coach Ryan Huska today: defenseman Kevin Bahl, who is dealing with an undisclosed injury, may return against the Minnesota Wild tomorrow, while forward Martin Pospisil‘s absence due to an upper-body injury is “still going to be a while.” Bahl, who this season signed a $5.5MM AAV extension to remain in Calgary, missed the team’s game Friday against the Chicago Blackhawks. Pospisil has been out for far longer; he has yet to make his season debut in 2025-26.
- The Edmonton Oilers have a few injury updates of their own, courtesy of Oilers TV host Tony Brar. Mattias Janmark is reportedly “very close” to returning from his injury, one that has kept him from making his season debut in 2025-26. In addition, Zach Hyman is nearing a return to the ice, it’s likely to be within the next week and could come as early as Monday. Like Janmark, Hyman also has not yet played in the 2025-26 season. Both players play regular roles in Edmonton. Hyman is a key goal scorer and offensive contributor (he scored 54 goals in 2023-24 and had 27 last season) while Janmark is a steady, reliable bottom-six winger who plays a regular role on the team’s penalty kill. The Oilers’ penalty kill currently ranks No. 15 in the NHL, so the return of Janmark could help the unit achieve a notable boost in efficiency.
- The Vancouver Canucks are likely to benefit from the return from injury of two forwards, Jonathan Lekkerimaki and Teddy Blueger, Patrick Johnston of The Province reported today. Lekkerimaki, 21, hasn’t played since Oct. 19, and has one goal in four games this season. Blueger has also not played since Oct. 19, and also has one goal to his name. The return of Blueger in particular should help the Canucks. The 31-year-old veteran center ranked second among forwards on the team in short-handed ice time per game last season, and the forward who ranked No. 1, Pius Suter, now plays for the St. Louis Blues. Seeing as the Canucks penalty kill currently ranks second to last in the NHL, getting a key contributor back from injury is surely a positive development for their hopes of improving in that area.
Canucks Issue Several Injury Updates
Following his acquisition of Lukas Reichel from Chicago on Friday, Canucks GM Patrik Allvin met with the media (video link). While the trade itself was the focus of the scrum, Allvin also provided several updates on the status of some of their injured players.
Center Filip Chytil has been making progress as he works through his upper-body injury. While the team won’t confirm it, Patrick Johnston of the Vancouver Province relays that the belief is that the 26-year-old has indeed suffered another concussion which is believed to be his sixth. Allvin noted that Chytil still has to go through protocol and hasn’t been cleared yet. That said, the fact they’re not talking about a possible extended absence – something he has endured multiple times – has to be considered a promising sign.
Meanwhile, winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki is expected to miss another two to three weeks with what is believed to be a shoulder injury. The 21-year-old made the team out of training camp after spending most of last season in the minors and had a goal in his first four games after putting up six points in his rookie year in 24 games.
Center Teddy Blueger was placed on injured reserve retroactive to Sunday to open up a roster spot for Reichel, who they hope to have available tonight against Montreal. However, while he’s eligible to return to the lineup as soon as Monday, Allvin relayed that the veteran is going to miss at least a couple of weeks with his undisclosed injury.
Meanwhile, there is also some bad news on the back end. Allvin indicated that defenseman Derek Forbort suffered a setback in his recovery from his undisclosed injury sustained in the second game of the season. Now, he’s listed as out week-to-week.
At the moment, Vancouver has a little over $1MM left in their LTIR pool, per PuckPedia. That doesn’t leave them much flexibility should they have anyone else get injured over the next couple of weeks before some of their injured players start to return to the lineup. Teams can rarely afford injuries but in the case of the Canucks, it’s especially true with no immediate help on the horizon.
Canucks Announce Multiple Roster Moves
4:15 p.m.: The Canucks have announced additional roster moves, reassigning Schuldt to Abbotsford and recalling defenseman Tom Willander and forward Nils Aman. The move adds an experienced center to the Canucks’ roster to help fill in for the loss of Chytil. Aman isn’t the caliber of player Chytil is, and won’t be able to bring the same level of offense, but he nonetheless has 130 games of NHL experience and offers some size and defensive reliability to head coach Adam Foote.
