The Vancouver Canucks’ second-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft may have shocked some, as the team elected to take goaltender Aleksei Medvedev 47th overall. With a full cabinet of goalies for the foreseeable future in Thatcher Demko, Kevin Lankinen, Artūrs Šilovs, Nikita Tolopilo, and Ty Young, some found the selection somewhat interesting — specifically because of how high he was taken. However, Medvedev brings a plethora of experience in different leagues, all only at the age of 17.
Medvedev played youth hockey in Russia, where he was born and raised, before coming to Canada at the age of 14. Because of this, he’s had a taste of what circumstances goaltenders from both countries play in.
“I used to have like three goalie sessions with my goalie coach at six in the morning,” he told the media during the Canucks’ development camp earlier in the week. “No pucks, just kind of skate and get all those movements dialed in. It wasn’t really fun back then, but looking back, it just helped me so much, and it’s a huge part of my game now.”
Medvedev joined the U16 AAA Vaughan Kings when he first came to Canada. During his lone season with the team, he registered a 1.92 GAA and .915 SV%. Since then, he has played for the St. Thomas Stars of the GOJHL, and most recently, the London Knights of the OHL. The blend of coaching from both Russia and Canada is something Medvedev believes has made him a much better goaltender.
“I feel like you can see it in my game. I can be a more athletic, quicker goalie, but at the same time it could be calmer and I think I can kind of switch from that for whatever’s needed, and I kind of have that in my toolbox.”
As mentioned, Medvedev is still only 17 — one of the youngest players in this year’s draft — and still has lots of developing to do. This isn’t to say that his game isn’t at where he wants it to be, but rather that he’ll face changes as he enters his second OHL season as well as more physical growth.
“I feel like I worked a lot on my coordination and stuff like that, just getting used to my body,” he said of how things have changed for him over the past couple of years. “It’s better now, but still, I’m still growing, so there’s still lots of work to do. Just gonna do that this summer.”
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Canucks development coach Mikael Samuelsson doesn’t work with the goaltenders much, but even so, he had his eye on the team’s most recent draft selection during prospect camp. While he claims he’s “not the right guy” to ask, he noted that he sees the potential in the way Medvedev moves in the crease.
“You see his movement in net, I can see that much. Is he there yet? No, but he shouldn’t be there yet, but let’s have him working with [Ian Clark] and Marco [Torenius] and Justin Pogge down there,” he explained about the young goaltender. “So give it a couple years or three, four years, we’ll probably see another great goalie in net.”
In the 2024–25 season, Medvedev split starts with Austin Elliot during the London Knights’ regular season. In 34 games, he posted a 2.79 GAA and a .912 SV%. In his 22–8–2 record, he had three shutouts and made 943 saves in total. With great numbers for a rookie campaign, his next season in the OHL should be a treat to watch, especially if he’s able to snag the title of starting goaltender for the team.
“I think it’s mostly mental, just kind of believing in myself,” Medvedev said of what he’ll work on to try and grab the starting role. “I’m gonna train really hard this summer, because we have really high standards in London, so we want to win there. I want to be a big part of the team next year, and I’m going to do everything possible. We want to win the memorial cup next year too.”
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