The 2025 NHL Draft is in the books and the Vancouver Canucks added six new faces to their prospect pool. They focused mainly down the middle, selecting four centers, one goaltender and one winger. They also stayed on this side of the Atlantic, with five coming from North America (four from the Canadian Hockey League and one from the United States Hockey League). The lone overseas representative was Wilson Bjorck; however, he will be coming over to the NCAA to play for Colorado College next season.
Related: 2025 NHL Draft Tracker
With all that said, let’s meet the six prospects that make up the Canucks’ 2025 NHL Draft class.
1st Round, 15th Overall – Braeden Cootes, Center, Seattle Thunderbirds (WHL)
With the organization’s propensity to lean toward Swedish players (their last two first-round picks have been from the Tre Kronor after all), I really thought they were going to grab Victor Eklund here. But they went with their original plan, which looked to be in place since the Draft Combine when they took him to dinner, and selected Braeden Cootes from the Western Hockey League’s Seattle Thunderbirds. Like many people, I absolutely love this pick, and if you read my first target piece for this year’s draft, you know why. His work ethic is his biggest and most noteworthy strength, along with his leadership and all-around game. He leads by example by working harder than everyone on the ice every single shift, and is often described as having that “dog in him”, which speaks to his relentless forecheck and being tough to play against.
“I’m just a competitive person in general. I want to win at anything I do, obviously. My dad always growing up would tell me, ‘The one thing you can control is your work ethic’ and I’ve been sticking to that every time I’m on the ice and play like it’s my last shift. That’s a big part of my game,” Cootes said.
General manager Patrik Allvin echoed that after selecting him, saying, “I think he’s a leader by example on and off the ice. Our staff was really impressed with him during the process of the due diligence meeting him in Seattle and in Buffalo as well.”
Early on this season, Cootes was projected by many outlets to go late in the first round. But that was before he was named captain of Team Canada and led the team with six goals and 12 points en route to a gold medal at the 2025 U18 World Championship. After that, his stock rose like a rocket, and he…
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