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The Quinn Hughes trade is now complete.
In return for trading the franchise defenceman to the Minnesota Wild, the Vancouver Canucks received Zeev Buium, Marco Rossi, Liam Öhgren, and Adam Novotný.
For a long while, that last spot was “first-round pick.” With the Canucks’ selection of Czech left wing Novotný, that mystery is now removed.
So what do we know about Novotný? Well, he brings a couple of attributes that the Canucks are clearly trying to stack in rebuilding the roster. He, like Caleb Malhotra, who the Canucks took at third overall, is big and fast. They both also seem like good people and hard workers.
Novotný, it must be said, was expected by most prospect analysts and guides to go earlier than 24th to the Canucks. Many mock drafts and talent evaluators had him closer to 15 than 25.
It was ultimately his combination of consistency, skating, and physicality that intrigued Cancusk general manager Ryan Johnson.
The downside here is that there might not be as much upside as you could arguably get with other players at the end of the first round.
A positive evaluation of the player typically puts him as a middle-six scoring threat, a hard forechecker, and someone who can charge to the net with and without the puck.
To be honest, as someone who usually loves to chase offensive upside no matter what, a bet like that one someone who scored so well in their first OHL season sounds pretty good. On its face, it reminds one a little bit of what the Canucks had hoped they’d get with Vasily Podkolzin. That probably comes with some bad memories, but Podkolzin has blossomed into a productive player that most teams in the league would love to have for a playoff run.
Yes, as evaluators like Hockey Prospecting’s Byron Bader say, the chances of a player with Novotný’s scoring profile and equivalency metrics becoming a star are not high.
But there are some green flags with Novotný when you look a little closer. After all, last year was his first year playing outside of Czechia, and he starred with Peterborough, leading the team in scoring with 65 points (34 goals!) in 58 games in a season that he started as a 17-year-old. That’s not easy to do. He’s also regarded as a two-way forward who is solid in his own zone.
And while his World Juniors numbers have to be seen as a tad disappointing for a first-round pick (he scored four points in 14 games over two stints at the tourney), some scouts don’t think he was bad there.
“The underlying process was stellar,” said Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis about Novotný’s work at the World Juniors. “He consistently navigated into high-danger areas and generated quality chances.” Ellis expects Novotný to become a high-impact, top-six power forward who scores 40 to 50 points at the NHL level.
Usually it’s a little concerning when teams (and the Canucks have done it many times before) draft for attributes (big, fast, character, etc.) instead of production or skill, but there’s enough here that it’s an encouraging bet.