Abbotsford Canucks extend Ben Berard through 2026-27 season

Ben Berard gave Abbotsford a much-needed reminder of what still traveled well from the Canucks’ lineup even as the season slipped away. The club extended the left-shot winger through the 2026-27 season, a move that keeps its lone All-Star representative in place after a year in which Abbotsford missed the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs and had to confront what comes next.

Berard’s value shows up in the layers of his résumé. He was added to the Pacific Division roster for the 2026 AHL All-Star Classic on Feb. 5, 2026, and when the league gathered in Rockford, Illinois, on Feb. 10-11, he stood as Abbotsford’s only player in the event after Kirill Kudryavtsev was sidelined by injury. That kind of recognition does more than decorate a season. For a team that fell short in a Pacific Division where seven clubs qualify for the postseason and the first round is a best-of-three, it marked Berard as one of the players management could not afford to treat as replaceable.

The 26-year-old from Duncan, British Columbia, arrived in Abbotsford from the Texas Stars in a confirmed transaction dated July 30, 2024. He is listed as a left wing and right wing, shoots left, and was originally drafted by the Victoria Royals in the 2014 WHL Prospects Draft. Those details matter because Abbotsford did not just extend a name on a contract sheet. It kept a flexible forward who can fill multiple roles and who has already shown enough to earn league-wide attention.

General manager Ryan Johnson has continued to reshape the roster after the playoff miss, including the Jan. 19, 2026 addition of defenseman Cole Clayton as part of the deal involving Kiefer Sherwood. In that context, Berard’s extension reads as both continuity and insurance. Abbotsford is not only patching holes; it is preserving pieces that can keep the lineup from getting top-heavy again. Berard may not be the loudest name on the board, but his All-Star nod and new deal suggest the Canucks believe his next contribution should be visible on the ice, not just in the transaction log.