ABBOTSFORD, B.C. – As a player who quit baseball to focus on hockey only 2 ½ years ago, Vancouver Canucks draft pick Brooks Rogowski understands that his learning “curve” at this stage is more like a cliff face.

But the 18-year-old centre from Brighton, Mich., also knows better than most teenagers about the challenge of the climb ahead of him.

His father, Casey Rogowski, was a Chicago White Sox draft pick who spent the entirety of his 10-year professional baseball career in the minors, trying in vain to find a path to the Major Leagues. Surely, there are lessons there for the son, even if Brooks wields a stick instead of a bat.

“He was a 14th-round pick,” Brooks said Saturday about his dad after making his Canucks debut in a prospects game against the Seattle Kraken. “But back then (in 1999) there was 40 rounds, so that was a considerably high pick. He understands how the minors work. He kind of got shafted. But I think it helps me a lot (knowing) that getting drafted is just a start.

“It kind of resets everything you work towards. I worked really hard in the OHL to be a player (with the Oshawa Generals), and now that I’m drafted in the NHL, that just resets everything. I’m starting from square one. I think that mentality has helped me a lot – not being too full of myself or too cocky and kind of just staying grounded. I’ve got to keep building blocks. It’s just building that staircase again to hopefully reach the top eventually.”

No one knows how high Rogowski might ascend. Given his late start at top-level hockey, dropping baseball only after the Ontario Hockey League draft in 2024, the six-foot-seven, right-shot centre was one of the biggest wild cards, literally and figuratively, of the National Hockey League draft in June.

The former first baseman was projected on draft boards to be selected anywhere between the middle of the first round and late in the second, and the Canucks were elated to grab him 33rd with the first pick of the second round.

Formerly in the strong Little Caesars program in Detroit, Rogowski gave up Triple-A minor hockey to focus on baseball in high school. He hoped to follow his dad into professional baseball.

But Rogowski continued playing hockey, helping Detroit Catholic Central High School win the Michigan state title before Oshawa drafted him in 2024. Rogowski immediately pivoted full-time to hockey. He had 23 points in 63 games as an OHL rookie in 2024-25 before surging up draft lists last season with 15 goals and 42 points in 46 games for the Generals.

“The obvious physical tools jump out,” Canucks director of player development Daren Hermiston said Saturday before Seattle’s prospects scored three third-period goals to pull away from Vancouver and win 7-3 at Rogers Forum in Abbotsford. “The length that he has allows him to improve at a faster rate, so that’s exciting. What I see is just a really good athlete who’s very raw and obviously hasn’t specialized in training for this sport yet. That’s really exciting when you have such a good athlete, such a big kid, and it feels like the sky’s the limit because he has really just started to specialize in the sport.

“None of us have a crystal ball. But when you look at any player and you say he’s this good now and he hasn’t specialized — he doesn’t have the same reps on the ice, in practices or games, as all the other players — that gets you excited because the ceiling could be extremely high.”

At the 2026 World Junior showcase this summer in Windsor, Ont., 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 has decided to spend his draft-plus-one season back in junior before transitioning to university hockey in 2027.

“I’m only going on my third year being a full-time hockey player,” Rogowski said. “I think it makes me more aware and grateful for this (opportunity) because everyone else has been doing this their whole life. There’s an expectation for them. I’m not saying there’s not an expectation for me, but I just think having that perspective has been huge for me. I like that come-from-behind (mentality); I’ve always been that way in everything I do. No one ever expects me to be the guy I end up being. So I like proving that point. I think that’s helped me a lot.”

Rogowski describes his growth in hockey the last two years as “exponential.”

“Rapid is the better word,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s going to slow down anytime soon, but it’s got to level out at some point. One hundred percent I think I still have a good bit (to grow) being such a green player.

“But I think that cliff is going to turn into a hill at some point. Eventually, it’s going to shrink and I’m going to be able to climb that hill. I still have a couple years until then, but I mean, yeah, I think that hill is going to shrink.”

At minimum, with his size, surprisingly fluid skating and physicality, Rogowski projects as a fourth-line NHL player. But his offensive game is at the embryonic stage, and it’s possible Rogowski could be something more for the Canucks.

“I mean, you always have your self-doubts,” he said. “But I think that (summer showcase) tournament was major. I think I played well, and the consistency was there all four games. Obviously, I had three goals. I think the offensive 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 for me. It’s kind of my bread and butter. But I think (the key is) developing that offensive side, shooting the puck more and trying to learn to be a full 200-foot player. Not just a decent 200-foot player, but a really good 200-foot player has been my focus.”

Canuck goals on Saturday were scored by Vilmer Alriksson, Sawyer Mynio and Adam Novotny, the 18-year-old winger selected 24th by Vancouver in June who was one of the home team’s most impressive prospects against the Kraken.

The Canucks and Kraken play again Sunday afternoon before NHL training camps open next week. Third-overall Canuck pick Caleb Malhotra, the organization’s top prospect, is not in Abbotsford as he prepares for his freshman season at Boston University.