The Vancouver Canucks are wasting no time signing members of their 2025 draft class.
On Wednesday, the Canucks signed Braeden Cootes, their first-round pick from the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. A day later, they announced the signing of their second-round pick as well, goaltender prospect Aleksei Medvedev.
The 17-year-old Russian is the sixth prospect signed from the 2025 draft and the first goaltender.
"Aleksei is an important addition to our organizational depth in goal and his signing is a great thing for our hockey club," said general manager Patrik Allvin in a statement. "He showed us a lot at development camp and has a bright future if he continues to build on his skill set and fundamentals. We look forward to monitoring his progress and helping him develop into a solid pro."
Medvedev was the 47th pick in the draft after a solid season for the London Knights in the OHL, where he split starts with over-age goaltender Austin Elliott. Medvedev had a .912 save percentage in 34 starts with a 22-8-2 record, while his three shutouts were tied for third in the OHL.
With Elliott graduating from junior hockey, Medvedev has a clear path to becoming the Knights' workhorse starting goaltender next season. At the Canucks' post-draft development camp, Medvedev spoke about what that challenge was going to look like for him.
"I think it's mostly mental, just believing in myself," he said. "I'm going to train really hard this summer because we have really high standards in London. We want to win, and I want to be a big part of the team next year. I'm going to do everything possible to win the Memorial Cup next year too."
Medvedev is a fascinating prospect for several reasons. One is that he has experienced a diverse mix of coaching, from the typical Russian goaltending coaching growing up that focused heavily on skating and movement, to Canadian goaltending coaching when he came to Ontario at the age of 14.
"I used to have three goalie sessions with my goalie coach at six in the morning," said Medvedev about his experience in Russia. "We would just go on the ice, no pucks, just skate and get all those movements dialed in. It wasn't really that fun back then but, looking back, it helped me so much and it's a huge part of my game now."
Medvedev feels having multiple perspectives from different styles of coaching has been a major benefit.
"I feel like you can see it in my game," he said. "I can be a more athletic, quicker goalie, but at the same time, I can be calmer and I can switch to whatever's needed: I have that in my toolbox."
Another reason Medvedev is so intriguing is that he's still so young. He won't turn 18 until September 10, making him one of the youngest prospects in the 2025 draft. He experienced a late growth spurt that saw him sprout from 5'8" to 6'3" in the space of just a few years, which helped him in net but was also something he's had to adapt to.
"I feel like I've worked a lot on my coordination and stuff like that," said Medvedeve. "Just getting used to my body. It's better now, but I'm still growing, so there's still lots of work to do."
Medvedev is already an impressive young goaltender, but he still has so much room for development in his game. There's every reason to believe that he's going to be a major part of the Canucks' future in net.
