The Canucks made a pair of roster moves this week that send one player deeper into the pro pipeline and another back to junior hockey.
Vancouver assigned defenceman Victor Mancini to AHL Abbotsford on Tuesday, while Abbotsford announced Monday that forward Gabriel Chiarot has been reassigned to his Ontario Hockey League club, the Kitchener Rangers.
Mancini is headed to the AHL after skating in eight of Vancouver’s 20 games this season. He spent most of last year with Abbotsford, and this move should give him a bigger role with the farm team instead of bouncing between the press box and the Canucks’ third defence pairing.
The 24-year-old was acquired from the New York Rangers in the JT Miller trade, but he has had a tough time settling in at the NHL level. Vancouver also claimed defenceman Cameron Crotty off waivers on Tuesday, and he is expected to step into Mancini’s place as the Canucks’ 6th/7th defenceman. In a separate move, the Canucks placed forward Akil Thomas on waivers for the purpose of reassignment to Abbotsford.
Chiarot’s path took a different turn. The Canucks’ sixth-round pick in 2025 attended training camp and was expected to make the jump to pro hockey this season, but he had trouble breaking into Abbotsford’s lineup early on. He finally made his AHL debut during the club’s California road trip at the end of October, then appeared in just two of Abbotsford’s 12 games while recording one assist.
His return to Kitchener comes two days after Brandon Buhr, who was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs along with Jacob Quillan in the Aatu Räty trade, was called up from the Canucks’ ECHL affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings, to Abbotsford.
Chiarot’s last OHL season was a productive one. After being traded to the Rangers from the Brampton Steelheads, he helped Kitchener win the 2026 Memorial Cup.
He finished with 11 points in 31 regular-season games and added 11 more in 18 playoff games. During the Memorial Cup run, he skated on the Rangers’ top line with Dylan Edwards and Sam O’Reilly, scoring once and adding an assist in the tournament.
Kitchener enters Chiarot’s return with a 10-6-3 record, sitting third in the Midwest Division and sixth in the OHL’s Western Conference. His reassignment also means the OHL now has five Canucks prospects: Chiarot, Adam Novotný, Aleksei Medvedev, Brooks Rogowski, and Lucian Bernat.
This is the final CHL season of eligibility for the 20-year-olds before they have to move back up to professional hockey next season. Chiarot signed an entry-level contract with Vancouver in September 2025, with a $950,000 NHL salary. Because he is under an NHL contract, he cannot play NCAA hockey next season if he does not make the AHL next season.
The Rangers’ next game is Thursday, November 12th, against the Erie Otters, and that will likely be Chiarot’s OHL season debut.
In Other News...
Brian Burkes Hall Of Fame Moment Hit Home For Canucks Fans
Brian Burkes induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2024 brought a familiar name back into focus for Canucks fans, and for good reason. His time in Vancouver remains one of the defining chapters of his long NHL career, thanks in large part to the moves that helped set up the franchises most important era. Burke also built a reputation across the league in stops with several teams, later winning a Stanley Cup with Anaheim in 2007, but in Vancouver his legacy is still tied closely to the draft-day decisions that changed the organizations direction.
For Canucks supporters, the Hall call was a reminder of how much Burkes work still resonates years later. The Sedin twins became the face of the franchise, and Burkes role in getting that process started has never really faded from the conversation around his career. His Hall of Fame moment only sharpened that connection, especially for a fan base that still measures so much of its modern history against the foundation laid in the late 1990s. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Lose A Recent Addition Before He Ever Reached Vancouver
A recent depth addition to the Canucks organization is already on the move, with Russian forward Ilya Safonov leaving Abbotsford and heading back to the KHL before ever getting a chance to reach Vancouver. Safonov was acquired by the Canucks in 2025 and spent time with the Abbotsford Canucks in the AHL after being assigned there in 2026, giving the organization a look at a player they hoped could eventually push for NHL ice.
Safonovs agent confirmed the departure and said the forward valued his time with the Canucks organization, even if he did not reach his goal of playing in the NHL. He recorded four assists in 12 games with Abbotsford before exercising his opt-out clause, leaving Vancouver to again search for ways to add organizational depth up front. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks Make Another Defensive Bet During A Brutal Skid
With the Canucks searching for any kind of defensive lift during a rough stretch, the club turned to the waiver wire again and claimed Cameron Crotty from the Minnesota Wild. Crotty had already been through Ottawa earlier this season, appearing in three games for the Senators before landing with Minnesota, and Vancouver is hoping the move gives a thin blue line a little more stability.
The timing says plenty about where the Canucks are right now: a team in need of cleaner play and fewer breakdowns is taking another low-risk swing on a defenseman with NHL experience and some recent organizational churn behind him. Crotty is expected to join the lineup, giving Vancouver another body to sort into the mix as it tries to stop the skid from dragging on. [Read more 🡒]