NHL Draft Lottery: Canucks are no strangers to selection order slides

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Canucks president Trevor Linden hoped a 1970-71 hockey card of late great blueliner Pat Quinn in a Canucks uniform would be the lucky charm at the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery. It wasn’t

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Published May 03, 2026 • 4 minute read

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Vancouver Canucks general manager Jim Benning and president Trevor Linden had high hopes at the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery where they dropped from third to fifth and would select Olli Juolevi. Photo by Mark van Manen /PNGArticle content

Trevor Linden brought a good-luck charm to the 2016 NHL Draft Lottery in Buffalo.

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The Vancouver president of hockey operations hoped a 1970-71 hockey card of late great bruising blueliner Pat Quinn in a Canucks uniform would be the elixir. It would rid the franchise of the prolonged pain of never selecting first overall and failing to move up in the annual and mysterious draw that continues to confound.

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After all, what could go wrong 10 years ago? It was Quinn who drafted Linden second overall in 1988 and look how that turned out?

“I thought I’d call on the luck of the Irish, but I’m not Irish.” Linden chuckled to Postmedia prior to that lottery. “I’m just hoping to steal a bit of it.”

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Alas, it was not meant to be. It started additional positional slides from second to fifth in 2017, sixth to seventh in 2018, and ninth to 10th in 2019.

The Canucks had the third-best odds of selecting first, second or third, and fell to fifth in 2016, which was their best percentage at 37.8. In the drop, they missed out on targeted wingers Patrik Laine (second overall) and Jesse Puljujarvi (fourth), plus centre Pierre-Luc Dubois (third).

It wasn’t a total setback because budding power forward Matthew Tkachuk was dangling like a carrot in the No. 5 slot.

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The Canucks held a draft party that year in the lower bowl of Rogers Arena. I was there to chronicle the event and left the media room because I wanted to hear the reaction from the floor when the fifth selection was announced. I expected a roar because I was ready to tweet Tkachuk. Then came nothing but silence.

Defenceman Olli Juolevi checks Jets’ prospect Antoine Waked during 2016 NHL Young Stars Classic game in Penticton. Photo by Nick Procaylo /PNG

The Canucks opted for defenceman Olli Juolevi, who was part of the intimidating Finns’ fabulous run to the 2016 world junior championship to rocket their draft stock. It was also a stark reminder that one tournament doesn’t equate to NHL success. The thought was the Canucks either believed, or hoped, they had that a budding winger in Jake Virtanen, whom they selected sixth overall in 2014.

“I had a meeting with them (Canucks) at the combine and it never seemed like they were that interested,” a 19-year-old Tkachuk told this reporter following that pivotal draft. “I knew once Dubois went third, that I was going to Calgary. I’m happy and grateful to be drafted by Calgary.

“If you ask them (Canucks), they’re probably pretty happy with their pick. And they should be. I played with him (Juolevi) in London. You saw what he did for our team last year in the Memorial Cup and world juniors.”

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Juolevi did have 42 points (10-32) in 58 games in his final OHL season and nine assists in seven 2016 world junior games to make the all-star team. But the Canucks should have done a deeper research dive and selected either Mikhail Sergachev (ninth overall) or Charlie McAvoy (14th).

Meanwhile, Tkachuk has won two Stanley Cups, put up 670 career points (253-417) with two clubs, and is living it up in Florida. He did opt to leave the Flames, so it’s fair to ask if he would still be in Vancouver with the club failing to make the playoffs in six of seven seasons after he was drafted.

Maybe he would have pulled a Quinn Hughes in refusing to sign an extension and opting for a U.S. destination.

As for Juolevi, he played just 23 games with the Canucks, became trade bait for journeymen Noah Juulsen and Juho Lammikko, and would amass but three points in 41 games with three NHL clubs. By comparison, Laine struck for 36 goals as a Winnipeg Jets rookie and followed up with 44 and 30-goal seasons and hit the 20-goal plateau on four more occasions with two other clubs.

Puljujarvi struggled and only hit a high of 15 goals with the Edmonton Oilers and played for four NHL teams, amassing 128 points (58-70) in 387 career games. He played in Switzerland this season.

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What does all this tell us?

Drafting is not an exact science and you need several lenses to accurately focus and assess long-term NHL potential.

Which brings us to the 2026 lottery on Tuesday (4 p.m, Pacific) in New Jersey.

The Canucks have the best bingo-ball odds at 25.5 per cent to secure the first-overall pick and target highly productive NCAA winger Gavin McKenna. They also have an 18.8 per cent chance of selecting second, but their best odds are dropping to third with a 55.7 per cent shot for that slot.

That could start the great debate of whether the Canucks target centre Caleb Malhotra, arguably the best pivot available for the NHL Draft on June 26-27 in Buffalo, or budding blueliners in Keaton Verhoeff of the NCAA and Chase Reid of the OHL.

If the Canucks don’t land McKenna, their focus could shift to the back end, even at No. 2 and passing on Swedish scoring winger Ivar Stenberg, who excelled in the Swedish Hockey League this season. Call it supply and demand.

NHL teams need to build from the blue-line and elite defenders are rare and highly coveted at the draft. So, hope for the best and brace for the expected Tuesday.

Selecting first overall would be a dramatic shift in franchise fortunes and anything after that at second or third would be a familiar reality. However, if the Canucks have done the right homework, they’re going to come away with a player with their first pick.

But you can still cross your fingers for good luck.

bkuzma@postmedia.com

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