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Giants coach Parker Burgess: “The things that stick out for me are his maturity and his commitment to his craft and the game of hockey.”
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Published Oct 16, 2025 • 4 minute read
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Handout photo of Ryan Lin, Vancouver Giants defenceman expected to be an early pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Photo credit: Rob Wilton Photo by Rob WiltonArticle content
Ryan Lin wasn’t playing around.
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The Vancouver Giants defenceman insisted over the summer that “I really think I have another gear,” coming off being just the second defenceman to tally 50 points in a season at age 16 or younger in the WHL since Scott Niedermayer’s rookie campaign with the Kamloops Blazers in 1989-90.
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Going into Thursday action around the league, Lin topped WHL rearguards in scoring with 12 points, including three goals, through nine games. It’s early days and a small sample size, but that is a 91-point pace over a 68-game WHL season.
Lin’s been pegged as a likely top-10 selection for next summer’s NHL Draft by various pundits, and it’s easy to suggest the 6-foot, 175-pound right shot from Richmond is further boosting his stock. Elite Prospects, for one, has Lin at No. 4 in its most recent draft rankings, and if the 17-year-old is chosen there that would tie a Giants franchise record for earliest selection. Winger Evander Kane went No. 4 to the Atlanta Thrashers in 2009, and defenceman Bowen Byram was picked in that same spot by the Colorado Avalanche in 2019.
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Lin was also one of the first three players named to the Canadian Hockey League team for the CHL USA Prospects Challenge that runs in November in Calgary and Lethbridge.
Ryan Lin during a scrimmage at the 2025 Vancouver Giants Training camp at the Ladner Leisure Centre, August 28. Photo by NICK PROCAYLO /10108961A
“He’s incredible,” Giants first-year coach Parker Burgess said after practice Wednesday, taking a break from prepping Vancouver (3-6-0-0) for its Friday game at the Langley Events Centre versus the visiting Wenatchee Wild (1-4-1-1).
“He’s definitely as advertised if not better. The things that stick out for me are his maturity and his commitment to his craft and the game of hockey, and you can see why he’s been successful and why he’ll continue to be successful.”
Lin has been one of the few bright spots of a lacklustre start for Vancouver to date. The Giants did dramatically change over their staff in the off-season, bringing in Burgess and assistants Wacey Rabbit and Gaelan Patterson along with general manager Hnat Domenichelli. There was bound to be a break-in period.
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They’ve struggled in particularly keeping the puck out of their net, giving up 5.11 goals per game so far. They did seem to have plenty of spark and zip at practice on Wednesday, so emotions see upbeat.
“For us a new staff, it’s about establishing habits and details and energy,” Burgess said. “All of it. It’s a work in a progress. The results don’t necessarily show the entire picture.”
Lin finished with five goals and 53 points in 60 regular season games last season. Everett Silvertips rookie blue liner Landon DuPont, who played full time as a 15-year-old since he had exceptional status from Hockey Canada, beat Lin to the 50-point plateau by a few games and finished with 60 points, highlighted by 17 goals, in 64 games.
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Niedermayer totalled 69 points in 1989-90 with Kamloops.
Mazden Leslie was Lin’s defence partner most of the campaign with Vancouver, and the then 19-year-old finished with 72 points, including 21 goals, to tie a franchise record for points by a blue liner. A 19-year-old Kevin Connauton totalled 24 goals and 72 points for the Giants in 2009-10.
Byram amassed 26 goals and 71 points in his draft year in 2018-19. Byram went for six goals and 27 points the season before as a 16-year-old, adding a little perspective to Lin’s success last year.
The Prospects Challenge goes Nov. 25 in Calgary and Nov. 26 in Lethbridge. Lin will miss at least one Giants game to take part, since Vancouver is in Wenatchee that second night. The Giants’ next game after that is Nov. 28 at the Penticton Vees; you’d expect he’d be back in the Vancouver lineup there.
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Lin missed four games last season due to participating in the World Under-17 Challenge tournament.
Vancouver rookie centre Blake Chorney, 16, was named this week to one of the two Canadian teams for this year’s event, which goes Nov. 2-8 to Truro, N.S. Chorney will miss at least three Vancouver games this time around.
The 6-foot, 197-pound left-shot forward from Nipawin, Sask., has put up three goals and five points through nine games with Vancouver, and seen his ice time steadily increase.
“He’s mature beyond his years,” Burgess said. “You don’t want to throw a young guy into the fire. You want to set him up to have success, but the minutes and the role that he’s playing he has earned. He’s ready for it and we’re never going to pull back the reins on a guy because of age.”
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Vancouver made a trade for a goalie Thursday, bringing in 20-year-old Kelton Pyne from the Regina Pats in exchange for a sixth-round pick in the 2028 WHL Draft.
Teams are permitted three 20 year olds on their roster. Vancouver had been one under that maximum.
Burke Hood, 18, whose play last season led to him being a sixth-round draft choice of the New York Islanders last summer, will remain Vancouver’s starter. Rookie Owen Lunneborg, 18, is sidelined with undisclosed injury, and the Giants were listing him Thursday as out week-to-week.
The Giants’ schedule has especially busy stretches, with eight 3-in-3 weekends over the course of the campaign. This is the first of those triple headers, with Friday’s Wenatchee game followed by a visit to Penticton Saturday and then a Sunday game at the LEC against the Medicine Hat Tigers.
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