Two decades ago, they gave Cam Neely away. Two years ago, they let Milan Lucic get away. So it’ll be interesting to see what the Vancouver Canucks do if Kyle Beach is available when it’s their turn to pick, 10th overall, in the June 20 National Hockey League entry draft in Ottawa.

The North Vancouver–born, Kelowna-raised Beach is the highest-rated British Columbian in the upcoming cattle call for junior-aged hockey players. He’s also the biggest, toughest, meanest forward available at the top end of a draft class heavy on defencemen, and new general manager Mike Gillis has made no secret of the fact he plans to address the Canucks’ glaring lack of many of the very qualities Beach possesses.

But the 6-3 203-pounder, who plays for the Western Hockey League’s Everett Silvertips, also comes with considerable baggage. At just 18, Beach has been plagued by concussions and is on the mend after successful end-of-season hernia surgery. And the questions about his health are quickly followed by queries about his attitude and on-ice discipline that have dogged him during his two full years in the WHL.

To some in the hockey world, Beach is raw but harnessable talent. There are others who see him as nothing but trouble. It’s what makes the hulking, right-handed centre/left-winger such a tantalizing prospect. He already has professional size and the potential to step into an NHL lineup next season. Yet he also has strikes against him that will certainly make some teams steer clear.

But it’s hard to ignore the fact that Beach had 27 goals and 60 points in 60 games this past season. It’s even tougher to look past his 222 penalty minutes—almost 100 more than the next-most-penalized first-round prospect. Beach, ranked fourth among North Americans in the mid-season rankings by the NHL’s Central Scouting Bureau, dropped to seventh when the final report was released.

Beach has heard all the talk, and he’s taking it all in stride, knowing there’s nothing he can do now but sit back and wait to hear his name called by a team that wants what he can deliver.

“I started off having a great season,” the well-spoken teenager tells the Georgia Straight by telephone from Toronto, where he recently took part in an NHL scouting “combine” (physical workouts and interviews with NHL clubs) for all top prospects.

“The first half, I don’t think I could have asked for more. Going into the second half, I started to have troubles with injuries, so it was a real battle coming down the stretch. I’d have to say it [the season] didn’t live up to the expectations I had for it. I did have 222 penalty minutes this year. There’s an agitator side to me, and I don’t shy away from the rough stuff either. Both of those are a part of my game.

"I’m willing to do whatever it takes in any game and in any situation to help my team win. Sometimes I do cross over the line. It’s something that we really focused on this year, and I believe that with the help of my coaches in Everett and my teammates it’s something that I’ve really been able to improve on.”

Beach knows that some will question his penalty-minute total, but he’s confident that the scouts who’ve watched him all season know the story behind his frequent trips to the box.

“I believe lots of my penalties this year were not lazy, dumb penalties but more of them were the hard-working ones that you just can’t help, or good penalties in the sense that something was going to happen and I saved it from happening,” he explains.

Beach aspires to develop into a player like Calgary Flames captain Jarome Iginla, who shows up, plays hard, and contributes in all areas almost every time he steps on the ice. And he’s motivated by another professional athlete who brings the heat on a regular basis: Oakland A’s fastballer Rich Harden, a Victoria native and Beach’s second cousin.

“I’ve only got to meet him a couple of times, but he’s a great guy and he always has time for everybody. He made it all the way [to the major leagues], and I hope I can do the same,” Beach says.

If Beach is still available when it’s time for the Canucks to make their first selection, it’s hard to imagine them taking a pass on him. Mike Gillis has promised to do business differently, and selecting a guy who is the very definition of a wild card certainly would break the mould of an organization that has traditionally stuck with the draft mantra of “taking the best available player”.

But the recent death of Luc Bourdon—the only defenceman the Canucks chose in the first round in the past 10 years—may force them to consider the future of their blueline instead.

Beach knows he’s on the Canucks’ radar. “I didn’t get a chance to meet with them during the season, but a couple of their scouts did fly in to meet with me for a weekend in Kelowna after the season,” he says. “It was a really good interview. I thought it went really well, and they definitely sounded interested.”

Consider, too, that the Canucks selected a pair of Beach’s Everett teammates in last year’s draft (Taylor Ellington and Dan Gendur) and spent many nights making the quick trip across the border to attend Silvertips games and chart the progress of their prospects. So they have seen plenty of Beach, too, and they know exactly what he’s all about.

When it comes to drafting Beach later this month, the cautious will ask if they can afford to take the risk. The bold will wonder if they can afford not to. And we may learn plenty about the direction the Canucks plan to go in if Beach is still available when it’s Vancouver’s turn to pick.