Caleb Malhotra praises fellow Canucks prospect Adam Novotný
The Vancouver Canucks’ top prospect isn’t at their training camp in Penticton this week.
Caleb Malhotra, whom the Canucks selected with the third-overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, is instead at Boston University, where his semester has already started. His hockey season with the BU Terriers kicks off on Oct. 2.
He did, however, have high praise for one of the Canucks’ other top prospects, who is at training camp.
Malhotra spoke to Marco D’Amico at Ratings and opened up about what it was like to be drafted by the Canucks and all of the emotions of draft day. But he also recalled the moment when the Canucks made their second pick of the draft.
Using the first-round pick acquired from the Minnesota Wild in the trade for Quinn Hughes, the Canucks selected Adam Novotný.
Malhotra was ecstatic.
“I couldn’t believe he was still up there,” Malhotra told D’Amico. “It was awesome. We got this absolute player.”
Malhotra faced Novotný multiple times in the OHL last season, as his Brantford Bulldogs and Novotný’s Peterborough Petes battled in the Eastern Conference, and the two prospects got to know each other at CHL and OHL prospect events.
It’s understandable that Malhotra might think so highly of Novotný: the Czech winger scored five goals and eight points in their five meetings. Novotný must have seemed unstoppable.
“Steal, in my opinion,” said Malhotra.
He’s not the only one with that opinion. Most public draft rankings had Novotný ranked in the 13-19 range.
Novotný has continued to impress since he was drafted. He was the standout performer at the Canucks’ two-game Prospect Showcase against the Seattle Kraken, and has not looked out of place among NHLers at training camp in Penticton.
One interesting wrinkle for Novotný is that he’s technically in his 19th year, as he turns 19 in November. As pointed out by Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, Novotný could technically play in the AHL this season with the NHL’s new agreement with the CHL, as he was only on loan from his Czech club.
NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly has confirmed that there is no limit on the number of 19-year-old CHL prospects who can play in the AHL under the new rule, where previously it was thought teams would be limited to one.
Braeden Cootes is likely to play in the AHL this season under this rule, but it’s possible that so could Novotný.
While it’s likely that Novotný will return to Peterborough to play his post-draft season in the OHL, if he continues to impress, the AHL is a possibility.