Willander, 20, appears to be a replacement for Mancini, as he is also a young right-shot blueliner. Willander was the 11th overall pick at the 2023 NHL draft and made his pro debut earlier this month with Abbotsford. He has spent the last two seasons playing college hockey at Boston University (scoring 49 points across 77 games) and with this recall is now eliigible to be dressed for an NHL game and has a chance to make his NHL debut.
11:11 a.m.: The Vancouver Canucks announced multiple roster moves, largely to maximize their LTIR capture. This morning, the Canucks shared that they’ve placed forwards Filip Chytil and Jonathan Lekkerimaki on the injured reserve (retroactive to October 19th), and have moved Nils Höglander to the LTIR (retroactive to October 7th).
Additionally, Vancouver has reassigned defenseman Victor Mancini to the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks, while recalling Joseph LaBate and Jimmy Schuldt in a corresponding roster move.
Unfortunately, the injury designation for Chytil was expected. The Canucks second-line center was on the receiving end of a massive hit from Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson during yesterday’s contest, causing Chytil to leave the game prematurely. Although a major penalty was initally assessed, it was rescinded upon review, and no supplemental discipline is expected from the league’s Department of Player Safety.
Outside of losing a top-six center, there’s larger cause for concern with Chytil specifically. Throughout his time with the New York Rangers, Chytil suffered multiple concussions, limiting him to only 66 games from 2023 to 2025. Already dealing with a thin pool down the middle, Vancouver would struggle to put together a serviceable defensive core if Chytil is out long-term.
Meanwhile, Lekkerimaki also left last night’s game prematurely. Unlike Chytil, it was not as apparent what caused Lekkerimaki’s injury. Still, he was filling in for Brock Boeser, who missed the game for personal matters.
Lastly, Höglander’s move to the LTIR, as well as the roster moves, were purely based on financial reasons. The Canucks are already operating close to the upper limit of the salary cap, and they’ll maximize their LTIR capture via the move.
Hoglander is eligible to return after Vancouver’s October 26th matchup against the Edmonton Oilers, though it’s not apparent he’ll be ready to return at that point. Additionally, although he should be expected back on the roster relatively soon, Mancini must play in at least one AHL game before being eligible for recall, per the league’s new rules regarding paper transactions.
Pacific Notes: Chytil, Boeser, Stone, Kapanen
While it was a good day for the Canucks on the scoreboard, it was a tough one on the injury front. Ben Kuzma of the Vancouver Province relays that center Filip Chytil exited today’s game on a hit from Washington’s Tom Wilson and had to be helped off the ice. A major penalty was initially assessed on the play but was rescinded after review. The 26-year-old has a long documented history of concussion troubles with five already and while it’s unclear at this point if that’s something he may have or not, it’s something that will ensure the team errs on the side of caution. Chytil had three goals in his first five games to tie him for the team lead heading into today’s action. Meanwhile, Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK and The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Department of Player Safety will review the hit but no supplemental discipline is expected.
More from the Pacific:
- Still with the Canucks, the team announced (Twitter link) that winger Brock Boeser missed today’s game for personal reasons; no further details were provided by the club. The 28-year-old had gotten off to a decent start to the season with three goals in five games while also seeing some playing time on the penalty kill, a role he hasn’t filled in a while. Jonathan Lekkerimaki took his place in the lineup but he, too, left today’s game early with an undisclosed injury.
- Golden Knights winger Mark Stone left last night’s game with what looked to be a wrist injury. Head coach Bruce Cassidy told reporters postgame including Danny Webster of the Las Vegas Review-Journal that there was no immediate update and that they were hoping to know more information about the injury by Monday. The captain has had a great start to the season, leading the league in assists with 11 through his first six games.
- Oilers winger Kasperi Kapanen left today’s game against Detroit in the second period with an undisclosed injury, the team announced. The veteran has been a regular in Edmonton’s bottom six through the first six games of the season where he has two assists. Notably, the team does not have enough accrued cap space to recall anyone from AHL Bakersfield (even with LTIR) as things stand which could be something to keep an eye on if he’s set to miss any more time.
