Ryan Lin, who is 2026 NHL Draft eligible, is ‘one of the better young defencemen I’ve seen in a long time,’ says Rockets general manager Bruce Hamilton
For a hint at how good Vancouver Giants rookie defenceman Ryan Lin could be, we’ll call on a little help from Kelowna Rockets general manager Bruce Hamilton.
Hamilton, too, is an old-school straight shooter. He’s not cheap with compliments. So when he starts talking about the possible upside for Lin, 16, it’s a trend to track.
“He’s one of the better young defencemen I’ve seen in a long time,” Hamilton says. “I think he’s a great skater and he sees the ice very, very well for a 16-year-old. I also like the fact he has some bite to his game.
“I really enjoy watching him play. He’s a very, very talented player. He’s going to be exciting for all of our fans in the league to watch.”
Hockey Canada gave exceptional status to defenceman Landon DuPont this season to play full-time as a 15-year-old with the Everett Silvertips. He’s the second WHLer to land the distinction, following centre Connor Bedard with the Regina Pats in 2020-21. Usually, players can’t become regulars with a WHL club until their 16-year-old campaign.
Blue-liners at 16 are usually handled with care, with their matchups cherry-picked and a 19- or 20-year-old defence partner usually regularly riding shotgun for good measure.
Lin’s a different story so far. Vancouver played the Seattle Thunderbirds at home on opening night a couple of weeks ago. The game went to overtime. Lin was on the ice for the opening faceoff of the three-on-three tiebreaker, teaming with forwards Cameron Schmidt and Tyson Zimmer.
Lin has been quarterbacking the first-unit power play as well in the early part of the season.
He has four assists through Vancouver’s first three games. The most memorable was a savvy feed from the left-wing side that hit winger Ty Halaburda in stride racing down the right wing wall through the neutral zone on his way to Halaburda ripping home a shot off the far post past Prince George Cougars goalie Joshua Ravensbergen in Prince George’s 6-3 win at the Langley Events Centre last week.
Vancouver hasn’t had a 16-year-old blue-liner see as much ice time as Lin has since Bowen Byram in 2017-18. Byram led Vancouver to the WHL championship series the following season, and then was the No. 4 pick by the Colorado Avalanche in the NHL Draft that summer, tying Evander Kane (Atlanta Thrasher, 2009) for the earliest Giant selection ever.
Lin is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft.
He says he doesn’t see it as pressure being asked to carry this much of a load this early.
“I think of it more as an opportunity,” he said. “I’m just trying to make the best of it. “I do feel 16. I’m a rookie. I’ve got rookie stuff to do.”
Lin is a 5-foot-11, 171 pound, right handed shot from Richmond and the Giants picked him No. 6 overall in the 2023 WHL Draft out of the Delta Hockey Academy (DHA). That’s the earliest Vancouver has chosen a defenceman in the draft since they nabbed Byram at No. 3 in 2016.
The scuttlebutt going into the draft this time around was that Lin was still considering going the NCAA route. He would have been selected earlier without that.
Lin put up 10 goals and 32 points in 28 games last season with the DHA Under-18 Prep team. In his WHL Draft campaign, Lin was at 17 goals and 41 points in 27 games in Under-15 Prep with DHA.
The DHA is headed by former Giants strength and conditioning coach Ian Gallagher and there are assorted connections between the program and the WHL squad. Other DHA products with the Giants include Halaburda, defencemen Colton Roberts and centre Jakob Oreskovic.
“There’s a lot of similarities between the two,” Lin said of the Giants and DHA. “It’s helped me make a smoother transition to here, but obviously there are some new things.”
Lin already has international experience, too, having played for Team Canada in the 2024 Youth Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, last January. Canada lost 5-4 in a shootout in the bronze medal game to the Finns after falling 6-5 in a shootout to the Americans in the semifinals. The U.S. beat Czechia 4-0 for gold in the six-team tournament.
Lin was one of four B.C. products on Canada’s 15-skater roster, and among the three WHL rearguards in the six blue-liners. He was joined by Daxon Rudolph, who was the first overall pick in 2023 by the Prince Albert Raiders, and Keaton Verhoeff, the No. 4 selection by the Victoria Royals in that draft.
“He’s unreal,” Halaburda said of Lin. “He sees a lot out there. He always makes the right play. He’s special. He’s going to be a heckuva of a player, for sure.”