The Vancouver Canucks are pairing head coach Manny Malhotra with his son Caleb as they look to the future.
The Canucks selected Caleb Malhotra with the No. 3 pick in Friday’s NHL Draft.
Malhotra, 18, dominated the OHL with 29 goals and 84 points in 67 games for the Brantford Bulldogs. He added 26 points in 15 playoff games.
Malhotra is committed to Boston University for the 2026-27 season, and told Sportsnet's Brendan Batchelor on Friday that he intends to play there this fall before making the jump to the NHL.
"This is unbelievable," Malhotra told Sportsnet's Ailish Forfar shortly after his selection. "This is something you can only dream of, you know, when you're a kid, and you're putting the same jersey on as your dad and you can imagine you're him. Now, I'm in the same shoes. This is so special, I'm so thankful."
The Canucks promoted Manny Malhotra to their head coach job after he held the same job for their AHL team for two seasons. As a player, Manny Malhotra was the seventh-overall pick in 1998 and he appeared in 991 games, including two seasons with the Canucks.
When asked if he believes his dad will have any trouble benching him for poor play, the younger Malhotra said: "I hope not. I'll do my best."
The Malhotras join Darryl and Ryan Sittler as the only other father-son duo to have been top-10 selections in the NHL draft, per Sportsnet Stats.
