{"id":377298,"date":"2026-06-27T15:35:08","date_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377298\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T15:35:08","modified_gmt":"2026-06-27T15:35:08","slug":"lin-on-practicing-with-celebrini-hanging-with-buble-representing-asians-in-hockey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/377298\/","title":{"rendered":"Lin on Practicing With Celebrini, Hanging With Buble, Representing Asians in Hockey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Picking Ryan Lin<\/a> at No. 21 had many NHL draft experts declaring GM Mike Grier and the San Jose Sharks as the big winners of this year\u2019s draft.<\/p>\n

And Ryan Lin?!<\/p>\n

You’d have looked like an absolute lunatic if you said this back in November.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) June 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Mike Grier this offseason: pic.twitter.com\/MjLX6RDi4h<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) June 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Lin is a 5-foot-11 right-handed defenseman from Richmond, British Columbia. He put up 14 goals and 43 assists in 53 games for the Vancouver Giants of the WHL this season. Next year, he\u2019s headed to Denver University, where he\u2019ll be competing with friend and Buffalo Sabres draft pick Daxon Rudolph for playing time.<\/p>\n

Lin has also represented Canada at the under-18 World Juniors the last two years. In the 2024-25 season, he played with Rudolph and fellow San Jose Sharks draft pick Keaton Verhoeff<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In Vancouver, he played with San Jose Sharks\u2019 2024 draft pick Colton Roberts. When Lin announced his commitment to Denver, Roberts \u2013 who now plays for Colorado College \u2013 commented \u201crivals\u2026\u201d on Instagram. Now, they\u2019ve been drafted by the same organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cEver since I came to the Giants at 15, Colton and a couple other guys took me under their wing and showed me the ropes and helped me out and helped me succeed that first year,\u201d Lin said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t be more happy to join him and see him in a few days here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lin spoke about a winning trip to San Jose for box lacrosse, a Michael Bubl\u00e9 documentary, representing Asians in hockey, and more.<\/p>\n

On what it means that the San Jose Sharks traded up to get him\u2026<\/p>\n

It feels good, I\u2019m not going to lie. They see something in me that I see in myself as well. For them to trade up and get me it feels great, and I want to prove them right now.<\/p>\n

On why he chose to go to the NCAA and Denver\u2026<\/p>\n

I just want to challenge myself. Going to Denver, I\u2019m going to be challenged with older, stronger guys, and better competition. I want to succeed there. Denver was the spot for me, because the coaching staff, their culture, you have a chance to win every year going there. A bunch of good players are heading there with me as well. So I\u2019m excited.<\/p>\n

On his father being part Japanese and part Taiwanese and representing Asians in hockey\u2026<\/p>\n

I see, you look around here and there\u2019s not a whole lot of Asian people. Being able to represent that community, I\u2019ve put myself more in a role where I can.\u00a0I didn\u2019t really think about it too much growing up or anything. But now that I have a little bigger of a voice, I\u2019d like to use it to advocate, and get out there a little bit.<\/p>\n

Ryan Lin says, “I’m not a guy full personality or anything, so might be a little boring.”<\/p>\n

But post-Draft, he touched on practicing w\/ Celebrini, hanging out w\/ Michael Buble, being friends w\/ Verhoeff & Colton Roberts, and his dad being Japanese-Taiwanese\u2026pretty interesting! pic.twitter.com\/s949i8pswH<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Sheng Peng (@Sheng_Peng) June 27, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

On winning a box (indoor) lacrosse tournament in San Jose\u2026<\/p>\n

I played lacrosse for a while, and our team back in Richmond actually got invited to the US box lacrosse national championships in San Jose. This is maybe seven, eight years ago. So I have been there, I\u2019ve been to the SAP Center [in the summer], and I loved my time there. It was awesome.<\/p>\n

On how box lacrosse has translated to ice hockey\u2026<\/p>\n

I told a lot of teams that it helped hand-eye coordination, cardio. It\u2019s a tough sport, and really physical as well. In Richmond it\u2019s pretty big. It was awesome. We had a good team.<\/p>\n

On Keaton Verhoeff\u2026<\/p>\n

He\u2019s a great friend of mine, like Daxon as well. We played all those Canada events together, and I was fortunate to win too with him. He\u2019s a really good friend now, and I couldn\u2019t be more happy we got drafted to the same team and we can go through this journey together.<\/p>\n

On if he knew the Sharks were interested in him before\u2026<\/p>\n

I had really good interviews with them and really good talks with everyone in their organization, but you just never know. It just takes one team to like you and pick you. So I\u2019m glad it was them, for sure.<\/p>\n

On being part of Michael Bubl\u00e9 and Drew Scott\u2019s documentary about their time as part-owners of the Vancouver Giants\u2026<\/p>\n

Michael Bubl\u00e9, Drew Scott, those are the two guys behind it. It was great. I\u2019m not a guy full of personality or anything, so might be a little boring for them at times. But I think it\u2019s going to turn out great, and they\u2019re going to do a good job with it, show the world, pull the curtain back a little bit.<\/p>\n

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