Building Blue: Kirill Kudryavtsev Craves Competition and has Found it with Abbotsford Canucks

Every year, summer ends and the leaves fall.

When that happens, two things are guaranteed in Vancouver; murky days with scattered showers and a new hockey season.

During every turn of the hockey calendar, there’s a new crop of young players who are trying to make the jump from junior hockey to the professional ranks.

You will see freshly drafted Swedes look to go from the J20 Nationell league to the SHL, Finns will graduate from U20 SM to Liiga, and in North America, there is an influx of talent to the AHL from the NCAA, OHL, QMJHL, and WHL.

This season, Canucks’ left-shot defence prospect, Kirill Kudryavtsev is one of those young players who has made the jump to the AHL and is finding his game growing faster than ever now that he is a pro in North America.

Jumping into the AHL is not the biggest change that Kudryavtsev has gone through in his young hockey career but it’s certainly the most challenging on the ice. The 20-year-old Kudryavtsev left Russia at 17 to pursue his dream to play professional hockey in North America.

Kudryavtsev played three seasons in the OHL with the Soo Greyhounds and was selected by the Canucks in the seventh round of the 2022 draft. After a couple of development camps and a pair of Young Stars tournaments, this fall felt different for Kudryavtsev.

He spent the summer in Vancouver, working with local pros, walking the seawall, and enjoying a sunset or twenty at Kitsilano Beach. The young man felt comfortable in the city, and it helped that he was able to do what he loves best on a daily basis – be at the rink.

Whether you talk to teammates, coaches, General Manager Patrik Allvin or Mikael Samuelsson and Mike Komisarek from the development staff; they will all tell you that this youngster is a rink rat. Kudryavtsev loves to work and is a very driven 20-year-old who believes that the NHL can be in his future one day if he continues progressing his game.

Yes, the summer was different for Kudryavtsev, but the fall was unlike any other as well. He was confident going into Canucks’ training camp and he was gifted some of that confidence when he found out he was skating on a pairing with veteran NHL defenceman Tyler Myers.

Kudryavtsev and Myers skated together as a defence pairing on day three of training camp and at the preseason game in Seattle against the Kraken.

Kudryavtsev called his experience alongside Myers, “the big difference from last year’s camp,” and it helped give him confidence heading into joining the AHL club.

Now, Kudryavtsev is comfortable in his role with the Abbotsford Canucks and is playing AHL games as a 20-year-old.

“I'm very happy with getting my chance at the AHL level and am very excited to show that I'm capable of playing in the AHL,” said Kudryavtsev. “It's a really good experience for us 20-year-olds like me, Petey [Elias Pettersson] and Lekki [Jonathan Lekkerimäki].”

Pettersson and Kudryavtsev, the two 20-year-old defencemen have played in all four games for Abbotsford and though they are young, there’s a lot of confidence from the two left-shot defencemen.

“The other teams are saying, ‘Look at this young defence corps.’ They think they are going to run us, but we have a strong defence corps. We are young guys, yes, but look at me and Petey, we are both over 200 pounds. We are young but everybody is so skilled – every d-man on our team. Everybody can skate and everybody can think. It’s just a pleasure to compete with these people every day and try to get better,” said Kudryavtsev.

In Abbotsford, there is a heavy focus on developing skills and playing to a system. Something that Kudryavtsev has enjoyed about AHL head coach Manny Malhotra has been the energy that the coach brings to every interaction. That inspiring energy from the coach is there no matter if it is a game, practice, workout, or just a chat.

What has Kudryavtsev the most excited about his head coach is Malhotra's focus on everything around the rink involving an elevated level of competition.

“This is how I think players are supposed to grow up. Being in this competitive situation with your team on the ice when you’re playing but also in practice and the weight room,” said Kudryavtsev.

“We have 10 defencemen in the AHL and everybody is good enough to play. You have to perform at practice. You have to be giving 150% effort at every practice because if you take a couple of days off and don’t show your best, you will probably lose your chance and somebody else will get the chance to play. That’s very motivating, at least it is for me. I’m motivated to be better every day and show the coaches that I am capable of and supposed to be playing here in the AHL.”

Kudryavtsev has already experienced a lot of new challenges through his hockey journey.

When he came to Canada at 17 years old, he had no teammates who spoke Russian, and he focused on getting his English to a new level so that he could have better communication with coaches.

Though there is still a lot of work to do, the 20-year-old is just one step away and is continuing to build toward becoming an NHL defenceman and achieving his dream.