Canucks sign Ilya Safonov to one-year contract

A noted prospect is coming to North America.

On Tuesday, Vancouver Canucks general manager Ryan Johnson announced that the team has signed forward Ilya Safonov to a one-year, two-way contract. Details of the contract were not released.

In a release, Johnson noted that Safonov has been exceptional over the past year with the Kontinental Hockey League’s Ak Bars Kazan, and will be a player the Canucks will be keeping a close eye on next fall.

“Ilya had a solid year in Russia and a strong playoff,” Johnson said. “We like his size and player profile, and he will be given every opportunity to compete for a spot at training camp.”  

Safonov comes to the Canucks organization after one of his best pro seasons. In 68 games during the regular season, the 25-year-old scored 16 goals and 17 assists for 33 points. Then, in the Gagarin Cup Playoffs, he posted two goals and nine points in 20 games, helping Ak Bars Kazan make it to the final. Ultimately, his team fell to Yaroslavl Lokomotiv in six games.

It was the second-best performance of Safonov’s tenure in the KHL. The Murmansk, Russia native posted a career-high 19 goals and 18 assists for 37 points during the 2022-23 season, the year he was named a KHL All-Star.

In 331 regular-season games in the KHL, he scored 65 goals and 63 assists for 128 points, with 26 points coming in 79 playoff games.

While Russia has been banned from IIHF competition for the past few years, he did represent his country at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship and 2017 Under-17 World Hockey Challenge.

Safonov was originally taken by the Chicago Blackhawks in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. His signing rights were traded to the Canucks for future considerations last summer.