Building Blue: The Long Road Travelled for Kirill Kudryavtsev

Evolution is key in a young prospect’s hockey journey.

Kirill Kudryavtsev learned that this past season in his third year of OHL hockey.

The 20-year-old, left-shot defenceman wrapped up his 2023-24 season with five goals and 42 assists in 67 games played with the Soo Greyhounds.

Coming over to North America has turned out to be a great decision for Kudryavtsev. He has been able to adjust to the style of play over here while embracing the life of a Major Junior player in Canada.

“It doesn't feel weird anymore,” said Kudryavtsev with a chuckle. “In my first year, I felt a little bit new. There were all these new stores, people, and a new language, everything was new. This last year, I am just completely used to it. Nobody spoke Russian on the team when I got here, so I had to get my English to the next level.”

After a strong offensive performance during the 2022-23 season, Kudryavtsev wanted to focus on improving his all-around game and becoming a true number-one defenceman in the OHL. He improved his plus/minus rating by a whopping +44 difference this past season – going from -15 to +29.

“I felt like we had a strong offensive team, so I just decided to stay more in my game and be a two-way defenceman,” said Kudryavtsev. “I still got my points on the power play. I knew I was going to get them there. But I wasn't really trying to rush and force the puck, I focused on just trying to play less risky and play more for the team because it felt really bad last year when we were trying too much and then didn’t even make the playoffs.”

Moving forward, Kudryavtsev is working to make the Abbotsford Canucks out of camp but knows that he has options and that playing time is crucial at this stage of his career. If he were to return to the OHL and join the Greyhounds, there would be tons of minutes to be had on the blueline in what would be his fourth OHL season.

“I need to keep working on certain skills so that I can go up another level,” said Kudryavtsev. “I'm hoping to be in the AHL next season. I will need to gain a bit more weight and be more of a man and just keep working on my strengths and the things I do well but be ready to do them at a higher level. I’m working really hard on everything this summer.”

“The biggest goal is just to make the AHL, well, the biggest goal is making the NHL, that’s the goal for everybody but you never know what is going to happen. I’m trying not to look ahead and say, ‘I want to be partnered with Quinn Hughes next season.’ Obviously, that would be pretty cool, but I am just focused on taking little steps and [achieving] my goals step-by-step.”

He found inspiration at Canucks development camp from Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin speaking about Teddy Blueger taking seven years to go from a drafted player to playing his first NHL game. The Sedins and Mike Komisarek preached patience with Kudryavtsev and that his development and continuous improvement need to be the focus.

Kudryavtsev has a lot of good skills in his game and has worked to improve on the weaker parts of his game over the past two seasons in the OHL. Now, he wants to get back to focusing on what he does best and see if those strengths can land him a spot in the AHL this season.

There is a heavy focus on moving the puck with confidence while using his skating skills to cut down passing lanes and close in on his opponents in a hurry to force them to make mistakes.

If Kudryavtsev goes back to the OHL, you can still expect to see him on the AHL roster following his fourth season with the Soo Greyhounds. The 20-year-old is committed to the long road and with a staunch support system from the Canucks’ development staff. Kudryavtsev is fully bought into the plan he worked with the Canucks to develop, and with it, he is on the path to becoming a pro soon.