This is a very good sign...
Oct 28, 2026
The Vancouver Canucks have lost 9 games in a row.
Quinn Hughes came back to Vancouver on Sunday,
but this time as a member of the Minnesota
Wild and got outshot by 17, and everyone is asking the same question.
Is there any good news anywhere in this organization?
And there is.
It's just not in Vancouver, it is currently in Boston and Abbotsford.
On Sunday night, a 24-year-old
that nobody drafted scored 3 goals in a game.
And in Boston, an 18-year-old the Canucks took third overall,
has three points in six games,
and I'm going to show you why those three points
are the least interesting thing about them.
Both of these players belong to the future
of the Vancouver Canucks organization,
but of course, one is closer than people expect,
and the other is going to have Canucks fans drooling
for the years to come when he finally makes it to the league.
Let's start with their head coach's son, Caleb Malhotra,
who the Canucks drafted third overall
in this past draft.
He's 18 years old, 6 foot 2, 182 pounds, and the last season in the OHL
regular season, he had 29 goals and 55 assists for Brantford.
That's 84 points in 67 games,
1.25 points a game as a rookie,
second among OHL rookies in goals, assists, and points.
Then in the OHL playoffs, he continued to dominate,
26 points in 15 games, 13 goals and 13 assists,
and led Brantford in playoff scoring.
And just remember how young he was. The year before,
he was 16 years old, playing in the BCHL for the Chilliwack Chiefs.
He had 26 points in 44 games, and 17 points in 21 playoff games.
So in one year, he went from 26 points in a season to 84.
This season he's at Boston University in the NCAA.
Through six games he has one goal and two assists
for three total points.
He's a plus minus three and has four penalty minutes. And of course we
know his dad is Manny Malhotra
who played in 991 NHL games over 16 seasons and his uncle is Steve
Nast. So Caleb grew up around people
who know what it takes but nobody gave him a shortcut.
Now if you're only looking at that and I can see
the comments already people are going to say Merck
3 points in 6 games for a 3rd overall pick,
that isn't that impressive, but you're looking at the
wrong parts. Here's the problem with grading Malhotra on his points.
His college debut was
Alaska Fairbanks, a 2-1 overtime win for Boston University.
He didn't get a point, but he played
center. He won 6 of his 11 faceoffs,
he had 2 shots on goal, and he set up Jack Harvey on the
best scoring chance of a scoreless third period.
Harvey just got stopped. NHL.com says he's already
showed his defensive details and his two-way play,
and that he showed more playmaking upside as the
last season went on. This is a player
who helps you win in ways that don't always land on the
point column. Dobbie Prospects had the same read.
A processor who stays a step ahead and controls
the pace. A connector who lets his linemate finish
when he does the detailed work. The face-offs,
the forecheck, the net drives, the body position.
But then you gotta think about how hockey credits
a goal. When you're looking at this column,
of course the last two players to touch the puck
before the goal goes in is the people getting credited for the assist.
But Caleb Malhotra is
the guy that touches the puck before those two,
and even before that, that sets them up into that
position. He did get an assist on Saturday,
on the first goal of Boston University's 6-3 win over
UConn. And about two minutes in, when his teammates scored,
Malhotra was credited with the helper.
Now, to be fair, there are some real questions.
Dobbers says the doubt is whether he has the
high-end offense of a true top-line center
and that he needs to add strength. Most evaluators
see him as a second-line center,
which is still very good and a great player, but it's also the
reason why I'd rather judge him on what he does than on what he scores.
And Ryan Johnson said it
himself. We'll make decisions with him
and his team with what they're thinking of not the next 12
months, but the next 12 years.
Nobody in Vancouver is panicking about three points. NHL.com has his
arrival projections for next season.
So what would I watch for? This is a young player going from
OHL hockey into the NCAA. There's a bit of a learning curve.
We've seen it with who went
first overall in Gavin McKenna before making the jump to the NHL.
He went from the Medicine Hat
Tigers struggled to start his season in the NCAA
and went in that number one overall pick. Now
looking at Caleb Malhotra
and the continued success this is a kid that's going to be a
dominant force as the season goes on and he gets
his power play time more touches and looks like
Boston University's best player.
Now to the second guy some people thought was just a throw-in in a
recent trade and it came out of nowhere.
On October 15th the Canucks traded fan favorite
Atiratu to Toronto for Jacob Quinlan
and a forward named Brandon Burr. Quinlan went to
Abbotsford and has been a different player ever since.
He joined Abbotsford for October 17th's
home opener, and he was center in their top line over
the last two games. That's where the hat
trick came from. In four games with the Toronto Marlies this season,
Quinlan had zero points.
