Welcome back to Blackfish: our weekly Vancouver Canucks prospect report.
The prospect pipeline is about to get a little more fun to watch. Blackfish: The Prospect Show is going live, with Tyson Cole, Dave Hall and producer Jacob Fraser set to be on every Monday at 11 a.m. to break down everything going on in the Canucks’ prospect system.
And while the big-league action is still a week away, there was still enough happening around the organization’s young players to fill out another update.
Brooks Rogowski has kept rolling in preseason with the Oshawa Generals. In four games, he has five points - three goals and two assists - and he’s been just as effective at the dot, winning 59.4 percent of his 69 faceoffs.
On the goaltending side, B.C. fans got a chance to see Aleksei Medvedev when the London Knights came to Victoria for the first annual “Clash of the Kingdoms.” The first night was a rough one for the Canucks prospect.
Medvedev made some stops, but he allowed four goals on 16 shots over 22 minutes in the opener. His team didn’t do him many favors defensively, but it still wasn’t the kind of start he wanted after a disappointing draft-plus-one season.
He bounced back the next night. In a split-goaltending setup for Game 2, Medvedev turned aside 12 of 13 shots and finished the weekend with a much steadier outing on Vancouver Island.
That closes the book for now on the CHL group, with attention shifting to Vancouver’s Prospect Showcase against Seattle’s prospects. The Canucks have not announced the roster yet, but the expectation is that all four of the club’s CHL players - Rogowski, Medvedev, Adam Novotný and Lucian Bernat - will be there.
Over in Russia, Dmitri Ivchenko got his first regular-season start after a huge preseason. It didn’t end in a win, as he took a 3-2 overtime loss while stopping 18 shots.
The bigger picture with Ivchenko is still about workload. He’s expected to get most of the starts in the MHL this season, and that should give Vancouver a much clearer read on where he stands. He put up strong numbers in a limited role last year, and this season will tell the organization a lot more about whether he can keep climbing - maybe even toward some KHL time down the line.
As for the Prospect Showcase, the roster likely won’t be loaded with the organization’s biggest names, since many of the top prospects are NCAA players still waiting for their seasons to begin.
Still, there should be some interesting names in the mix beyond the CHL group. Riley Patterson, Gabriel Chiarot and Vilmer Alriksson are all expected to be involved. Tom Willander could also show up, much like Elias Pettersson did at last year’s event despite already having NHL games on his résumé.
And maybe, just maybe, there’s another chance to see a healthy Jonathan Lekkerimäki.
Even that would be enough to make next week worth watching - and talking about - on the live show Monday at 11:00 a.m.
In Other News...
Jake DeBrusk Just Addressed The Canucks Rumors Head On
Jake DeBrusk is trying to put a clean line through the latest round of speculation, saying he has not asked the Canucks for a trade and remains committed to helping Vancouver move forward. The winger, who joined the club as a free agent after its 2024 playoff run, addressed the rumors directly while also acknowledging how difficult last season was for the group.
DeBrusks message was as much about perspective as it was about denial. He said he still sees a place for himself in the teams rebuild and pointed to the support from Vancouver fans as a reason to keep pushing, even as his name has circulated in trade talk. For a club looking to steady itself after a turbulent year, having one of its forwards publicly lean into the project matters, even if the market chatter around him has not gone away. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Tradition Returns With A Bigger Meaning This Year
The Canucks are bringing back one of their longest-running offseason traditions next month, with the 42nd annual Jake Milford Canucks Charity Invitational set for Sept. 14 at Northview Golf and Country Club in Surrey. The event, hosted by the team and the Canucks For Kids Fund, is a familiar fixture on the calendar, but this year it carries a little extra weight as the charity arm marks its 40th anniversary.
Along with the golf, the day will feature raffles, an online auction and a 50/50 draw, with proceeds going to the Canucks For Kids Fund and the Vancouver Canucks Alumni Foundation. Over the past four decades, the fund has granted more than $115 million to charities across British Columbia, a reminder that for this organization, the annual tournament is about more than just keeping a tradition alive. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Fans Now Face Another Costly Hurdle Just To Watch
Watching the Canucks just got more expensive again, with Rogers raising the price of its Sportsnet+ packages ahead of the 2026-27 NHL season. Both the Standard and Premium plans are going up by $20 per year starting in September, adding another layer of cost for fans who have already had to navigate the leagues shifting broadcast landscape.
The bigger issue for Vancouver followers is what comes with that price change. Sportsnet says Monday Night Hockey will be exclusive to Sportsnet+, which means cable TV subscribers will need to tack on an extra $12.99 per month to get those games, and nine Canucks matchups will sit behind that paywall. A handful of Wednesday games will also be on Prime Video, leaving fans to sort through yet another subscription just to keep up with the team. [Read more 🡒]