Pacific Notes: Willander, Raty, Lekkerimaki, Eichel, Uljanskis, Thornton
After the Canucks made another piece of offseason business in trading goaltender Arturs Silovs to the Penguins over the weekend, The Athletic’s Thomas Drance took a deep dive into the roster math that lies ahead and what other moves could be coming.
Among those could be something of a crunch on defense. After signing 2023 first-rounder Tom Willander to his entry-level contract in May, Drance reports the club has him penciled in on Vancouver’s opening night roster, not on assignment to AHL Abbotsford to begin his professional career. He expects that the defenseman named Elias Pettersson, not their highest-paid forward of the same name, has received a similar designation.
As such, Drance relays to expect Vancouver to carry 13 forwards and eight defensemen out of the gate instead of the slightly more commonplace 14/7 breakdown, with prospect Victor Mancini and recent depth signing Pierre-Olivier Joseph likely the only legitimate candidates for the eighth spot. Mancini is still waiver-exempt, so that could work in Joseph’s favor.
For the forwards, Aatu Raty has the best candidacy for a job out of all their young fringe NHLers coming off a Calder Cup championship with AHL Abbotsford because of “the club’s needs down the middle,” Drance writes. One name that likely won’t be in contention for a depth job is top wing prospect Jonathan Lekkerimaki.
“It sounds like the club is open to slow-cooking Lekkerimäki in the AHL to begin next season,” Drance said. “The gifted scoring winger is waiver exempt, and the club wants to be cautious about managing his development and not rushing him.” Older but lower-ceiling names like Arshdeep Bains and Linus Karlsson will be in contention for open fourth-line/press box slots instead.
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- There isn’t anything new to report on extension talks between the Golden Knights and star center Jack Eichel, writes David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period. An “open line of communication” remains after negotiations reportedly began over the past few months, but the needle hasn’t moved much since.
- Ducks defense prospect Darels Uljanskis is making the jump from Europe to North America to finish out his junior career, via Derek Lee of The Hockey News. Anaheim selected the left-shot Latvian in the seventh round last year. He’ll play out 2025-26 for the OHL’s Flint Firebirds after recording 39 points and a +12 rating in 44 games for AIK’s under-20 squad in Sweden last season.
- The Sharks announced on Tuesday that they’ve formalized a front-office title for Hall-of-Famer Joe Thornton, naming him as a player development coach and hockey operations advisor amid a slew of other minor staff changes. Thornton had remained in the San Jose area and worked frequently with the club in an unofficial capacity since retiring in 2022, but the franchise icon will now be firmly embedded in the process of building the team’s next window of championship contention.
Vancouver Canucks Reassign Jonathan Lekkerimaki
Earlier today, the Vancouver Canucks announced they’ve reassigned forward Jonathan Lekkerimaki to their AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. Now that the Calder Cup playoffs are around the corner, Lekkerimaki may finish the year with Abbotsford.
Lekkerimaki has been rostered with the Canucks since the trade deadline. Before then, he had been a frequent call-up in November and January, scoring two goals and one assist in his first 11 contests. Unfortunately, he hasn’t broken out in any meaningful way with more consistency in the NHL, scoring one goal and two assists in 13 games between March 5th and April 5th.
To say the least, it’s been a difficult transition for a prospect Vancouver was understandably high on entering the 2024-25 campaign. The Canucks drafted Lekkerimaki with the 15th overall selection of the 2022 NHL Draft, and brought him to North America toward the end of last season.
Still, he’s performed up to par at the AHL level. Throughout the year, Lekkerimaki has scored 19 goals and 28 points in 32 games for AHL Abbotsford, which is good for 16th in points-per-game average among AHL rookies.
The transition to the NHL can be intimidating, and it’s clearly impacted Lekkerimaki’s performance this year. Hopefully, for Vancouver’s sake, Lekkerimaki will feel comfortable down the stretch with AHL Abbotsford and regain the confidence he’ll need to succeed at the NHL level.