Vancouver Canucks prospect Connor Davis is heading into his freshman season at North Dakota with a clear plan: lean into what makes him hard to handle and keep building from there.
Selected in the fifth round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft after a strong USHL season as an 18-year-old, Davis has already made a name for himself as a player who can tilt a shift. At 6’2” and 196 pounds, he brings a blend of size and speed that he believes can become a real weapon as he develops for the pro game.
That development started in earnest over the summer, when he attended Canucks development camp and got direct feedback from the organization.
“Development camp was awesome. The coaches were so helpful; they were just telling me that my size is such a gift.
I’m a stronger guy, and the skilled players aren’t always going to be there, and they want to see me use my size more to my advantage, and I feel like I use that. Over the summer I got even stronger and worked on using my size in different ways,” said Davis.
One of the biggest influences on that process has been Alex Edler. Davis built a relationship with the 17-year-old pro and now Canucks development coach during camp, and the two have stayed in touch through phone calls and text messages about his game. Davis said Edler’s guidance has helped him start to see how much more he can unlock.
The adjustment has not been small. Davis said the jump from junior hockey to the NCAA took some getting used to, especially against older players.
“It’s a really big jump from juniors to college, and it has taken a little getting used to. I mean, you’re playing guys that are 24, 25 years old now, so it was obviously an adjustment. But you know, I just wanted to focus on working hard, and I feel like I’ve been doing pretty good so far,” said Davis.
He pointed to his first goal as an example of the kind of game he wants to bring every night.
“You can look at my first goal. I was fighting my way to the net and using my physicality.
So, yeah, I try to just implement that as much as I can. I know I'm a bigger guy, I've got to play hard, skilled hockey.
I get a lot of success from that.”
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