Josh Bloom could play a larger-than-expected role with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2023–24

How, exactly, did the Vancouver Canucks manage to steal Josh Bloom from the Buffalo Sabres last season?

Riley Stillman wasn’t working out in Vancouver. Not by a long shot. He’d been the Canucks’ “prize” after paying a second-round pick to dump Jason Dickinson’s contract on the Chicago Blackhawks, but he’d struggled to establish a foothold through 32 games in the blue and green.

Back in February, ahead of the 2023 trade deadline, the Canucks sent Stillman to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for Bloom, a promising prospect who might’ve just been a casualty of the Sabres’ bursting forward pipeline. One team’s afterthought is another’s treasure, right?

Bloom is eligible to turn pro in the Canucks’ system in the 2023–24 season, and with Abbotsford looking to run with a pretty young group this year, there’s a chance he could be one of the team’s better wingers — even though he only just turned 20 in June.

Let’s take a quick look back at Bloom’s career in the Ontario Hockey League. He split the 2022–23 season between the Saginaw Spirit and North Bay Battalion, collecting 32 goals and 71 points in 68 games.

Bloom proved to be a terrific acquisition for a Battalion team with championship aspirations, adding 25 goals and 55 points to his totals in 49 games down the stretch. He racked up 12 points in 20 OHL playoff games as the Battalion made it to the Eastern Conference Final, falling in seven games to the Peterborough Petes.