Abby Canucks sign Nikolai Knyzhov, Derek Daschke, Nolan Walker and Lee to one-year contracts

The Vancouver Canucks’ top farm team added a few more players for next season.

On Friday, Abbotsford Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson announced that the team has signed defencemen Nikolai Knyzhov, Derek Daschke, and Jayden Lee as well as forward Nolan Walker, to one-year American Hockey League contracts for the 2025-26 season. News of Lee’s signing was first reported by CanucksArmy’s Irfaan Gaffar earlier in the week.

Knyzhov comes to B.C. after finishing up last season with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Detroit Red Wings’ AHL affiliate. He started the 2024-25 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins’ primary affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but was traded to the Griffins for future considerations in early March.

In 26 total games, he scored two goals and four assists for six points, all coming with the Penguins. Across four AHL seasons, three of which came with the San Jose Barracuda, Knyzhov has appeared in 118 games, scoring six goals and 21 assists for 27 points. The 27-year-old spent some time in the NHL, playing 81 games with the San Jose Sharks between 2019 and 2024. Knyzhov potted three goals and nine assists for 12 points over that time.

Daschke returns to the Abbotsford organization after spending last season in the ECHL with the Utah Grizzlies. In 65 games, he set pro career highs in goals (17), assists (39) and points (56). The Troy, Michigan native was under contract with the Abby Canucks during the 2023-24 campaign, but spent all of it with the Canucks’ secondary affiliate, the Kalamazoo Wings. Daschke potted 16 goals and 22 assists for 38 points that season.

In his two-plus seasons in pro hockey, the former Minnesota-Duluth product has yet to play in an AHL game. In 154 ECHL contests, Daschke has scored 34 goals and 69 assists for 103 points.

Walker is back in North America after spending the 2024-25 season with IK Oskarshamn in HockeyAllsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league. There, Anchorage, Alaska native posted 11 goals and 23 assists for 34 points.

The 26-year-old’s AHL experience came during the 2023-24 season, where he played in four games for the Cleveland Monsters on a professional tryout. Most of Walker’s tenure in the pro ranks has been spent in the ECHL. After debuting with the Newfoundland Growlers in 2022-23, the St. Cloud State product notched 68 points in 63 games with the Kansas City Mavericks the following year.

The trio joins a Canucks team that is hoping to replicate its success from this past spring, when the team won the franchise’s first Calder Cup.