Should the Canucks draft Caleb Malhotra after hiring Manny?

It’s been a roller coaster of an offseason for the Vancouver Canucks, who finished with the worst record in the NHL this season, but did not land the No. 1 overall pick in the NHL draft lottery, instead falling to No. 3.

Jim Rutherford stepped aside from his position of leadership in the hockey operations department, and the Canucks opted to move on from one-year head coach Adam Foote, hiring Manny Malhotra, a member of the 2010-11 Western Conference championship-winning Vancouver team, as the new bench boss.

The Malhotra hiring combined with the fall in the draft lottery set up a possible family reunion with the organization, as rather than selecting Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick, Vancouver now has several options at No. 3, including Malhotra’s son Caleb, who is considered by many to be the best center available in the draft.

On Tuesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton discussed whether the Canucks’ decision to hire Manny as their head coach makes it more or less likely that they will select his son with the No. 3 overall pick.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It also brings up an interesting question. Does this make it more or less likely that they draft Manny’s son Caleb third overall? Because it’s, again, you look at some of the mock drafts that’s right around where Caleb Malhotra could be going. What do you think, Hutts? More or less likely that the Canucks take Caleb now?

Carter Hutton: I think it creates a little bit more pressure too. And again, I think Malhotra would be a guy not to rush his son either, but maybe it would be a reward. I don’t know. And maybe that’s why we think about that two-week window where it took to hire him, [he] was trying to align what the plan was with assistants, what the plan was with contracts… So, you know, that would be a great storyline. It wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen a player play for his dad. But that being said, sometimes it would be less, like easier, to get away from it. You know, I don’t know if if you’re sitting in that dressing room with Caleb and knowing his dad as the coach, it could be kind of a bit that’s a little bit undermining to a team that’s rebuilding in that sense, Ty.

Tyler Yaremchuk: It can go both ways. Like you can have the favoritism, or you can have a coach who is too hard on his son and isn’t developing him properly. So I do think I can kind of see both ways of it. And I mean, there’s a part of me that goes, a guy who gets picked third overall, players in that range, sometimes they get a little bit rushed into the NHL because there’s that pressure on the team to like maintain a good relationship with the kid. And oh, he wants to play pro. So let’s keep him in the NHL for longer than we think we should or give him more than he’s ready for because we want him to, you know, feel valued and feel like he’s wanted here. So I think there is a world where maybe having your dad in the mix, he can be the voice who’s like, ‘No, no, son, like, I don’t care how you feel about it. You’re going back to play college next year…’ So I think you can kind of see both sides of it. I honestly think it doesn’t change the equation. If you think he is the best player available when you step up to the podium, you take him.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…