Kirill Kudryavtsev’s 2025-26 season ended up looking like a solid step forward, even if injuries put a hard stop on part of his progress.
The Vancouver Canucks defenceman came into the year with a little NHL mileage already on his résumé after appearing in the final two games of the 2024-25 season. He made his NHL debut on April 14 against the San Jose Sharks, and he had already shown enough in his first AHL campaign to handle tougher minutes despite the thin experience.
That reputation mattered once the season got rolling in Abbotsford. Vancouver’s shifting lineup picture early on, along with several departures from the Abbotsford blue line, pushed Kudryavtsev into a heavier role.
In October, injuries on the Canucks’ back end led to call-ups for Tom Willander, Jimmy Schuldt, Victor Mancini and even Kudryavtsev himself. Before the injury bug hit him, Kudryavtsev was producing well, posting five points in five AHL games during the opening month.
Then came the setback. A lower-body injury knocked him out for two months and wiped out a stretch that would have included his first AHL All-Star Challenge, after he had already been named Abbotsford’s representative. He still finished the AHL season with two goals and 18 assists in 44 games, and four of those outings were multi-point efforts, including Abbotsford’s final game of the season.
His usage also shifted as the year went on. Kudryavtsev started on Abbotsford’s second pairing with Nikolai Knyzhov, then moved to the third pair alongside Joe Arntsen. By season’s end, he was back on the second unit with Jimmy Schuldt.
He also got another late-season look in Vancouver. Kudryavtsev made his season debut for the Canucks on April 12 against the Anaheim Ducks and picked up his first NHL point by assisting on former Canucks forward Curtis Douglas’ first NHL goal.
He added another assist the next game, on April 14 against the Los Angeles Kings. Across three NHL games this season, he averaged 15:38 of ice time.
All told, it was a fair year of development for Kudryavtsev, even with the injury interruption. He handled a bigger workload than he did the season before, helped by the free-agency exits of Christian Wolanin, Cole McWard and Akito Hirose, plus injuries to Guillaume Brisebois and Jett Woo. For that body of work, he earned a B-.
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