Vancouver Canucks 2025 NHL Draft letter grades

The final tally they had brought in was four centres, one winger and a goaltender with no defensive picks. And if there was one common theme with all the forwards selected, it’s their willingness to leave it all out on the ice.

Of course, they did not necessarily make many swings. To some, that’s considered a significant oversight, as this prospect system lacks a particular offensive punch that others may possess.

However, you can’t always draft what’s not available to you.

Here is a list of all six players, along with their corresponding letter grades.

First round, 15th overall – Braeden Cootes, C, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)

The cards played out as expected, and Braeden Cootes is officially a member of the Vancouver Canucks’ organization.

Dating back weeks, there has been well-known interest in the player, and those rumours ramped up when team representatives took him to dinner at the NHL Combine in Buffalo, New York.

Of course, with several surprise picks taking place leading up to the selection, there were a pair of names, specifically Victor Eklund, who likely caused some last-minute shakeups in the war room.

But the Canucks had their guy in their mind, and stayed the course to grab one of the hardest-working players in the draft.

Could they have taken a swing at higher offensively? Perhaps. As a result of players such as Eklund and Justin Carbeneau being made available to them at 15, the team may have left some offensive pedigree on the table.

However, with Cootes, you’re getting so much more than an offensive-minded player, although there is still tons of room for that. You’re getting a low-floor archetype that almost assures them of NHL games down the road.

Cootes checks nearly every single box the Canucks need: Right shot? Check. Centre? Check. A culture-changing prospect with the potential to wear a letter? Check. A relentless, driven personality who leaves it all on the ice? Check. Some potential for untapped offensive pedigree? Check.

While nothing is a sure thing in this world, this feels like a highly projectable pick at a spot in the draft that was promised to deliver anything but that.

Grade: A-

Second round, 47th overall – Aleksei Medvedev, G, London Knights

It had been three year’s since the Canucks last drafted a goalie (Ty Young, 2022), so it felt right to drift in that direction.

Did we anticipate a second round target? Well, maybe not.

However, when you look a little deeper into Aleksei Medvedev, the prospect, it begins to paint a fairly obvious picture.

When you have a mind like Ian Clark at the helm, you never second-guess their decision-making.  He fits the prototypical stereotype that the Canucks tend to target with their goalies: a mid-sized, athletic build with raw tools but tons of potential.

Remember Arturs Silovs, Aku Koskenvuo, and Ty Young, all of whom carried similar prototypes, and have all fared well with their developments. The big difference? All were taken in the fifth round or later.

But this is a kid who was high on their lists. In fact, he was high on most lists, with his rankings falling anywhere from 59 to 93 and everything in between. With no pick in the fourth round and two of the top netminders already off the board, the team gunned for their Ian guy, and they landed him.

With just one year of OHL experience under his belt, he’s racked up an impressive list of accolades. In 34 regular-season games, he posted a 22-8-2 record, which earned him the Dinty Moore Trophy for the top goals against average (2.79) among rookie netminders. That led to an OHL First All-Rookie selection.

Although he did not play in a playoff game, he was part of a London Knights team that won both the Ontario Hockey League and the Memorial Cup.

Additionally, he’s still just 17 years old. With London’s starter set to graduate, the crease is slated to be Medvedev’s crease in London next year, and the runway for him is endless.

It may have come as an initial shock, but we trust the process when it comes to goaltenders within this system.

Grade: B

Third round, 65th overall – Kieren Dervin, C, Kingston Frontenacs

This grade is unfair to Dervin because he’s a well-rounded, two-way centre who isn’t afraid of anything on the ice. Kieren Dervin’s physical tools are well-equipped, and he projects to be a sturdy two-way and penalty-killing centre – something every organization needs.

He skates well and has also demonstrated the ability to produce numbers at the AAA Prep League level, following a year in which he finished fourth in points (79 points in 50 games) in his league. He capped off his season by jumping over to the OHL, where he saw 10 games with the Kingston Frontenacs.

