Vancouver Canucks Prospect Linus Karlsson To Be Given Major Opportunity After Setting New Franchise Record

Linus Karlsson has been has been up and down between Vancouver and Abbotsford on a handful of occasions since the middle of December and with the way he's playing, he's certainly making a case for a full-time NHL role.

Earlier this week, Karlsson had a big moment in his professional hockey career, setting a franchise record in the American Hockey League with the Abbotsford Canucks.

On Tuesday night, the Abbotsford Canucks hosted the Bakersfield Condors, AHL affiliate of the Edmonton Oilers, and came away with a big 6-2 and followed that up with a 2-1 victory last night, which moved them into fifth place in the Pacific Division.

During that 6-2 win over Bakersfield on Tuesday, Linus Karlsson picked up his 19th goal of the 2024-25 season, which set a new Abbotsford Canucks franchise record.

The 25-year-old's goal was his 66th as a member of the Abbotsford Canucks and is now their all-time leading goal scorer, passing Sheldon Dries, who left the organization as a free agent last summer.

Karlsson, a native of Eksjo, Sweden joined the Vancouver Canucks organization through a trade with San Jose in February 2019, which saw the Sharks land fellow Swede Jonathan Dhalen.

In 28 games this season in Abbotsford, Karlsson has 32 points (19 goals, 13 goals) and also scored his first NHL goal in late January against the Nashville Predators.

This summer, Linus Karlsson is set to become a restricted free agent and it'll be an interesting situation to monitor to see whether or not the Canucks issue him a qualifying offer or if they decline to and he signs elsewhere with a better path to a full-time NHL role.