Buffalo, N.Y. (WGR Sports Radio 550) - Caleb Malhotra will certainly be a high pick, and could be a top-five pick in this weekend's 2026 NHL Draft.
The Hockey News has the forward rated No. 6 in their overall prospect rankings.
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Malhotra's father, Manny, was a former first-round pick (seventh overall) of the Rangers in the 1998 NHL Draft, and played 991 games in the league with New York, the Dallas Stars, Columbus Blue Jackets, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes.
Manny Malhotra is now the new head coach of the Canucks, being hired this offseason after two seasons serving as the bench boss of their AHL affiliate in Abbostford.
Numerous times, three players with the Buffalo Sabres - Josh Doan, Mattias Samuelsson and Tage Thompson - have told me about how their dads helped them grow, having spent time playing in the league before them.
Shane Doan played 1,540 games with the Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes/Winnipeg Jets organization. He played 74 games in his rookie season with the Jets before they moved to Phoenix, where he was the seventh overall pick in the 1995 NHL Draft.
Kjell Samuelsson played 813 games with the Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and Tampa Bay Lightning.
Brent Thompson played 121 games with the Los Angeles Kings, Jets and Coyotes.
Malhotra was in Buffalo in the beginning of June for the NHL Scouting Combine, and says it's because of his dad that he is where he is today.
"It's because of my dad that I started playing hockey, being around it all the time, learning from him, watching him," Malhotra said while in Buffalo for the NHL Combine. "I kind of remember him playing (Manny retired following the 2015-16 season), and when he was coaching, learning so much from him teaching me small details that most guys don't get to learn. It was a massive privilege to get to learn from him."
Malhotra played for the Brantford Bulldogs in the Ontario Hockey League this past year and scored 29 goals and 55 assists for 84 points in 67 games. He obviously didn't feel the pressures of his draft year.
"I was just going out there and playing," Malhotra said. "I've had a lot of adversity, and made my way up to be fortunate enough to be in this position. I wasn't really worried about too much pressure."
The Hockey News has defenseman Chase Reid ranked third overall in their prospects rankings this year. Reid played with the Soo Greyhounds, which meant he went up against Malhotra plenty, and was impressed with what he saw.
"You never know what he's going to do," said Reid, who was seated next to Malhotra during their session with the media. "He's a very unpredictable player, so he does tremendous things with the puck. He's got the goal-scoring mindset, he's got the ability to make plays and setup his teammates, and play in the defensive zone as well."
Malhotra was asked to give a scouting report on himself, and feels his game is extremely two-way.
"I'm very reliable," Malhotra self-assessed. "Offensively, I'm a playmaker, get my teammates open and give them very good looks, and I'm also a guy that can finish. I'm very versatile offensively. Also defensively, checking top guys and being able to be physical at times, and be smart with the puck."
Malhotra got the chance to play for former Sabres defenseman Jay McKee while in Brantford. McKee had been the head coach of the Bulldogs for five seasons before being recently hired as head coach of the new Hamilton Hammers, the New York Islanders' AHL affiliate.
"He's very intelligent and detail-oriented, so he expects so much from us," said Malhotra of his former head coach. "Learning from him how to approach the game and what to take out of video and apply it to your game is a big thing I learned this year."
During the combine, prospects often meet with quite a few NHL teams, and with the Canucks drafting third overall, of course they met with Malhotra. Caleb was asked what it was like to talk to them, knowing that his father is now their head coach.
"It was a weird phone call after asking how the meeting went, but we were both pretty professional about it. It was pretty cool," Malhotra recalled.
The recently-turned 18-year-old says many of the teams asked him what it would be like playing for his dad.
Teams ask plenty of goofy questions, and have the players do goofy things during their meetings at the NHL Combine. Malhotra and others were asked by Montreal to step back and throw a puck into a garbage can.
Coverage of the NHL Draft on WGR begins Friday, live from KeyBank Center downtown at 7 p.m. with Brian Koziol. He'll have Brayton Wilson upstairs with him, while Joe Cali will be down on the draft floor with the players. I'll be with the Sabres, who will be working out of the Buffalo Bills' draft room at the stadium in Orchard Park.
