Ryan Lin is not just climbing NHL draft boards. He is doing it as a 5-foot-11, 180-pound Richmond defenceman who says he takes “a lot of pride” in his Asian heritage, and that pride is starting to carry more weight as he nears the 2026 NHL Draft. The Vancouver Giants defender, who turned 18 in April, said the conversations around him have changed as his profile has risen.
That matters because Lin is projected to go in the middle third of the first round and is expected to be the first British Columbian chosen in the 2026 NHL Draft. If that happens, he would also become the highest-ever draft pick born and raised in Richmond, a city across the Fraser River from Vancouver where hockey success has long been part of local conversation but rarely tied so directly to Asian representation.
Lin’s family background is part of why the moment feels larger than a standard draft rise. He said his surname is Chinese, while his father is half Japanese and half Taiwanese. Growing up, he said he did not spend much time thinking about that identity because Richmond already had plenty of Asian hockey players, and more were emerging across the Lower Mainland. At the same time, he says the picture changes at higher levels, where Asian players are still rare.
“There are not a lot of people who I play with now, at the higher levels, that are Asian,” Lin said. “But I mean, I do take a lot of pride in that.” He added that after some Giants games this year, Asian fans came up to speak with him, including kids who were heading to a tournament. “I love to be an ambassador, if you want to call it that,” he said.
That role has been shaped by where he came from. Lin grew up in Richmond with his family living in the Steveston Village area, a part of the city built in part by Japanese immigrants who arrived more than a century ago to fish for salmon and work in related industries. He said his earliest hockey memories also include watching the Vancouver Canucks with his family during the 2011 Stanley Cup Final, when there are photos of him in face paint at watch parties at Rogers Arena, and again during the team’s 2024 run.
Richmond is one of the most multicultural cities in Canada, and the 2021 census showed 80 per cent of residents identified as visible minorities, with just over half of the population having roots in China. That background helps explain why Lin’s rise is resonating beyond draft rankings. Jason Bukala has him 12th for Sportsnet and Sam Cosentino has him 15th, both signs that he is being viewed as a legitimate first-round talent rather than a speculative possibility.
On the ice, the case for Lin is straightforward. He is a point-per-game defenceman with the Vancouver Giants, and evaluators describe him as fleet, super-skilled and highly competitive with a defensive orientation. He said he also takes pride in defending, which fits the kind of player clubs tend to trust when the games get tighter.
The part that remains unresolved is whether the draft order will match the buzz. If Lin lands where scouts currently project, Richmond will have its highest-picked homegrown player yet, and Asian fans in British Columbia will have another reason to watch the 2026 NHL Draft closely. For now, Lin’s rise is already doing something more immediate: making him the player younger Asian hockey fans can point to and say that they see themselves in him.
