Canucks Sign Four Players To One-year Ahl Contracts
Abbotsford Canucks General Manager, Ryan Johnson, announced today that the club has signed defencemen Nikolai Knyzhov, Derek Daschke and Jayden Lee, as well as forward Nolan Walker to one-year AHL contracts ahead of the 2025-26 season.
Knyzhov, 27, is a seven-year veteran of professional hockey, having skated in 81 NHL games with the San Jose Sharks and 118 AHL games between San Jose, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Grand Rapids. The 6-3, 223-pound defender recorded six points (two goals, four assists) and 21 penalty minutes over 26 AHL games in 2024-25, and also skated in six ECHL games with Cincinnati, where he registered one assist and two penalty minutes. A native of Kemerovo, Russia, Knyzhov made his NHL debut on March 7, 2020 with San Jose, after signing with the Sharks as an undrafted free agent out of SKA St. Petersburg of the Kontinental Hockey League.
Daschke, 27, returns to Abbotsford having been under an AHL contract with the club for the 2023-24 season, where he spent the entirety of the campaign playing for the Canucks’ ECHL affiliate Kalamazoo Wings. The 6-2, 194-pound defender had a career season in 2025-26 with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies, ranking third in points (56), tied for second in goals (17) and tied for fifth in assists (39) among league defencemen. The Troy, Michigan native has amassed 101 points (34 goals, 67 assists) and 52 penalty minutes over 147 ECHL regular season contests and was named an ECHL First Team All-Star for the 2024-2025 campaign.
Lee, 24, spent the entirety of his first professional season with the ECHL’s South Carolina Stingrays, where he ranked second among team defencemen in points (32), ranked tied for second in goals (eight) and ranking third in assists (24). The 5-9, 161-pound defender played five collegiate seasons with Quinnipiac University (ECAC) where he captained the team in 2023-24 and captured an NCAA National Championship in 2022-23. The North Vancouver native also skated in two BCHL seasons, spending one year each with the Langley Rivermen and Powell River Kings.
Walker, 26, played his third professional hockey campaign in Sweden’s second-tier league HockeyAllsvenskan, skating in 51 regular season games with IK Oskarshamn. The 5-10, 181-pound centreman ranked fourth on his team in both points (34) and assists (23) in 2024-25. The Anchorage, Alaska native spent the majority of his first two professional seasons in the ECHL between Newfoundland and Kansas City, and also skated in four AHL games with Cleveland while competing on a professional try-out agreement in 2023-24.