The Vancouver Canucks’ scouts went to work on Saturday, selecting seven new prospects for the pipeline.
We heard from the top two picks on Saturday and, after the draft concluded, spoke with Director of Amateur Scouting Todd Harvey.
“Well, we got bigger,” joked Harvey at the beginning of his media availability, and that is definitely correct with their first pick on day two.
Brooks Rogowski, C, 6’7, 235 lbs, 33rd Overall
Leading off the second day, the Canucks selected Brooks Rogowski at 33rd overall. Rogowski is a monster of a man, standing at 6’7” and coming in at 235 lbs.
Rogowski has played the past two seasons with the Oshawa Generals in the OHL, and he is coming off a season in which he scored 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points in 46 games.
“It was more of an offensive season for me. Also, I was not on a great team, but I think it's more of a 200-foot game, and I have to be doing all the small things well. I played PK, played defensively responsibly, and just did all the small things well,” said Rogowski about this past season in the OHL.
When asked about wearing the Canucks jersey for the first time, Rogowski said, “Oh, it feels amazing. It's the best feeling I've ever had.”
Niklas Aaram-Olsen, LW, 6’0”, 185 lbs, 41st Overall
The Canucks picked Niklas Aaram-Olsen with the 41st overall pick. Last season, he played for Örebro’s J20 team in Sweden and put up 20 goals and 20 assists for 40 points in 29 games. He also played in 20 SHL games with Örebro’s men’s team.
He stands at 6’0” and plays on the wing. Aaram-Olsen confirmed that he is heading to Boston University in the NCAA next season, where he will join Caleb Malhotra on the Terriers and has a chance of being on a top-six line with the Canucks’ third overall pick.
“Yeah, they get a [person who] gets shots and is scoring goals,” said Aaram-Olsen when asked about what his game is all about. “[I want to] make a difference in the game, offensively.”
Dmitri Ivchenko, G, 6’2”, 188 lbs, 78th overall
With their third round pick, they took the goalie route, selecting Dmitri Ivchenko out of the MHL in Russia. Ivchenko played 19 MHL games last season, posting an 11-5-1 record with a 1.91 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage, and four shutouts.
“Ian Clark is a big part of our process, and he does such a great job, and we all know how hard he works, and he's on top of things. He was excited, and when he gets excited, I get excited too,” said Harvey.
Yaroslav Bryzgalov, LW, 6’3, 216 lbs, 97th overall
The Canucks opened round four by selecting Yaroslav Bryzgalov from the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. The big Belarusian winger had 13 goals and 42 assists for 55 points in 64 games played.
He went undrafted last season, but his combination of size, physicality, and willingness to go to the net makes him an attractive prospect for the pipeline.
Connor Davis, RW, 6’0”, 188 lbs, 129th overall
The fifth prospect added to the pipeline was Connor Davis, who had a heck of a final run this past season, picking up 11 goals, 13 assists, and 24 points in his final 14 games played this year.
Davis is a strong forechecker who works hard on every shift. He is off to the NCAA in the fall, joining the University of North Dakota.
“Our guys really liked him, and that was a big thing. I’ve got to trust our guys; they watched him more than I did. He's got a great path going to North Dakota; they've been able to produce a lot of players out of that arena. Our guys were excited, and everything matched up, you know, analytically, and it was a great process,” said Harvey.
Lucian Bernat, RW, 6’4”, 201 lbs, 176th overall
Lucian Bernat was the 176th selection of the draft, and he comes with size and good touch around the net. Next season, he is coming over to the OHL, joining the Owen Sound Attack.
Samuel Eriksson, LD, 6’6”, 212 lbs, 186th overall
A big, physical defenceman who stands at 6’6” is always an interesting prospect to add to the pipeline. Todd Harvey joked that the team still had to take a Swede in the draft.
“For a big guy, he moves pretty good. He's got a long reach, too. I saw him at the start of the year, and he got better throughout the year. He's a guy that's going to take time, he's going to be back there in Sweden, and he's a guy that you can fit into a shutdown role, five/six guy that can play some minutes there and penalty kill,” said Harvey about the Canucks’ final pick of the draft.
He finished his media availability by saying what he would tell his scouts as the organization puts a bow on the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
“I’m going to hug them all, they did a great job, and they do a lot of hard work and a lot of miles over the year. I’m proud of them. We've got a good group here, and we're close, and everybody feels like they can speak their minds, and that's something that we really want to be able to tell our guys. It's open here. If you don't like the player or you like the player, I want to know. It's all about information,” said Harvey.
