VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks have signed defenceman Kirill Kudryavtsev to a three-year entry-level contract.
General manager Patrik Allvin announced the news Friday, saying in a release that the team’s development staff have been pleased with 19-year-old prospect’s progress within the Ontario Hockey League.
Kudryavtsev is in his second season with the Soo Greyhounds where he leads all defencemen with 45 points (six goals, 39 assists) in 60 appearances this season.
Hailing from Yaroslavl, Russia, the five-foot-11, 200-pound blue liner previously represented his country on the 2022 Hlinka Gretzky Cup and the 2020 Youth Olympic Games, where Russia won gold.
The Canucks chosen Kudryavtsev within the seventh round of the 2022 NHL entry draft.
Allvin says staff in Vancouver stay up for working with the young defenceman and getting him ready for a professional profession.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 10, 2023.