A good player, with a bottom-six projection.

The issue we have is not only where the player was selected (most pundits had him ranked well into the 100s), but this felt like a post where two scenarios could have played out:

One: Move down in the draft and recoup a pick, given that they had dealt away their fourth-round pick in the Evander Kane transaction.

Two: With a safe high-floor pick already in with Braeden Cootes, take a swing on a higher ceiling player with some offensive punch to his game. As a perfect example, Cameron Schmidt went 94th overall to the Dallas Stars. It did not necessarily have to be Schmidt, but a more risky projection would have been beneficial in injecting the system with some spice.

We give the low grade based on the circumstances, but much like Sawyer Mynio (third round, 2023) and Ty Mueller (fourth round, 2023), there may be a little more that the Canucks’ scouting staff sees than what’s on paper.

Grade: C

Fifth found, 143rd overall – Wilson Björck, LW/C, Djurgårdens IF J20

The fifth round is starting to get into long-term project territory, and at this point in the draft, it’s time to take some swings.

Reminiscent of Anthony Romani in 2024’s draft, the Canucks did just that in the fifth round, selecting an overaged Swede out of the Djurgårdens system.

Already equipped with a high-motor and relentless competitor, Björck’s offensive game shot out of a cannon in 2024-25. Could that be the environment he was placed in, skating alongside his brother, who’s projected to be a top-ranked prospect next year? Perhaps. However, Björck finished second in the J20 Nationell in scoring, right behind his brother, to lead his team to a league title.

He finished third in goals (28), fifth in assists (39), and third in plus/minus (plus–31), all while finishing second in league scoring.

The good news is that he will be crossing the pond early, as a Colorado College commit for the 2025-26 season, so he doesn’t carry the typical European timeline.

It’s a worthy swing, after a safety pick back in the third round. Will it pay off? That remains to be seen.

Grade: C+

Sixth round, 175th overall – Gabe Chiarot, RW, Brampton Steelheads

The last two rounds are interesting, as it’s typically a spot where the boom-or-bust picks are found. Yet, with a shallow draft, there weren’t too many of those options to sink your teeth into.

Instead, they opted for another physically built puck driver with a solid, all-around foundation.

Cousin of current NHLer Ben Chiarot, Gabe brings another profile that mirrors many of the skaters they’ve selected this year. He’s a competitive player who’s not afraid to take the puck to the net and battle in the corners.

When he has the chance, however, he can finish the play with a good shot and decent hands. At first glance, his numbers may not be eye-popping, but with several overaged players in Brampton, we could see a big year from the 18-year-old.

Once again, he’s a bit of a lower-floor safety pick, especially for this end of the draft, but as a right-shot driving winger, it’s hard to knock the decision here.

Grade: C+

Seventh round, 207th overall – Matthew Lansing, C, Fargo Force

There weren’t too many players left to draft, and just like in 2024, they elected for a 200-foot project. Tabbed as a decent straight-line skating, defensive-minded centre, Lansing moved from the Waterloo Blachawks to the Fargo Force in the USHL to find more ice time.

His offensive numbers don’t jump out at you, but his physical attributes, attached with a clever hockey mind, make him a worthy flyer with their last pick of the draft.

Like Basile Sansonnens in 2024, there are some intriguing raw tools, with a long pathway to realize them.

The obvious question is whether that will be the top professional league.

Grade: C-

In our opinion, it wasn’t a home-run weekend for the Vancouver Canucks. But with just six picks in a shallow draft, it was a relatively safe weekend. Without taking any swings, they brought in six players who carry projectable traits to play bottom-six or depth-type roles.

No matter what happens with the others, there are at least two players (their top two picks) within this crop who are nearly guaranteed to play NHL games.

Final grade: B-

What do you think, Canucks fans? What letter grade would you give the Canucks’ 2025 draft class?