Davis was selected 129th-overall by the Canucks in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Three facts about Vancouver Canucks prospect Connor Davis:
One — he was selected 129th-overall by Vancouver in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Two — he scored 26 goals and 29 assists in 59 games with the Cedar Rapids RoughRiders in the USHL in 2025–26.
Three — finance is his bread and butter.
“I’m a huge fan of the stock market and all that stuff. It’s something that I’m really passionate about,” he told The Hockey News during the Canucks’ 2026 development camp.
Finance is what the 20-year-old winger will be studying once he begins his rookie NCAA season with the University of North Dakota in the fall.
Heading to college after a stint in the CHL isn’t a rare thing for many Canadian prospects nowadays. Anthony Romani, Kieren Dervin, and Parker Alcos — all Canadian Canucks prospects — are heading down that route.
The intriguing thing about Davis’ path is that that forward didn’t take the Canadian path for his junior hockey career, though he very-well could have. Instead, Davis has played in the U.S. since the 2023–24 season. He was, however, selected 91st-overall in the 2022 QMJHL Entry Draft by the Cape Breton Eagles. The option to play in Canada was there – so why did Davis go down the U.S. route instead?
“In my family, schooling is [...] super important, and before the whole CHL [rule] where they can go play college after, that wasn’t in play yet,” he explained.
While the decision was made from an academic perspective, Davis noted that he did feel bad about not playing in Canada and ending up taking the U.S. route instead.
“Being from Quebéc, all my friends were going there, so obviously sucked not being able to play in that league [...] the schooling was super important for me and my family.”
Yet, it seems Davis’ Canadian roots were too strong to push him away, as he’s now a member of the Canucks organization after being picked by the team in 2026.
“Our guys really liked him, and that was the big thing,” Canucks Director of Amateur Scouting Todd Harvey said of picking Davis. “He’s got a great path going to North Dakota — they’ve been able to produce a lot of players out of that arena — so our guys were excited and everything matched up analytically, and it was a great process.”
Part of what was so intriguing about Vancouver picking Davis was the fact that he’ll be 20 come November. The forward initially declared for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft but did not end up being selected.
While he admitted that the feeling stung at first, Davis only ended up using it to fuel the fire — and ultimately play himself into being selected by Vancouver this year.
“Not getting drafted that first year, it obviously sucks. Took me a while to kind of get over it, but then I kind of looked at myself and was like, ‘hey, you’ve also got next year,’ so just kind of kept that in the back of my head and just worked harder than ever, and I feel like having that in the back of my mind helped me a lot this year, and I feel like I had a pretty good year [...] I’m super grateful for the opportunity I have now.”
Photo Credit: Kaja Antic-THNThat opportunity includes a stint at Vancouver’s 2026 development camp, where he got to try river rafting for the first time and hike the “Abby Grind” — the Abbotsford alternate to the infamous Grouse Grind. Put on a raft with fellow 2026 draftee Caleb Malhotra and camp invitees Bennett Schimek, Austin Brimmer, and Nate Tivey, Davis praised the experience and even claimed that he would do it again.
“In the beginning [it] was intimidating, being in the bus and seeing it from up above, it was quick. So I was a little uneasy about it, but then once we got on there, and we had a really great instructor, and a great group of guys, and as it kind of went on, we just kind of found our rhythm, and it was awesome. I would do it again, that’s how much fun it was.”
On the ice, Davis is taking a lot away from his time being mentored by Canucks development coaches Mikael Samuelsson and Mike Komisarek, as well as guest coaches Alex Edler and Jenn Gardiner. The number one thing he’s keeping in mind, he said, is attention to detail.
“They emphasize it a lot. It might not seem like such a huge difference or a huge deal, but when it comes to game time, those little details can make a huge difference [...] it’s a quick game, right? One or two seconds can make a whole difference, so really just attention to details.”
Davis will be taking that attention to detail with him as he begins his NCAA hockey career — and financial studies — with North Dakota come fall.
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