Jim Rutherford has no idea who Melvin is nor does he care. I wouldn't call his inclusion a sign Vancouver gave up on him at all.
The kid has skill, but he has significant question marks. Not much different than most 18 year olds third round picks. Acting like he's a bust already is just carving out your own narrative. He may never play in the NHL, but he deserves time to at least prove that himself instead of being written off now.
Agreed. Look at the guys drafted around him, pretty much all of them are at a similar level of production. Sure, if we'd gotten a 3rd in 2025 we could have drafted the next Jake Guentzel or Bryan Rust but odds are more likely we'd draft the next Connor Hall or Ben Hanowski.