With the 15th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Vancouver Canucks are sure to have a wealth of options at the three forward positions, even if all of the elite names are already gone by that point.
The center position doesn't figure to be terribly deep, but there are plenty of intriguing options on the flanks.
Aside from Jonathan Lekkerimäki, the Canucks have no projectable prospects, so it would be in their best interest to add some more talent at the position while they at least still have Elias Pettersson and Filip Chytil to hold down the fort down the middle.
With the 15th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Vancouver Canucks select...
Benjamin Kindel, RW, Calgary Hitmen (WHL)
In my first mock draft, I had the Canucks stick with a center and opt for Cole Reschny, a versatile forward with positional flexibility and two-way chops.
This time, I'm going for a higher-upside play in Kindel, a dynamite offensive winger with a slight 5-foot-10, 176-pound build.
Kindel, 18, just exploded for 35 goals, 64 assists, and 99 points in 65 games with the WHL's Hitmen this year, adding eight goals, seven assists, and 15 points in 11 playoff games.
The Coquitlam, B.C., native led all draft-eligible WHL forwards in scoring with his 99 points, leading Reschny by seven points in three more games played.
In the goals department, Kindel was beaten out by Carter Bear (Achilles) and Cameron Schmidt, who each racked up 40 tucks, but he's best known for his dynamic and diverse playmaking toolkit.
Indeed, Kindel is not the sharpshooter the outgoing Brock Boeser is, but he plays a much more well-rounded game with a skillset that favors him becoming a top-six contributor early in his career with the right supporting cast around him.
Plus, Boeser only scored 30 goals in a season once, and that was when he scored 40 for the Canucks in the 2023-24 season. Boeser's goal-scoring aspect is a bit overrated, and drafting a player like Kindel, who can efficiently do everything is a better bet for the future.
Kindel is currently ranked as high as 11th and as low as 27th according to the draft rankings congregated by EliteProspects, so there's a pretty strong likelihood he'll be available for the taking when the Canucks pick 15th in next month's draft.