The Abbotsford Canucks have signed a trio of forwards to one-year AHL deals for the 2024-25 season, the club announced Wednesday afternoon.
Firstly, the Canucks have agreed to terms on a new one-year contract to bring back Cooper Walker, who split the 2023-24 season between Abbotsford and the ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings.
Walker, 22, collected one goal in 13 games with Abbotsford to close out the 2023-24 season. The Cambridge, Ontario-born righty also skated in three games with the Canucks in the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs.
In addition to re-signing Walker, the Canucks also brought in forwards Lee Lapid and Ben Berard on one-year contracts for next season.
Lapid, 26, is a 6’1″ right-handed forward who split the 2023-24 season between the ECHL’s Cincinnati Cyclones and SaiPa in the Finnish Liiga. The Thornhill, Ontario product spent four seasons at Canisius College before turning pro with Cincinnati in 2022.
In 93 ECHL games over parts of two seasons with the Cyclones, Lapid collected 21 goals and 69 points; he tacked on five points in 11 playoff games with Cincinnati in 2023. Additionally, Lapid scored two goals in 14 games with SaiPa last season.
Berard, 25, is a forward from Duncan, B.C. who captained the BCHL’s Powell River Kings before heading to Cornell University in 2019. The 6′ left wing enjoyed three productive seasons with the Big Red before joining the Texas Stars, with whom he scored one goal and five points in 39 regular season and playoff games split between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
During his BCHL career with Powell River, Berard skated in 129 games over three seasons and put up 53 goals and 113 points. He also appeared in 39 playoff games with the Kings, collecting 17 goals and 33 points.
Abbotsford finished the 2023-24 AHL season with a 40-25-7 record and 87 points in 72 games, enough to finish fifth in the Pacific Division. The Canucks subsequently defeated the Colorado Eagles in the first round of the 2024 Calder Cup Playoffs before being swept by the Ontario Reign in Round 2.
