ABBOTSFORD, British Columbia – As a player who gave up baseball to focus on hockey just two and a half years ago, Vancouver Canucks draft pick Brooks Rogowski knows his learning curve is more of a rock at this point.
But the 18-year-old center from Brighton, Michigan, also knows better than most teenagers the challenges of the climb ahead.
His father, Casey Rogowski, was a Chicago White Sox draft pick who spent his entire 10-year professional baseball career in the minors, trying in vain to find a path to the big leagues. Surely there are lessons there for my son, even if Brooks wields a stick instead of a bat.
“He was a 14th-round pick,” Brooks said Saturday of his father after making his Canucks debut in the prospect game against the Seattle Kraken. “But back then (1999) it was 40 rounds, so it was a pretty high pick. He understands how the minors work. He kind of got scammed. But I think it helps me a lot (knowing) that the call-up is just the beginning.”
“It kind of resets everything you work for. I worked really hard in the OHL to become a player (with the Oshawa Generals) and now that I got drafted into the NHL, it just resets everything. I’m starting from scratch. I think that mentality has helped me a lot – not being too cocky or too cocky and just staying grounded. I’ve got to keep building from the blocks. I’m just building that ladder again so that I can eventually reach peaks.”
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Nobody knows how high Rogowski can rise. Given his late start to top-level hockey and only giving up baseball after the 2024 Ontario Hockey League draft, the six-foot-seven right-shot center was one of the biggest wild cards, literally and figuratively, in June’s National Hockey League draft.
Draft boards projected the former first baseman to be selected somewhere between the middle of the first round and the end of the second, and the Canucks were thrilled to get him 33rd overall with the first pick of the second round.
Rogowski was previously part of a strong Little Caesars program in Detroit and gave up minor Triple-A hockey to focus on baseball in high school. He hoped to follow his father’s example and play professional baseball.
But Rogowski continued to play hockey, helping Detroit Catholic Central High School win a Michigan state title before Oshawa drafted him in 2024. Rogowski immediately devoted himself entirely to hockey. He had 23 points in 63 games as an OHL rookie in 2024-25 and skyrocketed up the draft boards last season with 15 goals and 42 points in 46 games with the Generals.
“The obvious physical tools stand out,” Canucks director of player development Daren Hermiston said Saturday before Seattle’s prospects scored three third-period goals to pull away from Vancouver for a 7-3 win at Rogers Forum in Abbotsford. “The length that he has allows him to improve faster, so it’s interesting. I’m just seeing a really good athlete who is very trained and obviously hasn’t specialized in training for the sport yet. It’s really interesting when you have such a good athlete, such a big kid, and it seems like the sky’s the limit because he’s really just starting to specialize in the sport.”
“None of us have a crystal ball. But when you look at any player and say he’s so good right now, but he doesn’t have a specialty – he doesn’t get the same amount of reps on the ice or in practice or in games as all the other players – it gets you excited because the ceiling can be extremely high.”
This summer at the 2026 World Junior Championships in Windsor, Ontario, Rogowski was one of Team USA’s best players, scoring three goals and four points in four games for the tournament winners. He is committed to Michigan State University, but decided to play his draft plus one season as a junior before moving on to college hockey in 2027.
“I’m only in my third year of playing hockey full-time,” Rogowski said. “I think it makes me more aware and grateful for this (opportunity) because everyone else has been doing this their whole lives. There are expectations from them. I’m not saying there aren’t any expectations from me, but I just think that prospect was huge for me. I like that approach (mentality), I’ve always been that way in everything I do. Nobody ever expects me to be the guy that I end up becoming. So I like to prove that point. I think it’s very me. helped.”
Rogowski describes his growth in hockey over the past two years as “exponential.”
“Fast is the best word,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s going to slow down any time soon, but at some point it has to level off. One hundred percent, I think I still have a lot of room to grow, being such a green player.”
“But I think at some point this cliff will turn into a hill. Eventually it will shrink and I’ll be able to climb that hill. I’ve still got a couple of years before that, but I mean, yeah, I think this hill will shrink.”
At the very least, with his height, amazingly smooth skating and physical attributes, Rogowski projects as a fourth-line NHL player. But his offensive game is in its infancy, and it’s possible Rogowski could be something more for the Canucks.
“I mean, you always have self-doubt,” he said. “But I think this (summer exhibition) tournament was important. I thought I played well and the consistency was there in all four games. Obviously I had three goals. I think the attacking part of the game is coming and that gave me the confidence to come here.”
“For me, the D-zone has always been a good thing. That’s kind of my bread and butter. But I think (the key word is) developing that offensive side, shooting the puck more and trying to learn how to be a complete 200-footer. My goal was not just a decent 200-footer, but a really good 200-footer.”
The Canucks’ goals on Saturday came from Wilmer Alriksson, Sawyer Minio and Adam Novotny, the 18-year-old winger who was drafted 24th overall by Vancouver in June and was one of the home team’s most impressive prospects against the Kraken.
The Canucks and Kraken will play again Sunday afternoon before NHL training camp opens next week. Canuck third overall pick Caleb Malhotra, the organization’s top prospect, is away from Abbotsford as he prepares for his first season at Boston University.