future top-six centerman Braeden Cootes<\/a>, who will be representing Team Canada at the 2026 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championship starting tonight.<\/p>\n“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.<\/p>\n
New name takes over first spot on Vancouver Canucks’ top prospects list<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Previously on Vancouver Hockey Daily<\/p>\n
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