Canucks targeting the best center in the draft with rising prospect Caleb Malhotra
Jeff Marek dropped a name on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast, and Vancouver Canucks fans heard it loud and clear Monday night.
The insider said it plainly. The Canucks are leaning toward Caleb Malhotra with their first-round pick, calling him the best center available in this draft class.
That changes the temperature of every mock draft circulating this week. A center. From Vancouver's perspective, that's the position they've chased for years.
The team didn't earn this pick by accident. The Canucks finished 25-49-8, dead last in the NHL, a -100 goal differential, and a 9-27-5 home record that emptied Rogers Arena by February.
Adam Foote's first season behind the bench gave him nothing to work with up the middle once injuries piled up. The roster needs a long-term answer at center. Malhotra fits the description.
The kid carries name recognition too. Yes, his father played 991 NHL games and made his living winning draws in the bottom six. The bloodlines aren't the pitch though.
Why a center pick reshapes Vancouver's rebuild plan
Scouts have tracked the younger Malhotra all season, and the buzz around his two-way game has only grown louder heading into June.
Drafting a center this high carries weight that drafting a winger doesn't. Centers drive matchups. Centers eat tough minutes. Centers decide whether your penalty kill can breathe.
Vancouver's PK and structure cratered all year. They allowed 316 goals, the kind of number that gets coaches fired and front offices remodeled. A franchise pivot has to start somewhere.
Is Malhotra the next franchise center in Vancouver? Nobody can answer that on May 12. But the fact that Marek floated the name this early tells you the internal conversations are already trending one way.
The risk? Drafting for need over best player available has burned plenty of teams. The Canucks have done it before and paid the price.
Foote inherits a roster that finished with the worst home record in the conference and a 4-6-0 stretch to close the year. He needs more than a prospect. He needs a foundation.
If the rumor holds through June, Vancouver's rebuild gets its centerpiece. If the board breaks differently, this week's chatter will look very different by draft floor.
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YESTERDAY
MAY 12, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Pavel Dorofeyev | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Cutter Gauthier | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Mason McTavish | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Caufield | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Newhook | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Beckett Sennecke | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Olen Zellweger | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jake Evans | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Saad | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||