The Vancouver Canucks selected Alexei Medvedev with the 47th overall pick on Saturday night at The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
Medvedev spent the 2024-25 season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, where he split the crease with goaltender Austin Elliott. Medvedev put up solid numbers, registering a 2.79 goals against average, a .912 save percentage and three shutouts to go with a 22-8-2 record. Additionally, Medvedev won the OHL Best Rookie GAA Award, was named to the OHL First All-Rookie Team and won the Dave Pinkney Trophy for Lowest Team GAA.
This season, Medvedev helped London capture the OHL Championship and the CHL’s Memorial Cup as the team’s backup.
The St. Petersburg native is a smart and athletic goaltender who can recognize threats and track pucks well through traffic.
Prior to his OHL debut this past season, Medvedev spent the 2023-24 season with the St. Thomas Stars of the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League (GOJHL), piling together an 11-15-0 record in 28 starts. Medvedev also helped the Vaughan Kings in 2022-23 capture the OHL Cup silver medal. In that tournament, Medvedev put together a 3-2-0 record in five games.
Medvedev ranked No. 74 on Steven Ellis’ Final Top-120 Draft rankings. “Like any goalie who grows, Medvedev needed time to adjust to his larger frame. He was drafted to the OHL in 2023 as a 5-foot-11 keeper but stands 6-foot-2 now. The rookie OHLer was a huge part of London’s regular season success, putting up some excellent numbers alongside CHL veteran Austin Elliott. Medvedev is a quick goalie who has a bit of an unorthodox hunch-back style, but his pure athleticism wins out more often than not. There just aren’t many flaws in how he commands the crease – scouts love him.”
