The Vancouver Canucks have reunited family members in the 2026 NHL Draft. They selected centerman Caleb Malhotra, son of head coach Manny Malhotra, with the third-overall pick. Vancouver hired the elder Malhotra to be their 23rd head coach on June 2nd. The move was a promotion from two years overseeing the AHL’s Abbotsford Canucks.
The Canucks will have high hopes for their new top prospect. Malhotra was a true energy piece for the OHL’s top offense – the Brantford Bulldogs – throughout the year. He played a reliably dominant game and used a strong stick and quick feet to control play in the middle lane. Malhotra could be called upon to get in the way of opponents in the defensive zone, drive the puck on offense, or sit back and find creative paths while playing off of his wingers. All the while, he managed a 50.1 faceoff percentage – standing as a bona fide center even at the junior flight.
He should continue to offer that positional upside for the Canucks. Malhotra is headed to Boston University next season, where he’ll join fellow 2026 top prospect and St. Louis Blues draftee Tynan Lawrence as the Terriers’ battery. The duo will split top-center minutes – a balance that should fall fairly even despite Lawrence going later in the draft, thanks to his prior collegiate experience. A spotlight role will nonetheless provide Malhotra with another chance to shine. His high-energy style of hockey could excel in Hockey East, on a Terriers squad built around tempo players like Lane Hutson, Cole Hutson, Macklin Celebrini, and Cole Eiserman in recent years. Malhotra could even be propped up by the tamer, two-way play of Lawrence operating behind him.
More to come…
