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Today is the big day, the day the Vancouver Canucks have been talking about for months.
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The biggest draft in history … or really since they drafted the Sedins.
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But there’s no doubt it’s going to be a big deal whoever the Canucks pick at third overall.
We’ll get things rolling before the draft and provide analysis as the draft rolls along, including moves elsewhere that might have an impact on what the Canucks do.
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11 a.m.
Ok It’s still five hours till the draft even begins, but here are a few notes.
We’ve long thought that it’s down to one of Caleb Malhotra, Chase Reid or Carson Carels at three for the Canucks. I covered off the question yesterday.
Maybe they go way off the board, colleague Steve Ewen wonders. “Watch this all be a smoke screen and they go for Verhoeff,” he said. Two decades ago Steve suggested to Ben Kuzma and Jason Botchford that for all the research those two had put in, his gut told him the Canucks were going to draft Michael Grabner. They did.
This time around, it’s his gut saying Verhoeff. We’ll see.
Despite Steve’s rumbling tummy, a source predicted to the Canucks will do what we’ve thought all along: pick Caleb Malhotra. “I think all the Chase Reid talk was a smoke screen trying to get 4/5/6 to want to move up.”Lots of chatter the Montreal Canadiens are keen on Elias Pettersson. I’ve now heard this as well. It’s pretty clear that the Canucks’ new management team would rather move on from the centre. I’m also wondering what St. Louis is going to do with all that draft capital. might they be interested in Brock Boeser or Louie DeBrusk?
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