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Canucks Central

2026 Draft Prospects Supercut

26 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: Who is Caleb Malhotra and what are his thoughts on the draft?

2.731 - 28.62 Satiar Shah

It is Caleb Malhotra, Brantford Bulldogs forward, one of the top, if not the top, center in the 2026 NHL Draft, and he joins us now. Caleb, thanks for making some time for us, man. How are you doing today?

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29.883 - 34.167 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, thanks for having me, guys. We're still about to start the second round of the playoffs, so I'm pretty excited.

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34.488 - 40.954 Satiar Shah

Oh, no, I can imagine that. And as far as how the season has gone, obviously your team has had a lot of success. How much fun has this year been?

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Chapter 2: What insights does Chase Reid share about his experience this season?

42.836 - 58.371 Ilya Morozov

A ton. You know, I'm getting first year on the team and a lot of guys first years on the team. And, again, know everybody and learn from veteran guys and just build relationships. It's been really fun and obviously having a good team and doing very well really helps. So I'm enjoying it a lot.

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60.089 - 69.565 Bik Nizar

When you reflect on the season as you get ready for your draft cycle here, what was important to you to complete this year that you feel like you've achieved?

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72.129 - 84.109 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, it's actually learning stuff about myself, about my game, kind of stuff I need to improve on, and just kind of staying consistent with stuff I need to stay consistent in my game, I think.

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Chapter 3: How does Carson Carels reflect on his draft preparation?

84.85 - 101.279 Ilya Morozov

I need to... needs to be non-negotiable, so true 100-foot play and effort always needs to be there, and I kind of learned that, especially with a long season. When you have that there, even when you're on your best nights, you're going to be able to to stick out and make an impact on the game.

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101.739 - 105.426 Satiar Shah

So in terms of those non-negotiables, like how did that sink in for you?

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105.646 - 122.715 Satiar Shah

And how did you see it kind of in action in terms of, you know, there are nights where maybe you don't feel like you have it or, you know, your body, your mind is just not right, but you still have to kind of find a way to bring yourself to that level to meet that baseline and do the non-negotiables with sacrificing your body and doing the proper things the coach wants out of you.

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124.467 - 141.055 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, like you said, not every night you're going to feel good. You're not going to have the hands. You're not going to have your legs. So when I start to see that, maybe it's an off night. I know, okay, I've got this fast to step up. And I call it my B game has to be better than everybody else's A game.

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Chapter 4: What does Wyatt Cullen say about the differences in playoff and regular season play?

141.075 - 162.218 Ilya Morozov

So it has to be more reliable. And even if I'm not, you know, you don't produce every night. So I'm not making plays and I'm not able to. For whatever reason, I got to be able to be reliable on the penalty kill or in the zone for important draws. And when that kind of starts to fall in place for me, I can kind of feel like I've had an impact on the game.

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163.32 - 174.117 Bik Nizar

Was there something last summer that you wanted to work on that as the season developed, you kind of reflect back on and say, OK, I put the work into seeing the progress and now I'm feeling it?

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175.818 - 183.066 Ilya Morozov

Definitely. I think my skating still has a long way to go and I want to be faster and more explosive and stronger.

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Chapter 5: How does JP Hurlbert describe his journey from Texas to the WHL?

183.106 - 197.102 Ilya Morozov

But I think even from the beginning of the season until now, I've put in quite a bit of work and kind of seeing my skating kind of improve and that pay off a little bit. It's nice to know that I'm on the right track to where I want to get to.

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197.842 - 211.24 Satiar Shah

In terms of your offensive game, I mean, you know, the numbers speak for themselves. Your goal scoring's been there. The playmaking's been there as well. at what point this season did you kind of feel the confidence of not only can I produce, I can produce at a high level in this league?

