When Todd Harvey stepped to the mic after day two of the NHL draft, he didn’t bury the lede.
“Well, we got bigger.”
That was the Canucks’ first obvious calling card with Brooks Rogowski, the 6-foot-7, 235-pound right-shot centre they took 33rd overall in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. But Vancouver didn’t need long to settle on him. The scouting staff met after the first round, and before they even left the building, they had agreed Rogowski was the guy.
The size jumps off the page. The rest of his game is what made him stick.
Harvey pointed to Rogowski’s hands and pace of play as traits that stood out when the staff watched him. For a player who is usually the biggest body on the ice, he doesn’t play like a lumbering project. There’s skill there, and there’s enough speed to make you look twice.
That combination has been years in the making. At 16, Rogowski was still a talented first baseman and a freshman on his high school varsity team.
When he was drafted into the OHL, he had to choose between baseball and chasing hockey full-time. He chose hockey, and that decision has carried him to this point.
Now he’s making another important call, and this one is about development. Rogowski is committed to Michigan State, but he has decided to go back to the OHL for a third major junior season before heading to the NCAA for 2027-28. For him, the logic is simple: more ice, more touches, more chances to grow.
“I could go to [Michigan] State and maybe be a third or fourth line guy, and sure, I would get stronger, but I don’t think I would get the puck touches I need,” said Rogowski.
“As a newer hockey player, I think I can benefit from a playoff run, hopefully with 80+ games. I think the 80 or more games are going to give me more growth than the 30 games with fewer minutes.
So, the way I see it, I can play 30 games 10 minutes a night, or I can play 80 games at 20 minutes a night. It’s just more puck touches and more game reps.
I think it’s just a better opportunity for me to grow my game.”
He’s also clear about what he wants to become. Rogowski isn’t interested in being boxed in as only a heavy, lower-line player. He wants his offense to catch up with his frame.
“Finding that scoring touch is going to be a big part for me this year and finding that consistency night in and night out. I want to be a physically dominant player who is also a threat in the offensive zone in every game,” he added.
That’s the lane he’s chasing: a top-six type of centre, not just a big body who can handle the dirty work. Rogowski said as much himself.
“A lot of people think I am just a bottom-six guy, and I think there’s a lot more there,” he said.
“There’s a lot of offensive poise that is still developing, and sure, right now maybe it looks like that, but hopefully at the end of this year there’s top-six potential that everyone can see. I think there’s just a lot more there offensively.”
The production is already moving in the right direction. Rogowski finished the 2025-26 season third in scoring for the Oshawa Generals with 15 goals and 27 assists for 42 points in 46 games, a 0.91 points-per-game clip. In his second OHL season, he nearly doubled the 23 points he had in his first year.
He’s carrying that momentum into the World Junior Summer Showcase, where he’s skating for USA’s Team Blue. Rogowski is approaching the camp with an underdog mindset and trying to build a case for a spot on the U.S. roster for one of the next two World Junior Championships.
So far, he’s done his part. Rogowski has scored two goals at the WJSS, including the opener in a 6-1 win over Sweden and another in a 5-1 victory over Finland.
Team USA will use a centralized roster for the rest of the tournament, and its next game is against Finland on Wednesday, July 29th at 12:00 p.m. PT.
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Elias Pettersson remains the name that gives the discussion its weight, but there is no sign a Pettersson-for-Wright move is close. For now, the Canucks are still sorting through the risk and reward on both sides of the equation, with any deal of that size carrying major implications for how the roster is built and how quickly the next wave of players is expected to matter. [Read more 🡒]
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Elias Pettersson, Marco Rossi and Aatu Rty all figure into the conversation, and their previous-season showings only sharpen the debate over how the forward groups should be arranged. The blue line has its own decisions to make as well, with Oleksiak and Schenn adding size and experience to a defense corps that will need the right pairings to stabilize things from the start. For Malhotra, the challenge is clear: settle the combinations early enough that the Canucks can open the season with some clarity instead of spending October searching for chemistry. [Read more 🡒]
Canucks July Moves Show How This Rebuild Is Really Taking Shape
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The month also showed how much the club is trying to tighten the links between the rink, the front office and the future. Alex Edler has been added as a player development coach, Cammi Granato has been reassigned within hockey operations, the 2026-27 schedule is already out, training camp is headed back to Penticton and the team has signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Vancouver to explore a practice facility at Britannia Community Centre. Put together, those pieces suggest a rebuild that is being shaped as much by structure and planning as by the next roster decision still to come. [Read more 🡒]