WHL Stars of Tomorrow: Ryan Lin, Vancouver Giants

Ryan Lin had one eye on his phone and one eye on the teacher in his high school French class in Delta, B.C. in the spring of 2023.

Well, maybe the phone was getting a little more attention.

The young defenceman was glued to the live stream of the 2023 WHL Prospects Draft, hoping to see his name announced- and suddenly, his stomach dropped.

Vraiment? Really?

He had been hoping to be drafted by his hometown team, the Vancouver Giants, and with the sixth-overall pick, the 2007 Memorial Cup Champions made his dream come true.

“Saw my name and started freaking out a bit,” Lin said. “I was being a little discreet, but I had a few buddies in my class that were also watching it.

It was unbelievable. It’s a place that I really wanted to go.”

Lin grew up watching the team back in its Pacific Coliseum days and idolized players like fellow defenceman Bowen Byram (Lin is actually the highest-drafted Giants defenceman since the team selected Byram third overall in 2016).

Now, he has a chance to follow in his old role model’s footsteps.

“He really values his play without the puck as much as he does with the puck,” Giants Associate Coach Adam Maglio said of Lin’s ability. “For a young player, I think his game’s just very well-rounded and mature. To be honest, I haven’t seen a young defenseman that has this type of game in a long, long time.

It starts with his feet. He’s got really good skating abilities, agility, east, west, straight line. I think with him, he can use skating to get out of trouble, but he can use skating to close and defend quickly, which he does. His hockey IQ, for me, is what kind of separates him from other players his age. Just the way he thinks the game, the way he moves on the ice, his details, his habits, are really elite for his age.”

Lin made his WHL debut in a 3-2 shootout victory against the Kamloops Blazers on November 4, 2023, at the Langley Events Centre with a slew of family and friends to cheer him on in the stands.

While the call-up was short-lived, the 5-foot-11, 171-pound blueliner was thrown into the deep end when he re-joined the squad for three playoff games in Vancouver’s first-round series against the Everett Silvertips.

“I think those playoff games were really helpful to me to just kind of dip my toes in the water and get a taste of kind of what the play is like and how fast everyone is,” Lin added. “All the little things are happening quicker. You’ve got to go back for pucks quicker. There’s really no gliding at all. Everything just happens that much faster. You’ve got to make plays on your toes, every pass is on tape.”

Maglio and company were impressed with how the 16-year-old handled himself.

“It’s always an adjustment for a young player coming in, but we were really happy with how he played,” Maglio said. “We’ve got to know Ryan through training camp and then some practices through the year. So I think he was familiar with the players, with the coaching staff. He stepped in and he looked confident and poised when he played.

He’s an easy player to trust, because I think he cares about the team game, cares about the team’s identity, cares about the team playing the right way. So putting him into games, I think he’s built up a lot of trust through the staff through a small sample size.”

Lin also made a seamless transition to the U18 level with the Delta Hockey Academy of the Canadian Sport School Hockey League, leading all skaters on his team with 10 goals and 32 points in 28 games en route to being named a B.C./U.S Division First Team All-Star.

The Richmond, B.C. native also represented Canada at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games in Gangwon, South Korea, tallying a goal and four assists in four matches.

Now, he’s gunning to make the Giants on a full-time basis as a 16-year-old.

“I know I can make an impact at that level,” Lin said. “I just want to show that and do my best and come into camp with a good attitude and work as hard as I can.”

Lin and the Giants face the Kelowna Rockets in their penultimate preseason clash at Prospera Place on Saturday, September 14 at 6:05 p.m. PST.