Gabriel Chiarot has had a strong start to the OHL season with the Brampton Steelheads.
The Vancouver Canucks 2025 sixth-round pick had a memorable summer working on his game and spending a week at Canucks’ development camp in July and his first Canucks’ training camp in September.
With Brampton’s training camp at the end of August, Chiarot got a full week of Steelheads camp and some preseason games before heading to Penticton.
His first Canucks’ training camp was a great experience, being around the team for the first time and experiencing more of the West Coast.
“I was a little nervous at first, but after seeing all the people again, and player development people, and all the coaching staff and whatnot, it was a really good time. I learned a lot of things from new people. Overall, it was really good, and Penticton is a really nice place,” Chiarot said.
Tyler Myers and Chiarot’s cousin Ben are friends who played five seasons together with the Winnipeg Jets. Chiarot skated in a different group than Myers during camp, but Myers made sure to check in with Chiarot – small gestures that went a long way for a young player looking to make an impression.
“If we were just having breakfast or something, he'd come up to me and ask me how things are going and how I'm feeling,” Chiarot said.
“I'd met him before at my cousin's wedding, but never really talked because that was maybe seven or eight years ago. It was good to reconnect with him and talk about everything. He really helped me throughout camp.”
The Canucks signed Chiarot to a three-year entry-level contract the week after training camp.
He took the lessons from Vancouver back east with him. Chiarot said the Canucks’ emphasis on maintaining good habits on the ice and playing the right way has stuck with him, and it’s showing early in the OHL season.
The winger has been playing more minutes this year, contributing on both the power play and penalty kill for Brampton, and he is seeing an opportunity to raise his production.
Last season, Chiarot developed a consistency to his game that he was proud of, and the work he put in over the summer has helped him build on that early in the OHL season. He’s got more confidence in his game, and he has four goals and four assists through eight outings with Brampton.
“I feel like I can do a lot more with the puck and am making much better plays than I was before, just being patient and having poise,” Chiarot said. “I'm still keeping the good habits in my game and not getting away from those because that was a big thing the Canucks coaching staff talked to me about when they sent me back to the OHL, so I’m just trying to focus on that."