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213.703 - 236.08 Ilya Morozov

Um, yeah, I don't know. Maybe, um, uh, maybe, uh, the world juniors break. I kind of went when a lot of our top guys were kind of gone and, um, I got a lot, a lot more, um, opportunity and kind of chance to show, uh, try and be a first-line center on a team and be a leader.

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236.1 - 252.644 Ilya Morozov

I kind of felt more confident and trusting my abilities more because if we wanted to win games in that stretch, we needed guys to step up. So that's probably a part of the season where I realized that I can produce and I was pretty confident in my game.

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253.365 - 256.389 Bik Nizar

Is there someone you tailor your game after that you enjoy watching?

Chapter 6: What are Ilia Morozov's feelings about being a top prospect?

259.354 - 279.119 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, definitely. I mean, He didn't play this season, but Alexander Barkov, I really like watching. Andre Kopitar, I've liked for a long time. Jonathan Taves, when I was younger, I loved watching him. But, yeah, there's so many guys. I mean, a guy like Celebrini, obviously, so elite, but he's praised for how he doesn't cheat the game and how he plays.

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279.179 - 282.543 Ilya Morozov

So that's a guy I can always watch and enjoy looking at.

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Chapter 7: How does Mathis Preston view his role and contributions on the team?

282.563 - 285.407 Satiar Shah

Do you take pleasure out of performing well defensively?

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287.783 - 306.02 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, definitely. I think it's a big part of my game. I really take pride in that. My dad talks about it a lot. That's something I make sure is non-emotional in my game. If I start to cheat the game or I find myself cheating for offense, then I've got to go back to the basics and start into the zone.

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306.06 - 313.326 Bik Nizar

What's more enjoyable, frustrating the opponent defensively or scoring against them and frustrating them that way?

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313.347 - 313.847 Ilya Morozov

It's tough.

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Chapter 8: What do Liam and Markus Ruck say about the dynamics of playing together as twins?

314.407 - 323.427 Ilya Morozov

I think scoring a goal is... No best feelings in hockey. I love scoring goals, but when you know you're shutting someone down and you're getting in their head, that feels pretty good too.

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323.812 - 339.896 Satiar Shah

Well, yeah, I would imagine scoring would be a big one. You kind of mentioned your team. You guys have a lot of talent on the squad as well. And, you know, obviously there were trades made and players that came to your team, and you guys are certainly really pushing forward. How exciting is it to be on a team that has as much talent as you guys do?

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339.916 - 351.253 Satiar Shah

And also that you're performing so well, considering there are players that are in their draft plus one years who, you know, obviously are further ahead in their development, but you're doing as well or if not better than a lot of those guys.

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353.09 - 368.275 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, obviously a lot of those guys are the reason I'm able to produce offensively. When we have a power play as good as ours, it's kind of pretty automatic. So we've got guys like Juracek and O'Brien and Van Acker and Van Ack.

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368.876 - 377.089 Ilya Morozov

So when you have elite players like that around you, moving the puck and being able to find you in areas like a lot of other guys wouldn't be able to, it makes it pretty easy.

377.795 - 383.161 Bik Nizar

What have you noticed in the differences there for regular season and playoffs then? Because it's been a really good start for you.

386.205 - 404.747 Ilya Morozov

Yeah, I think my motor and our team's motor in general, like we've been really excited and we have our goal in mind that we want to go to the Memorial Cup and win the whole thing. So when we have that goal in mind, we know it's never going to be easy and we don't take our foot off the gas. So right from game one, no matter who our opponent was, we

405.25 - 411.009 Ilya Morozov

we decided this has to be our standard, and we're playing to that right now, so that's the biggest thing.

411.029 - 427.346 Satiar Shah

I'm sure, Caleb, you get asked quite a bit about your dad, who's coaching with the Abbotsford Canucks, Manny, and obviously high-draft picks himself played had a long, very successful career in the National Hockey League. Obviously, he's super busy coaching his own team. You're busy doing your own thing. What's that like during the year when you guys do talk?

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