In a full-tilt, trade-heavy weekend that saw the turnover of multiple roster players, none was more notable than emotional leader and six-year Vancouver Canuck, JT Miller.

Managing a depreciating asset with movement control after months of negotiations is never easy. However, a deal was consummated with the New York Rangers, sending Filip Chytil, a protected first-round pick, and prospect Victor Mancini to Vancouver, signalling the start of a new era for the organization.

While reported pursuits of former first-round pick and right-shot defenceman Braden Schneider never materialized, the acquisition of Mancini can be seen in a similar vein.

Also, a right-shooting defensive prospect, Mancini, only 22 years old, isn’t the same calibre of player as Schneider. But make no mistake, he wasn’t just a throw-in – Mancini is a player the Canucks have been targeting for some time.

In an interview with Rinkside reporter Olivia McDonald, Canucks General Manager Patrik Allvin broke down the decision to target the defender via trade:

“We wanted to continue to build with younger players. Mancini was a first-year pro – played in Omaha-Nebraska – he’s a guy we have been following. Our staff were excited about the upside there, and it was important to get a young right-shot defenceman in our system.”

With a glut of left-hand shot defensive prospects like Sawyer Mynio, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Elias Pettersson, Vancouver’s organizational depth on the right side lacks beyond Tom Willander.

Mancini, an ultimate late bloomer, was selected in the third year of draft eligibility in 2022. Caught up in the shuffle of COVID-19-interrupted seasons, the 6-foot-3 American crossed the pond to Sweden, where he would eventually captain Frölunda HC J20 team.

Fast forward past his time in the NCAA, Mancini entered this season as a first-year professional, bursting onto the scene, making the New York Rangers out of camp. Suiting up for 15 NHL games through a few call-ups and demotions, Mancini ultimately landed with the AHL’s Hartford Wolf Pack in December, already proving to be a stalwart piece for his early pro career.

Averaging 21:57 time-on-ice in the AHL, Mancini was a feature on both the power play and penalty kill, regularly averaging over two minutes on each special team, registering 10 points across 23 games – significant for a rookie, no matter the draft status.

How did Mancini earn this kind of trust? It starts with his profile and defensive habits.

The first thing to note about Mancini is his hulking size – this is a player operating at 6-foot-3, 229 pounds. That profile allows the Michigan-born defender to be a perfect net-front battler where he can leverage his frame to create advantages.

Nevertheless, there is more nuance required other than just being big. Mancini is also a battler who targets sticks with lifts and clamps, jousting while boxing out threats and clearing creases for cleaner looks for his netminder.

From there, he is active, detaching off the net to slam perimeter puck carriers and seal off low-to-high rings, again throwing his weight to work pucks free. He widens his base to add balance, engulfs down low forwards, and leverages his long reach to create layers of disruption. This is what bottom-pair defenders need to do in a Tocchet system.

While Mancini is an active scanner who is always creating a mental map, I wouldn’t consider him an extraordinary processor. He is reactive in moments. That being said, his aforementioned reach adds considerable adaptability even when a read is too slow. You can see it in the tape — he may be late to check a release or poke possession away, but his range shocks puck carriers and buys him time.

This blends into his defence off the rush. Mancini is a considerable obstacle to overcome for most forwards attacking north-to-south. He’s almost like an offensive lineman, blocking for his quarterback. He widens out, steadies his feet, acting as an obstacle to overcome, matching footwork off the opponent’s rush pattern, and lunging out to create disruption.

Nevertheless, the former Ranger takes a more passive approach regarding physicality. You won’t see him surf across, guiding, and finishing attackers on the sideboards. At the moment, he’s content to guard the inside lane, allowing carriers to loop on the outside, again using his reach to dictate the route. This creates some risk when facing pacier attackers. If his gap isn’t proactively set, or he’s late off the pivot, he’s susceptible to drives from the outside, attacking in.

When you look at Mancini’s past, he’s rarely been an offensive driver. His best production season was in the J20 Nationell years ago. That said, there is reason to believe there is more upside here than what appears on paper.

The most shocking element of Mancini’s game is his puck-carrying. Across his tape, there were eye-popping end-to-end attacks and rush activations spattered across his game. On many occasions, the former fifth-round pick exploded out of his zone with control, working weight-shift handles in large ice, easily weaving past the F1 into dangerous, knee-first, shoulder-dropped power moves on the net.

He’s not overly refined, running into some issues with control and even lacking a plan for many of his attacks. Still, when Mancini gets moving, he’s a freight train with a jammed throttle, who is impossible to handle for most defenders looking to disrupt with physicality. He extends his stride and drives on his edges, creating speed off the crossover. These attacks are quite stylistically similar to what you see from Tyler Myers, a proficient activator in moments.

This willingness to activate is present off the cycle as well. He is a constant mover, looking to drop down on the weakside for cross-zone looks. Regularly, Mancini will even pass off and drive the middle, looking to complete give-and-go attacking plays. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not an every-shift thing, but it’s remarkable how daring he is. Add in a league-average shot, reaching 91 MPH according to NHL EDGE data, and his offensive upside becomes interesting.

Nevertheless, you can pinpoint where Mancini struggles from an offensive point of view. NHL defenders must convert puck retrievals into clean breakouts. This is the biggest challenge for the right-shot prospect. While he scans and makes quick plays in tight spaces, Mancini often jettisons pucks around the boards into instant turnovers. Beyond that, he even has struggles connecting on the breakout, even when unpressured. You can see how this would limit production, at the very least. Considering that much of defending successfully involves limiting the time under sustained pressure, it becomes a more urgent area to improve going forward.

In his first interview post-trade, Mancini noted his desire to contribute on both ends of the puck,

“I feel good with the puck in my hands. A lot of my game is a two-way game. Start in the defensive zone, being able to shut down plays quickly, play physical, getting the pucks into my forward’s hands.”

Given Mancini’s size, handedness, age, and style of play, it’s hard not to see a future where the defensive prospect won’t be afforded endless opportunities to be an everyday NHLer. This is important because much of development revolves around opportunity. The more chances and situations to improve often inform the trajectory of a career. It means more time with defensive coaches, direct development at the NHL level, and even reprieve when mistakes occur.

While you don’t want to pigeonhole a prospect, Mancini’s upside is likely a bottom-pair defender. In his 15 NHL games, he was a below-50th-percentile skater across the board; even with some tremendous top-speed moments, he will be at a disadvantage in a fast, unforgiving league without improvement. That said, when you look at what this head office and coaching staff values, he fits the bill of the style Vancouver wants from a bottom-pair defender.

The good news is that this had already been a successful first professional season for Mancini, who is ahead of the typical development curve – for the first point in his career. That’s exciting, and it’s clear that the upside the organization sees in the player is founded.