Caleb Malhotra just got a serious co-sign, and it's coming from a real NHL player who trained alongside him this summer.
Angus Crookshank of the Florida Panthers, a North Vancouver native, spent time on the ice with the 18-year-old Canucks prospect this offseason.
"He's got the frame and the size to be an NHL centre, for sure," Crookshank said. "He commands the game at his own pace."
Crookshank described a three-on-three pickup session where Malhotra was already slowing the game down to his own tempo against grown pros.
"His vision and his ability to find guys, it was nice playing on his team that day," Crookshank added. "He found me a few times."
Crookshank even noted Malhotra's release, calling it sneaky while admitting he's biased since he loves shooting the puck himself.
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That praise carries real weight given who it's coming from. Crookshank posted 8 games with Florida last season on a $775,000 cap hit, a legitimate NHL winger himself.
Why this matters for a Canucks rebuild built on patience
Malhotra hasn't signed an NHL contract yet, which puts him firmly in Vancouver's long-term development pipeline rather than anywhere close to the current roster.
That's exactly the kind of asset a rebuilding team needs to keep unearthing, especially at center, a position where Vancouver's depth thins out fast beyond its veterans.
One informal summer skate against pros doesn't guarantee anything translates once real games start with real stakes attached.
But hearing an actual NHL player single out an 18-year-old's ability to command tempo is the kind of anecdote scouts and fans both remember.
Vancouver's rebuild timeline stretches years, not months, and prospects like Malhotra are exactly the long-term bet that plan depends on.
Whether he ever wears a Canucks sweater in a real NHL game is still years away from being answered, but this is the kind of early buzz worth filing away.
Is Caleb Malhotra the Canucks' best long-term center prospect?
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