WINDSOR, ONT. — Caleb Malhotra grew up around the game of hockey thanks to dad, Manny, who played in the NHL for 16 years before making the jump into coaching. But this week in Windsor he’s experiencing something new at Hockey Canada’s summer camp for World Junior hopefuls.
“This is my first time putting on the Maple Leaf in any kind of capacity, so when it’s the first time I feel like it’s that much more meaningful,” the 18-year-old centre said.
Even the first practices in Windsor carried extra meaning.
“It was a lot of emotions,” said Malhotra, who was picked third overall by the Vancouver Canucks in June’s draft. “A pretty special moment.”
On Wednesday, Malhotra gets his first taste of game action as Canada takes on Sweden at the World Junior Summer Showcase. You can watch the game on TSN plus at 7 p.m. ET. Canada will wrap up the exhibition event with games against Finland on Thursday and the United States on Saturday.
Malhotra had heard stories from friends and teammates over the years about playing for Canada at the under-17 and under-18 levels.
“They talk about how much fun it was and how cool it was to represent your country and now I’m at a point where I get to have that opportunity to try out for the World Junior team,” he said. “It’s just cool to be here.”
Malhotra is looking to build on the momentum gained during a breakthrough 2025-26 season. He piled up 29 goals and 84 points in 67 games with the Brantford Bulldogs.
What does he want to show this week?
“Similar to what I showed this year,” Malhotra said. “Just that I have another gear and that my pace has gotten better. And my ability to make plays and shut down guys is something I’ve worked on a lot this summer and just in general ... so just [want] to make a statement and make my mark as a player.”
Head coach Misha Donskov, who met with Malhotra 1-on-1 on Tuesday, is already impressed.
“A lot of energy, a lot of passion, a lot of internal fire,” Donskov noted. “That comes out to me as a coach. Like, he really cares about his teammates and the game. Competitive guy with a lot of skill. Really looking forward to watching him play.”
Malhotra is the highest draft pick on Canada’s roster and has been skating on a line with Soo Greyhounds captain Brady Martin, who is among the eight returning players at the camp, and Philippe Veilleux, who plays for Val-d’Or in the QMJHL.
“Really good,” Martin, the fifth-overall pick to the Nashville Predators in 2025, observed with a smile. “He just got drafted higher than me, I guess, so he’s a good player. He reads the play really well so it’s going to be a lot of fun to play with him.”
“He’s a complete player and I think he just took off in the second half of the season into the playoffs,” said Hockey Canada general manager Alan Millar. “Arguably could have been Brantford’s best player on the run that they had to the Eastern Conference final.”
Malhotra led the Bulldogs in goals (13) and points (26) during their 15-game playoff run.
“He’s an unbelievable kid, unbelievable player,” said Edmonton Oilers winger and Bulldogs co-owner Zach Hyman, whose brother, Stuart, serves as general manager in Brantford.
“Manny did a great job raising him and he’s such a good person, such a good player. I was so happy with his development last year. Before the year he was rated to go in the second or third round and he rose all the way to be the third overall pick and he’s going to be a really good one.”
Hyman predicts that Malhotra will be joining him in the NHL “pretty soon.” But before making the jump to the NHL, Malhotra plans to play at Boston University and is hoping to follow in his father’s footsteps and represent Canada at Christmas.
“I was the GM in Guelph when Manny played there, so it was a special phone call to Caleb to invite him to the camp,” Millar said. “Manny was almost the perfect third-line centre if you had a really good team, a shutdown, smart, two-way guy. I think Caleb brings a lot of those qualities and, Manny might not like this, but Caleb maybe has a little more offensive side.”
Manny, who is now the Canucks head coach, played for Canada at the 1998 and 2000 World Juniors. In 2000, he served as captain and led the team to a bronze-medal win. Caleb says his dad still speaks with pride about wearing a letter for Canada at the event.
What would it mean to win the gold medal that eluded his old man?
“That will be a little cherry on top if I get to that point and this team gets to that point,” Malhotra said. “That’s our standard here and we’re going to make sure we execute this year.”
