Vancouver Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin struck gold with reported 2024 Draft steal

As the Vancouver Canucks transition into a rebuilding period, the club's priority has shifted as they want to get younger, whether that be through trades or the draft and to stock up their prospect pool with high-end talent that'll make an impact in the NHL in the years to come.

The Vancouver Canucks already have some really nice pieces in their prospect pool at the moment and are poised to add another in June's draft as they'll likely land a top-three pick and have the opportunity to select Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg.

Looking at the rest of the team's prospect pool and it looks like the Canucks might have hit a home run, as one of them is lighting it up with Michigan State University in the NCAA.

In a recent article for Daily Hive, Trevor Beggs examined the season Vancouver Canucks forward prospect Anthony Romani is having down in the NCAA after leaving the Ontario Hockey League's Barrie Colts at the end of the 2024-25 campaign.

The Pickering, Ontario native was selected by the Canucks in the sixth round, 162nd overall, in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft after an impressive 58-goal, 111-point season with the North Bay Battalion of the OHL.

Fast forward to February 2026 and Romani is now fourth on Michigan State University in points with 22 (12 goals, ten assists) in 26 games, with Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel and Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone ahead of him.

As Beggs points out in his article, under the new CHL-NCAA rules and his move to college hockey, the Vancouver Canucks now have an additional two years to sign Anthony Romani, with his exclusive signing rights now expiring on June 1st, 2028 rather than June 1st of this year.

While it's unclear what the Vancouver Canucks intend to do with Anthony Romani this summer, given that he's just 20, turns 21 in July, and isn't ready for professional hockey just yet, they'd be smart to have him return to the NCAA for at least one more season before considering signing him to his entry-level contract.

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