Third Round Target Emerges for the Vancouver Canucks at the 2025 NHL Entry Draft

Photo credit: Canadian Hockey League

The Vancouver Canucks are set to select 65th overall in this year's NHL Entry Draft and some potential targets have begun to emerge for Patrik Allvin to consider.

We're a little over a month away from the start of the National Hockey League's 2025 Entry Draft, which will be held at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California.

Draft target emerges for Vancouver Canucks in the third round

In a recent article on The Hockey News, Adam Kierszenblat took a look at one potential target for the Vancouver Canucks to use their 65th overall pick with, which happens to be the first selection of the third round.

Kierszenblat suggests Swift Current Broncos right-shot blueliner Peyton Kettles as an option for the team, citing the fact that he's a big defensive defenseman who likes to play a physical game.

"When Kettles is defending, he often elects to use his reach to free pucks. He has a very active stick and showed throughout the season that he is more than willing to block shots. Kettles also became better at winning puck battles along the boards, which is an area that has improved significantly since he made the jump to the WHL. " Kierszenblat says about Kettles' game on the defensive side of the puck.

Kettles, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba, stands at 6'5" at the young age of 17 and has been able to use that size to his advantage throughout his sophomore season in the Western Hockey League with Swift Current.

When the National Hockey League's Central Scouting department released their final rankings for the 2025 NHL Entry Draft, many were shocked to see that Kettles had dropped to 39th among North American skaters after he was 26th in their mid-season rankings.

In 53 games this season, Kettles registered 14 points (five goals, nine assists), 65 penalty minutes and had an even-rating, following that up with two assists in five games during the WHL Playoffs.

With how well Peyton Kettles has played this season, especially defensively, it wouldn't be much of a shock if he's already off the board before the Vancouver Canucks select at 65th overall, but if he is still there, this is a player that Patrik Allvin shouldn't pass on.