Photo credit: True North.
A new name has taken over the first spot on an updated edition of the Vancouver Canucks’ top prospect list, which looks at the ten best the organization has coming soon.
Among the players selected by the Vancouver Canucks back in June include future top-six centerman Braeden Cootes, who will be representing Team Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship starting tonight.
“Our guys were very excited about him leading up to the meeting today, and we had a few guys that we were hoping he was going to be available at 15 – you never know when you’re picking there. When we were getting closer to the pick there and Braeden was a guy [available] the scouting staff was definitely very excited, and so am I, to get a right-shot centre, captain of the team, captain of Team Canada’s gold medal team in Dallas [U18 World Championships] earlier, and we believe there is upside for him to be a mid-six centre.” Allvin said about Braeden Cootes back in June.
New name takes over first spot on Vancouver Canucks’ top prospects list
The aforementioned Braeden Cootes of Sherwood Park, Alberta has taken over the top spot on Vancouver’s prospects list after a solid start to the 2025-26 season with the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds, where he has 23 points (ten goals, 13 assists) in 17 games.
“Usurpingly, Braeden Cootes takes top spot on this list. The 18-year-old has 23 points in 17 WHL games this year and has been selected to represent Canada at the 2026 World Juniors. Cootes has a very bright future, which could include making the jump to the NHL full-time as early as next season.” Kierszenblat said.
London Knights goaltender Aleksei Medvedev comes in at second on Kierszenblat’s list, with a 13-8-1 record in 22 games this season in the Ontario Hockey League, along with a 2.81 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.
Rounding out the top-five are defenseman Kirill Kudryavtsev (Abbotsford Canucks – AHL), defenseman Sawyer Mynio (Abbotsford Canucks – AHL) and goaltender Ty Young (Abbotsford Canucks – AHL).
The Vancouver Canucks are in a great place with their current prospect pool and young core of players already in the National Hockey League, and if they’re able to retool/rebuild the right way, they could be set up for success for many years to come.
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily