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Canucks Central

The Open: Who's the next Canucks Hire?

09 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: Who is Manny Malhotra and why was he hired by the Canucks?

2.545 - 49.506 Satyar Shah

. Canuck Central on a Tuesday coming to you live from the Kintec studio. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintec. It's Satyar Shah and Biknazar. And this hour of the program is brought to you by your lower mainland Boston pizza. The playoffs are here and BP is ready. So skip the couch, catch every hit, every goal, every save, every playoff beard. This is how you watch playoff hockey.

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49.546 - 66.977 Satyar Shah

Big show coming up for you today. We're going to be chatting with Ryan Hanna, who covers the Detroit Red Wings. They might have some issues to deal with, especially with Dylan Larkin, their captain, requesting a trade. We'll chat with him coming up in a bit. Plus, IMAC is going to drop by coming up at four. An earlier show today because game over.

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66.957 - 82.402 Satyar Shah

number four of the Stanley Cup final with the Vegas Golden Knights holding a 2-1 series lead over the Carolina Hurricanes. Gets going after five today. A game you can listen to right here on Sportsnet 650. And we always want to hear from you on the show. So get your thoughts in to our Dunbar Lumber text inbox, 650-650.

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82.582 - 92.678 Satyar Shah

Trusted by contractors and DIY champions across Metro Vancouver, four generations. Find them at three convenient locations or visit Dunbar Lumber online today. What's happening, Vic?

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92.759 - 100.753 Bik Nazar

Awesome, man. You all good? I'm good, man. I'm chill. Slow to start the show there. Was it tears in your eyes because Zeve Boopum won the Stanley Pup?

100.793 - 121.428 Satyar Shah

Listen, man, Zeve Boopum, he came out big. You can always trust the Canucks Pup because the Canucks Pup comes through. Yeah, I mean, listen, I know that we haven't had a lot to celebrate, but anytime you can celebrate our furry friends taking home some hardware... Huge W. We have to, man. Zeve Boopum. Huge W. And people are wondering, is Zeve Boopum a good nickname? I'm like, you know what?

121.448 - 126.256 Satyar Shah

You guys are questioning the wrong dog. He's got some real dog in him.

126.556 - 129.08 Bik Nazar

He's got some dog in him.

129.1 - 130.041 Satyar Shah

Would you have to do it the reverse?

Chapter 2: What are the potential next hires for the Canucks' coaching staff?

186.01 - 186.531 Satyar Shah

Hawks?

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186.551 - 189.195 Bik Nazar

Right. We were very confused. Yeah. I'm like, Zeev.

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189.255 - 198.866 Satyar Shah

We were not as locked in as that. What is going on? Everyone's so confused. I guess I'm the only real dog lover here. Y'all like cats? Yeah. I don't mind cats. Cats are fine.

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198.886 - 204.42 Bik Nazar

Certainly. I just didn't have Stanley Pup on my highlight pack.

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204.44 - 215.854 Satyar Shah

It just wasn't on my radar. It was Stanley Pup, Stanley Pup, then NBA Finals for me last night. No, the NBA Finals, by the way, was fantastic. Another great... I mean, the finals were both... It's unbelievable.

215.874 - 226.632 Bik Nazar

Dynamite. They're just like trading blows right now. So game four tonight, it's quite the bar that they keep having to clear. But, you know, with the way that series has gone, you expect it to be another fantastic game.

226.672 - 247.285 Satyar Shah

Yeah, no doubt. So the finals, we'll see if they are both going to be 2-2 or somebody takes a 3-1 series lead with the series being 2-1 in both. And... Vegas Golden Knights certainly have a chance to grab a stranglehold if they win the game here tonight. Greg texts in, I'm just waiting for Barko Rutu. All right. All right.

247.305 - 262.502 Satyar Shah

Let's get to The Open, which is brought to you by FiberTech, your exclusive dealer of house of roll luxury plumbing fixtures. Visit their state-of-the-art showrooms and experience centers in Surrey, Vancouver, and Coquitlam, or check out FiberTechBC.ca. Would Barco Ruto have to trip Dion Phanufi?

264.404 - 265.606 Bik Nazar

That'd be awesome.

Chapter 3: What is the timeline for the Canucks' management decisions?

449.394 - 461.328 Satyar Shah

Because his agent, Jerry Johansson, he was on Donnie and Dolly and mentioned that the Canucks have the file in front of them, like in terms of they understand there is a possibility to trade for Brendan Gallagher's rights.

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461.348 - 479.812 Satyar Shah

And I'm not saying the Canucks will not do this, but I think right now their priority is so much about filling out the front office, figuring out the rest of your coaching staff, and also the big one, which is the draft itself. And The individuals already in the organization are the ones who are focused on the draft as it is. So that's like the chief focus here.

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480.133 - 497.863 Satyar Shah

And I think as we kind of get through these next few weeks and they start filling out some of these priorities, then we'll see them switch gears towards, okay, who are some free agent candidates, who are some trade possibilities. But it doesn't look like anything is imminent right now in terms of them making a player acquisition via trade, especially for a guy like Brendan Gallagher.

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498.586 - 507.319 Satyar Shah

So, again, just looking at it in terms of, like, triage, like, what's important? What do we have to deal with? What can we, like, wait for and handle? And I think that's a big part of what's happening.

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507.339 - 518.395 Bik Nazar

Especially with, you know, that situation. If it is a scenario where Montreal, they clearly want to move on. Yeah. Like, why rush to help them on June 9th?

518.536 - 518.756 Unknown

Yeah.

518.936 - 541.327 Bik Nazar

When... Okay, what does it look like by draft day? What does it look like by the end of June prior to July 1? Like, why rescue Montreal? Like, the phrase I know Elliot always uses, like, teams don't throw you... Lifelines. Yeah, lifelines. Throw you anvils. Throw you anvils. So, like, Vancouver's in a position holding an anvil right now to chuck at Montreal. Yeah, just wait this out.

541.387 - 548.657 Bik Nazar

You don't need to rush to do anything. I would like to see Brendan Gallagher here, but it doesn't mean you have to do it today and let Montreal, like, sort their planning out.

548.637 - 565.645 Satyar Shah

And the other part is like they are going to be looking to add some toughness veteran leadership types in free agency. And if they're doing that and say looking at a Brendan Gallagher, they still have to remove some veterans from the roster. So I think they're still moving parts. And I think the roster side is going to be fascinating, but it doesn't look like that's right now a priority.

Chapter 4: Who is Caleb Malhotra and why is he ranked third overall in draft projections?

737.025 - 753.012 Satyar Shah

Like I'm running to the podium taking Stenberg. I'm not I'm not overthinking this. Right. But we talked about how like, hey, you know, Caleb's gaining momentum. There are a lot of people that are big on Caleb and they think that he would be worthwhile to go in the top three, for instance. And then I've had people tell me, why are the Canucks going against consensus?

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753.072 - 771.262 Satyar Shah

Why are they taking a player who's going to be a second line center? And you can have that opinion in terms of not wanting him or wanting somebody else and not being high on his upside. But teams aren't projecting him as a top three pick if they think he's going to be a second line center. The projection, and we'll get to Jason Bukala's rankings here in a bit.

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771.783 - 786.551 Satyar Shah

If people have him, no, the people that have Caleb Malhotra in the top three, top four of their draft lists, they're projecting him to be a first-line center. A first-line, two-way center. how much faith do you have that he's going to be that? Well, you can have that debate.

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786.791 - 801.253 Satyar Shah

But I don't think these teams are like, oh, we're just taking this guy, you know, third overall or fourth overall or second overall because we think he's a good two-way center who can be a second-line 60-point guy. Like, the projection that people have is like front-line, two-way, selkie-caliber center.

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801.574 - 818.988 Bik Nazar

So, okay, the thing I was going to bring up is, is that the... making the wish, the father of the thought kind of thing of, like, I'm sure there's a lot of teams that, you know, a couple of years ago would have told themselves a story. Like, did Columbus tell themselves a story about Kadem Lidstrom?

819.368 - 840.662 Bik Nazar

That's like, hey, this guy is going to be a number one center, and that's why we are taking him fourth overall. Did... here recently, what was last year? Like, Frondell. Did Chicago say, hey, we're doing this because he's going to be number one center? Did Utah take Denoyer because, like, hey, we believe, is it, like,

841.857 - 857.856 Bik Nazar

the evaluation is incorrect because you've thrusted him into a spot of maybe only you see something, and you're the only team that thinks he's a first-line center? Or is this, like, again, I'm open to the concept. Like, I do think there's, like, a small percentage chance. Like, hey, he could be a first-line center.

858.597 - 880.346 Bik Nazar

Think of the way we discussed Nick Suzuki seven years ago to the way we discuss Nick Suzuki now, right? So there's growth in that space, and a guy can hit the 15% to 25% chance outcome to hit 100% of his potential, right? It's tough to get there, and Caleb's got the shot. I just think there's an overwhelming sense of like, hey, he might be a high-end number two rather than a low-end number one.

880.366 - 887.406 Bik Nazar

And at that stage, what is the bare minimum threshold that he's got to cross for you to say, hey, it's worth doing at number three?

Chapter 5: What are the chances of Caleb Malhotra being drafted by Vancouver?

1071.984 - 1072.665 Bik Nazar

It's like, yeah, of course.

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1072.865 - 1085.217 Satyar Shah

Yeah, but I mean... If Stenberg's there, they should take Stenberg, but... If you get Robert Thomas with a third overall pick, I don't think you're going to be too upset about it. Like, PLD's issues are more on the character side. In terms of him playing at his highest peak, he's a really nice player.

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1085.237 - 1087.559 Bik Nazar

I just mean, like, just output. Just remove the bank.

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1087.579 - 1105.159 Satyar Shah

Yeah, I mean, with third overall, yeah. I mean... Robert Thomas could have been an Olympian for Team Canada. And if he had a better year, maybe he would have been an Olympian, right? So I think, you know, if you're getting that, obviously you want to get even better, but can you complain about a guy who's a point per game or better being your top center?

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1105.179 - 1123.766 Satyar Shah

I think that's perfectly fine with a third overall selection. And what's interesting about this is Jason Bukola... courtesy of Sportsnet, put out his 100 top prospects, his final rankings. And first overall, he has Ivar Stenberg. So he's, you know, one of the quote-unquote outliers to some degree that has Stenberg ahead of McKenna in the draft. He has McKenna number two.

1123.806 - 1134.658 Satyar Shah

And number three, Kelo Malhotra. And I'm seeing more and more lists with Kelo Malhotra finding himself in that, you know, third, fourth spot on the rankings.

1134.807 - 1155.085 Bik Nazar

he also mentions he, he had some excellent interviews at the combine and this was like a very, very predictable thing. We had Caleb on the show and no good interview as well. Um, yeah, like there seems to be a very natural maturity to him. And I've had this thought to going back to February and March.

1155.105 - 1183.982 Bik Nazar

It's like, I think we'll look back in a year and maybe there's a lot of growth for him in that, in that phase. But man, it, it, it, It really depends what happens. Like, you would have loved back to May 5th, finish second, and the conversation's a bit clearer. But unless he breaks that threshold, it feels like passing up on either number one D or certainly the wing, it's just tough.

1184.002 - 1193.451 Bik Nazar

Like, he probably has to hit that marker to cross that first-line threshold for you to feel great about it. But that's going to take, like, that's like a four or five-year journey.

Chapter 6: How do team dynamics affect player draft decisions?

1378.887 - 1403.781 Bik Nazar

If you view him that way, I do think there's enough defensive awareness and absolutely fluid mover. And so I'm curious, as he grows up, how much of that skating power continues. But yeah, there's a world where he maintains the big frame, all the movement ability, the defensive detail to his game that's already there.

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1405.499 - 1427.119 Bik Nazar

that version of it, it's like, are you going to get the high-end offensive upside that Barkov has given you for seasons? But... it's a tantalizing prospect. It's just, it felt easier at times to see Barkov making that leap because the natural offensive skill felt like it was like the floor of that always felt so high. And then he started to really, really produce.

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1427.199 - 1438.791 Satyar Shah

Yeah. No. And Dan from Langley says when the Canucks have Pedersen, Rossi and Kutz, they need another second line center. They need a clear number one. Again, the projection, if you're taking Malhotra that high is that you think he's a clear number one center.

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1439.452 - 1457.638 Satyar Shah

You may disagree, but that's what the projection is for people that are taking him at that point. And ultimately, here's the reality. Most prospects don't hit their peak. Yeah. Right? And that's just the reality of how the draft goes. You got to get lucky as well. All right. Keep your thoughts coming into our Dunbar Lumber text inbox, 650-650. We'll hit some more as the show goes on.

1457.898 - 1474.233 Satyar Shah

But before we get out, let's get to the third wheel. It's our draft simulator to find out who the Canucks are picking with the third overall selection. All right. Let's spin the wheel. There we go.

1474.553 - 1498.757 Bik Nazar

Actually, we never did get an answer. What happened on Friday's show? Was it Stenberg? Yeah, it was Stenberg. So we have a lot of Stenberg. Do you have Stenberg again? No, not today. Today, the guy we were just talking about, Caleb Aholtra. Caleb. All right. We knew that Caleb was going to make a push. Yeah. It's our weighted wheel. And Caleb has the largest share of the wheel.

1499.477 - 1503.706 Bik Nazar

And this is the third time he's been... randomly selected here.

1503.987 - 1508.613 Satyar Shah

All right. All right. So just over two weeks to go to the draft. So we have a few more Sims. So find out exactly.

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