Sunday, insider David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported he's not expecting the Vancouver Canucks to select Caleb Malhotra with the third-overall pick at the upcoming NHL Draft, even if the prospect is available.
The timing is impossible to ignore. Vancouver hired Manny Malhotra as the 23rd head coach in franchise history just three weeks ago.
Sharing a last name with the new bench boss and still getting bypassed at third overall. That's a story that writes itself, whether the front office likes it or not.
David Pagnotta: I'm not expecting the Canucks to select Caleb Malhotra with the third-overall selection, if he's available.
To be clear, GM Ryan Johnson is under no obligation to draft any player because of a name. But the optics of skipping a top-three prospect who is the son of your just-hired coach, in a city that already puts the organization under a microscope, are something you don't get to control.
Vancouver finished 32nd overall this past season. Dead last. A -100 goal differential. A home record of 9-27-5 that felt like watching a team actively resist winning on Rogers Arena ice.
The third pick is the most valuable asset this franchise has had in years. Maybe the only real asset.
Ryan Johnson's draft call will define Vancouver's rebuild before it starts
Pagnotta's report suggests the Canucks have a different player in mind. That's fine. But it also means Johnson is making a deliberate choice to move past a prospect linked, however loosely, to his own head coach.
That's either a sign of real organizational clarity - or a front office that hasn't fully thought through what it means to bring Manny Malhotra into the building and then publicly signal his name isn't the answer at three.
A -100 goal differential doesn't give you the luxury of small mistakes. Every pick, every line in the sand at the draft table, carries more weight when your team allowed 316 goals in a single season.
Pagnotta added the qualifier "if he's available," which suggests Caleb Malhotra may not even reach Vancouver's spot. But the framing still landed. The Canucks, by all indications, are not targeting him.
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Whether that's the right hockey call depends entirely on who Vancouver takes instead. Johnson needs to nail this. Manny Malhotra needs players. The rebuild has a new face on the bench and a first pick that carries real pressure.
One thing is certain: the name Malhotra is going to dominate the Canucks' draft conversation either way.
Should the Canucks use the third-overall pick on the best player available, regardless of the Malhotra name connection?
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