We are back with our 2025 mid-season edition of our CanucksArmy top 20 Vancouver Canucks prospect rankings.

We are well underway, having already covered our Honourable Mentions list and our first two ranked prospects. Today, we give you our 18th rank in the system, a freshly drafted right-shot defender who’s improved by the day in his draft-plus-one campaign.

If you are curious about our ranking criteria, check them out in our HM installment.

Team: Edmonton Oil Kings | Age: 18 | Position: Defender | Height: 6’3″ | Weight: 181 lbs | Shoots: Right | Drafted: Sixth round, 189 overall, 2024 | Last year’s rank: Honourable Mention

Based solely on the fact that we had yet to see him play a game as a drafted prospect, Parker Alcos fell short in our summer rankings. With his draft-plus-one campaign underway, the local Port Moody kid has warranted some intrigue.

Navigating through his third season as a Western League defender, it was a relatively slow start for the Canucks’ latest sixth-round draft pick. Through his first 25 games, he was a dreadful minus-11 with just five assists to show for his efforts.

Since then, he’s turned the ship around. Alcos is a plus-13 with eight points through his next 19 games and is now on the positive side of the plus/minus ledger for the first time in his young WHL career (plus-2).

His progressive play has begun to pay dividends with his role on the Oil Kings, too. Crawling from the third pair, Alcos now enjoys top-four minutes, frequent stints on the powerplay, and has been a mainstay of the team’s penalty kill from day one.

What instantly stands out from the young defenders’ game is his mobility. It’s not often you find a 6-foot-3, right-shot teenager who can move his feet with the fluidity and composure Alcos provides.

He covers a ton of ground with each of his strides, which helps out in all areas of his game. Combine that with a tall frame, almost guaranteed to fill out more as the years go by, and the package becomes even more enticing for the future.

Alcos plays with his head up on the transition and doesn’t appear to force plays often, a comforting trait for a young, developing defenceman. He makes hard, crisp outlets.

More importantly, that combination of size and mobility comes into play in his own end. As good as his transition up the ice may be, he’s even more effective with the transition into his own end.

He closes gaps quickly and does a good job of suffocating entries. Contrary to a defenceman already in the system like Kirill Kudryavtsev, who enjoys using an active stick, Alcos will use his weight to stop the opposing player.

His profile is still extremely raw overall. Yet, with the guidance of Mike Komasarek and company, there is an intriguing prospect just waiting to jump up our rankings.

Project sixth-round pick or not, it’s not every day that you find a sizable, mobile and aggressive right shot with nothing but room for growth.

Ceiling: As already mentioned, Alcos is still a very raw and young prospect. Yet, he’s pulling elements from everywhere and certainly carries an imposing and intriguing profile with nothing but a pathway for strong growth. Given his size, mobility, and ability to play a shutdown role on the penalty kill, envisioning a 4-6 defender down the road doesn’t feel out of the realm.

Floor: At 18, his game still feels challenging to pinpoint. He is intrigued but needs to work on rounding his game and filling out that 6-foot-3 frame. Given what we’ve already established in his ceiling, he feels like a safe AHL defenceman who could transition the puck well in the Fraser Valley.

ETA: At the end of the day, we are talking about an 18-year-old sixth-round draft pick; the road is long. We expect him to play out at least one more season in the WHL before potentially transitioning to the pro level. From there, we expect at least two years of growth before knocking on the door as a 22-year-old.

That’s our #18 spot. Stay tuned for another installment tomorrow here at CanucksArmy.