If the Vancouver Canucks use the third overall pick in Friday’s National Hockey League draft to select Caleb Malhotra, his father, Canucks head coach Manny Malhotra will find out at the same time as everybody else. General manager Ryan Johnson knew picking Caleb Malhotra was a possibility when the team hired his dad. “I discussed it with Manny when I hired him, that if that was going to be an issue then it wasn’t something that he and I should move forward with. After that, that was put to bed,” Johnson said during a media scrum on Thursday. The Canucks, who finished last in the league this past season, have 10 total picks across the seven rounds of the draft. Many pundits predict Yukon-born winger Gavin McKenna and Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg will be the first two players off the board. That would open the door for the Canucks to take the younger Malhotra third, but not everyone is convinced that would be in the team or player’s best interest. “When it comes to Caleb, I think just the feeling generally around the league right now, and talking to people that are close to the situation, is to give this kid an opportunity to write his own story and have it away from his dad,” said Cam Robinson of Elite Prospects. If McKenna and Stenberg do go first and second, Robinson suspects the Canucks might have their eye on American right-shot defenceman Chase Reid. “I think that in a class with a lot of good defenceman, he’s the best one,” he said. “And he has the best chance at being a top pair, potentially even a number one defenceman.” Johnson told reporters coach Malhotra has been kept in the dark about management’s ranking of the top prospects. “Heading into this weekend, he’s focused on being a dad and supporting his son—and we’ve got to make a decision as a hockey team,” the manager said. Whichever player the Canucks pick at number three will become the team’s highest draft pick since Daniel and Henrik Sedin were selected second and third overall in 1999.
