A young and promising winger has inked his first NHL contract.
On Thursday, Vancouver Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin announced the team had signed forward Anri Ravinskis to a two-year, entry-level contract. The deal is set to begin next season.
“Anri is a player our group has been watching closely this year in Finland and more recently at the World Hockey Championships in Sweden,” Allvin said in a release. “Finding European free agents like Anri is a good way for our organization to improve its depth. We like his size and body type and look forward to helping him refine his skills and get used to the North American pro game.”
Ravinskis was an undrafted player, but he started to build his stock up over the past couple of seasons overseas. With Ketterä in Mestis (the second-tier league in Finland), the Riga, Latvia native posted 14 goals and 30 points in 45 games during the 2023-24 season. Ravinskis added another 10 points in the playoffs, with Ketterä making it all the way to the final, losing to IPK in a seven-game series.
This year, the 22-year-old split time with Ketterä and Liiga side HPK. Along with scoring 21 points in 23 games with Ketterä, he posted 17 points in 27 contests with HPK.
David Quadrelli of Canucks Army shared what he heard from a contact about Ravinskis:
“Big power forward style player,” Quadrelli said in a post on X. “He has some good speed and he plays decent defensive hockey. I don’t think there’s enough there to suggest he’ll ever be a full-time NHL player, but I think he’s got the work ethic to at least be a good AHL player.”
Along with his time at the professional level, Ravinskis played two years with Blainville-Boisbriand Armada of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League, scoring 54 points in 98 games.
He’s also spent a considerable amount of time on the international scene. Ravinskis has played for Latvia at the 2021 IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship. He played at the IIHF World Junior Championship twice, making his debut at the IIHF Men’s World Championship this year in Sweden, where he scored one goal and one assist in seven games for Team Latvia.
