Vancouver Canuck prospect Jordan Subban said he believes a caption published in a Vancouver newspaper that identified him as "the dark guy in the middle" was a "pretty honest mistake" and that he's moving on and focusing on hockey.

The Vancouver Sun has apologized for posting the photo, which also appeared on the Province website briefly on Tuesday night, after Subban scored the opening goal against the San Jose Sharks in the Canucks' first preseason NHL game.

Sun deputy editor Gillian Burnett and the newspaper changed the caption after concerns about it began to circulate on Twitter.

"I had a chance to talk with a representative from the paper, and it seemed like a pretty honest mistake — it wasn't really intentional, from my understanding," Subban, a Toronto-born defenceman, told CBC News Wednesday evening.

"It is what it is, and I've moved on."

Subban, 19, said the caption was obviously a mistake but that he didn't think anyone was trying to target him.

"I'm not really going to hold a grudge or anything," he said, adding that he has more important things to worry about than what people are saying about him in a newspaper.

Subban, drafted 113th overall by the Canucks in 2013, was sent back to the Belleville Bulls of the Ontario Hockey League on Wednesday.

He is the brother of Montreal's star defenceman, P.K. Subban, with another brother, Malcolm, a goalie in the Boston Bruins' system.