The Canucks took Caleb Malhotra third overall, and one early read says it's far too soon to call that pick right or wrong.
The question is hard to avoid in Vancouver right now. The Canucks sit 32nd in the NHL at 3-16-1, they have lost six straight, and every decision made over the summer is getting a second look.
Cam Robinson who has followed this draft class closely likes what he has seen from Malhotra. Based on the games he has watched and the talk around the player, he believes the 18-year-old is doing very well and could have a lot more points in different situations.
That fits the picture of a teenager who has not yet played an NHL game. Malhotra was born in Toronto, stands 6'2" and 185 pounds, and nothing in his file suggests anything but a prospect still being developed.
The comparison everyone wants to make is with Chase Reid. He is a freshman in college hockey, and Robinson thinks he might be the best freshman in the country right now. He pointed to Reid's scoring and his defensive game, and said he looked really good even in a loss. The debate before the draft, he recalled, was whether it should be Reed or Malhotra.
Reid isn't the only name in the conversation. Adam Benak has a ton of points as a freshman at Western Michigan, and the evaluator saw him firsthand against Reed's team.
Was anyone else really in the Malhotra conversation?
Not according to Robinson. Daxon, a 6'3" right-shot defenseman with high offensive upside, is finding his game at Denver and looks very good. But realistically, he was not part of the debate at the top of the draft.
Carls is a different case. Robinson described him as a lefty with a hard nose and real skill, still adjusting to this level at 18. His advice for all of them is to wait before doing an autopsy.
Nobody should disagree with that, because grading a top-three pick after a few weeks is a fool's errand. But Vancouver makes it harder to be patient. A team that is 8th in the Pacific Division and sitting at minus-34 in goal differential needs its recent first-rounders to become players, and soon.
Caleb Malhotra's third overall selection also carries history, since the Canucks have waited 56 years to pick first. A No. 3 pick is supposed to be a franchise piece, and the Canucks are not going to get a fair reading from the standings.
Coach Manny Malhotra has had his own questions to answer too, as we noted when Manny Malhotra answered Canucks fans after another loss. That one came after a 1-3 loss to the Flyers on Monday.
The Canucks are back on the ice Friday against the Rangers. The Reed-or-Malhotra debate will run for years, and the first real answers will come from how both players develop, not from one November.
This article was written with the help of artificial intelligence, based on public reports and official sources.
Did the Canucks make the right pick by taking Caleb Malhotra third overall?
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