In four games with Abbotsford,
he has four goals and two assists for six total points and a point
in every single game. Then on Sunday, October 25th,
against the Calgary Wranglers, Calgary scored 18
seconds into the second period. Quinlan answered 43 seconds later.
Calgary goes up 2-1, then in the
third, it's tied 2-2. And then,
with 2 minutes and 32 seconds left in the game, Quinlan scores the
go-ahead goal, and with 17 seconds left,
he puts in the empty net, 3 goals, a plus 4, a 4-2 win
with a hat trick. Abbotsford has now won five straight.
They haven't lost in regulation since
October 3rd, and they're the first in the Pacific at 5-2, 0-1.
This is a team looking to win another
Calder Cup, and that's why that trade was worth talking about.
Of course, losing Atiratu sucked.
As a Canucks fan, I loved him, but bringing in this guy,
a young, hungry player that has scored
at every single level,
including the AHL and the Calder Cup playoffs just last season,
This is a guy that scores some big goals,
including two, to win that game versus the Wranglers.
It was his second career AHL hat-trick.
The first was last season against the Sens farm team
and asked about the move.
He said, it's been great.
The guys welcome me very easily.
And if you guys don't know who Jacob Quinlan is,
you should at this point specifically.
He's 24 from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.
Nobody drafted him.
Toronto signed him as an undrafted free agent
in April 2024 on a two-year entry-level deal.
Before that, he was in university.
And in 2023 National Championship game against Minnesota,
he scored the overtime winner 10 seconds into overtime.
He was named the NCAA Tournament's Most Outstanding Player.
And look at how different these paths were.
Of course, Caleb Malhotra coming in with the third overall pick
before even playing in the NCAA,
with an organization protecting his time.
Then you have Quinlan stepping in and already being a dominant force,
not getting into the position of success until now, and it shows you
these are stories that fans are truly going to fall in love with.
And here's what ties him to Caleb. In his first year at University,
2021-22, Quinlan had 9 points in 36 games.
The next year, 38 points in 41 games.
The year after that, 46 points in 39 games.
And here's why this matters. The Vancouver Canucks are a team
that's stringing together quite a few losses in a row.
Now, of course, Canucks fans are now looking for the big story
and question around this organization with a clear direction,
and that's exactly what this new management has done.
It's not only Caleb Malhotra drafted
the third overall pick by the Canucks that is looking like
a future star, but it's also the young guys,
the small pieces picked up just 10 days ago in Jacob
Quinlan in a trade that people labeled as a nothing burger.
This is a team that has the
direction and it starts with these guys.
College freshman points don't also tell you what a player
is going to be. Look at Jacob Quinlan.
These three points for Caleb Mahaltra is just the start of
Chapter 1. Then the pros.
In the AHL 2024-25, he had 37 points in 67 games.
Last season, 36 points
in 40 games, 14 goals, and the Marlies won the Calder Cup.
He had 9 points in 19 playoff games
on the way. He also has NHL experience, all with Toronto.
One goal, two assists, so he's been there.
He just never got a chance to stay.
So back to the initial question. Is there good news around
the Vancouver Canucks in the midst of a losing streak?
Yes, and there's two different timelines.
Quinlan is the answer for this season.
Saturday's practice lines had Pedersen, Rossi, Heidle, and
Sasson down the middle. Rotowire says
if Quinlan keeps scoring at this rate, he could get a call
up. And of course, the Canucks want to be careful.
This is a guy on a hot streak with his new team
coming in and playing on the top line.
Now, if Jacob Quinlan continues this trend and the Canucks
are forced into an injury decision
or looking at another hot hand getting called up to see what he
can do. Jacob Quinlan is a guy that genuinely
is someone that Canucks fans are slowly going to fall
in love with and not only at the AHL level.
Mahaltra is the answer for the next decade. He's
18. He's the third overall pick.
He has three points through six games and a plus minus three
and the front office has said out loud it isn't thinking about
the next 12 months and honestly
that's what I like about it
so my entire verdict on this entire situation is yes there's good news
around the Canucks a young new face in Abbotsford showing his worth
and showing fans that there's
more potential than what we expected
and then for the next decade we have a centerman that's
getting his own way in the NCAA and this Ryan Johnson
and Sadin led management finally gives
us some good news and a clear direction
that should have fans fired up despite a losing streak
but again i want to give a huge shout out
to absolutely everyone watching and if you want to
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the positivity in some dark times of course around
this team let me know all your thoughts down
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watching see you in the next one i'll
been your host Mark Bye and go Canucks go