The Canucks have plenty of young defensemen pushing for full-time NHL roles.
However, Kirill Kudryavtsev may have just given himself one of the most interesting opportunities.
The 22-year-old defenseman is coming off a difficult two-month injury absence, but he has returned to the ice with something considerably more important than simply getting healthy.
He wants an NHL job. And this time, he may actually be ready to take over one.
Vancouver took Kudryavtsev 208th overall in 2022, making his rise one of the more impressive development stories in the organization. Four years later, he has already won a Calder Cup, established himself as one of Abbotsford’s most trusted defensemen and appeared in five NHL games.
Now, he is trying to take that all-important next step.
Kudryavtsev has made no secret of his plans. He told The Hockey News that becoming a full-time NHL player has been his goal for the past two years, and he does not particularly care when that opportunity arrives.
“The main goal is just to make the team. It doesn’t matter what time. It can be the opening night, or it can be February. Honestly, if I just get myself a spot on the team, that’s the ultimate goal that I’m trying to achieve there.”
He simply wants to establish himself on Vancouver’s roster. That situation makes this training camp unique in a way.
The Canucks are no longer just wondering what Kudryavtsev might become. They are finding out whether he is already there.
Canucks Could Have a Difficult Decision on Their Hands
The most interesting part of Kudryavtsev’s situation is that Vancouver does not necessarily need to rush him.
That situation might actually make his challenge harder.
The Canucks have several defensemen ahead of him on the depth chart, including Filip Hronek, Tom Willander, Zeev Buium, Elias Pettersson, Jamie Oleksiak and Luke Schenn. Kudryavtsev is competing primarily for a depth role, and his waiver exemption gives Vancouver the option of sending him back to Abbotsford without losing him.
That is the easy decision, of course.
Nevertheless, the difficult one comes if Kudryavtsev plays well enough to make it impossible.
He has already shown that he can handle significant responsibility at the AHL level. Last season, he played 44 games for Abbotsford and recorded 20 points while seeing time on the power play and penalty kill. The previous season, he was part of the team’s Calder Cup championship.
He also showed something during his brief NHL opportunity last season.
Kudryavtsev recorded an assist in each of his first two NHL games and finished the season with three appearances for Vancouver. More importantly, his coaches trusted him with meaningful minutes. He was described as smart, coachable and capable of quickly absorbing information.
Those are exactly the traits that could help him win a job.
Plus, Vancouver’s new coach already knows him.
Manny Malhotra spent considerable time coaching Kudryavtsev in Abbotsford before taking over behind the Canucks’ bench. Kudryavtsev has described Malhotra as someone who helped him develop both his defensive and offensive game.
That familiarity could put him over the top. Malhotra already knows what Kudryavtsev can do. Now, he gets to decide whether he can do it against NHL players every night.
Kudryavtsev Has Already Survived the Hardest Part
There is one other reason this opportunity has a different feel to it.
Kudryavtsev already knows what it is like to lose his footing.
His injury came at precisely the wrong time last season. He missed roughly two months, including 17 games at one point, after suffering an ankle injury. He later described the experience as extremely difficult, particularly because he had to watch his teammates compete while he remained behind to rehabilitate.
But the injury may ultimately have given him something valuable: Perspective.
When he returned, he did not simply try to get back to where he was. He identified areas of his game that needed improvement, including his shot and overall conditioning.
That point is pivotal, as Kudryavtsev already possesses the tools to make an NHL roster.
He is a strong skater. He moves the puck well. His active stick allows him to disrupt plays despite being only 5-foot-11, and his ability to play in different situations has made him one of the more trusted young defensemen in the Canucks system.
He has reportedly come into camp in strong form this time around.
He even led Vancouver in ice time during its first preseason game, another indication that the organization wants to see what he can do with an opportunity.
That is where this gets interesting for the Canucks. They can always send him back to Abbotsford. But what if they don’t want to?
Kudryavtsev does not need to walk into camp and suddenly become a top-four defenseman. He just needs to make Vancouver believe that keeping him around is more valuable than sending him back for another season of AHL development.
After everything he has already overcome, that might be the most important opportunity of his young career.
And the Canucks could soon have a very good problem on their hands: a seventh-round pick who refuses to be treated like one.
Canucks Prospect Returns From Injury With NHL Job in His Sights