Akito Hirose (born April 9, 1999) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Abbotsford Canucks in the American Hockey League (AHL) while under contract to the Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played college ice hockey at

Minnesota State Minnesota State University, Mankato (MNSU, MSU, or Minnesota State) is a public university in Mankato, Minnesota, United States. It is Minnesota's second-largest university and has over 123,000 living alumni worldwide. Founded in 1868, it is t ...

Playing career

Junior

On September 7, 2019, Hirose was named captain of the

Salmon Arm Silverbacks The Salmon Arm Silverbacks are a junior "A" ice hockey team from Salmon Arm, British Columbia, Canada. They are a part of the British Columbia Hockey League. The Silverbacks returned a BCHL team to Shuswap/Salmon Arm 12 years after the previou ...

for the 2019–20 season. During his senior season with the Arm Silverbacks, he recorded nine goals and 42 assists in 57 games. He led the league in defenceman scoring and ranked third among all BCHL players with 42 assists. Following the season he was awarded the BCHL Defensive Player of the Year award. He finished his career with 20 goals and 103 assists in 208 regular season games. On September 11, 2018, Hirose committed to play for

College

Hirose began his collegiate career for Minnesota State during the 2020–21 season. During his freshman year, he recorded one goal and 14 assists in 28 games, ranking tied for second in the country among all freshmen defenceman. Following the season he was named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team and All-WCHA Third Team and was named the WCHA Rookie of the Year. During the 2021–22 season, in his sophomore year, he recorded two goals and 24 assists in 38 games. During March and April, he recorded five points in eight games to average .625 points per game. He was subsequently named the CCHA Defenseman of the Month. He helped the Mavericks win the 2022 CCHA men's ice hockey tournament, their first

CCHA tournament The CCHA Tournament is the conference tournament for the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA), an NCAA Division I men's ice hockey conference that originally operated from 1971 to 2013 and has been revived effective in 2021. The winner o ...

championship in program history, and received an automatic bid to the

2022 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament The 2022 NCAA Division I men's ice hockey tournament was the national championship tournament for men's college ice hockey in the United States scheduled for on April 7–9, 2022. The tournament involved 16 teams in single-elimination play to det ...

. During the NCAA tournament, the Mavericks advanced to their first championship game in program history, where they lost to Denver 1–5. During the 2022–23 season, in his junior year, he recorded four goals and 23 assists in 38 games. Following the season he was named to the All-CCHA Second Team. He finished his career at Minnesota State with seven goals, 61 assists, and a plus-53 rating in 104 games. During his time with the Mavericks, the team went 85–24–2, won three MacNaughton Cups, two Mason Cups, qualified for three NCAA tournaments, two Frozen Fours, and advanced to the national championship game once.

Professional

On March 29, 2023, Hirose signed a one-year, entry-level contract with the Vancouver Canucks. He made his NHL debut on April 2, in a game against the Los Angeles Kings. During the 2023 prospect development camp, the Canucks signed Hirose to an additional two-year contract.

Personal life

Hirose's brother, Taro is also a professional ice hockey player for the

Detroit Red Wings The Detroit Red Wings (colloquially referred to as the Wings) are a professional ice hockey team based in Detroit. The Red Wings compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Atlantic Division (NHL), Atlantic Division in the East ...

of the NHL.

Career statistics

Awards and honours

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hirose, Akito 1999 births Living people Abbotsford Canucks players Canadian ice hockey defencemen Canadian sportspeople of Japanese descent Ice hockey people from Calgary Minnesota State Mavericks men's ice hockey players Salmon Arm Silverbacks players Undrafted National Hockey League players Vancouver Canucks players