{"id":648110,"date":"2026-05-04T22:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T22:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648110\/"},"modified":"2026-05-04T22:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T22:39:11","slug":"would-the-first-overall-pick-in-nhl-draft-help-canucks-attract-free-agents-this-summer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/648110\/","title":{"rendered":"Would the first overall pick in NHL draft help Canucks attract free agents this summer?"},"content":{"rendered":"

JPat\u2019s Monday Mailbag: Would the first overall pick in NHL draft help Canucks attract free agents this summer?<\/p>\n

Just one more sleep now until the lottery balls do their thing. We\u2019ll leave others here at CanucksArmy<\/a> to go through the many possibilities and probabilities for the Vancouver Canucks in Tuesday\u2019s NHL Draft Lottery<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Just a reminder that while the Canucks do have the best odds, they do not have good odds. So they will definitely need Lady Luck to shine down upon them. To help you pass a little bit of time before the balls start bouncing around, we have another edition of the Monday Mailbag. Even though it\u2019s been a couple of weeks now since the Canucks last played a game, you had many questions once again this week. So let\u2019s jump in and try to provide some answers.<\/p>\n

I shared my memories of John Garrett<\/a> on Canucks Conversation last Tuesday and again on Friday\u2019s episode of Sekeres and Price. So I would direct you to either of those shows to hear me tell my tales. Ultimately, my best memory of John Garrett was his laugh and his love of life. He brought joy to every broadcast and was terrific company to be around. Perhaps the biggest compliment I can pay Cheech is that I marvelled at his ability to treat everyone like a friend. I witnessed it countless times, dealing with security people and rink attendants on the road or in restaurants where he seemed to revel in small talk with servers he had never met and would likely never encounter again. He was blessed with the gift of putting people at ease. Anyone who ran into John in an airport, a grocery store, or at a hockey rink likely had that experience for themselves, whether they knew him as a hockey player, a broadcaster or were just drawn to his warmth and kindness. As his family so eloquently put it in its statement released over the weekend<\/a>: \u2018We should all be a little more like Cheech.\u2019 I think those are incredible words to live by.<\/p>\n

Who would you pick at 3rd OA assuming McKenna & Stenberg are gone?The Nux need centres more than D, but would you pick Malhotra over any of the top 3 or 4 D?Thoughts on Verhoeff? His stock seemed to fall, but the other D didn\u2019t challenge themselves like he did by playing in the NCAA.<\/p>\n

\u2014 DSto (@dsto2.bsky.social)<\/a> 2026-05-02T21:28:06.226Z<\/a><\/p>\n

As well as Caleb Malhotra has performed in the Ontario Hockey League playoffs, I don\u2019t think I\u2019d pick him third overall<\/a>. I fully grasp the Canucks absolute need for scoring help up front \u2014 especially at centre. But I still think I\u2019d take the best player available with the third pick and, for me, that\u2019s any one of the defencemen that have been near the top of the draft class all season. It\u2019s hard to ignore a big, right-hand blueliner like Keaton Verhoff, but clearly Chase Reid and Carson Carels are in the discussion as well. Some will look at the Canucks\u2019 roster and suggest they already have their future blueline in place. Once upon a time, the Anaheim Ducks surely thought Trevor Zegras and Jamie Drysdale would be huge parts of their rebuild. The point is that what the Canucks have at the moment doesn\u2019t necessarily have to be the core group they move forward with. Maybe a Verhoeff makes Tom Willander expendable at some point. Or maybe the Canucks deal Filip Hronek in a couple of years. This team is far from being a finished product, so it\u2019s probably prudent for the Canucks to stockpile the best assets possible either for their own use or to address organizational needs via trade.Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Ruck twins anticipated to draft between 30 & 35\u2026 should we use the Mini pick at 24 to grab one in hopes of getting both<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not as high on Liam and Markus Ruck as many others. And that doesn\u2019t mean I don\u2019t like what I saw from them in Medicine Hat this season. I did. I just don\u2019t subscribe to the \u2018the Canucks had twins once, therefore they should do everything in their power to make sure they draft twins again\u2019 theory. If it happens, it\u2019s an incredible story, and there\u2019s every reason to believe these guys could help the Canucks<\/a>. But I wouldn\u2019t be reaching over other prospects on my draft list to take a swing at landing the Osoyoos natives. That said, it\u2019s hard to ignore guys who put up 108 and 104 points in the Western Hockey League this season. Some of their highlights were spectacular and eerily similar to the way Daniel and Henrik Sedin performed. There is so much variance among scouting services about where the Ruck brothers will go; it\u2019s going to be fascinating to see if drafting both of them is even a possibility when the Canucks get to their second pick of the first round.Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Any chance Kuzmenko returns to the Canucks in the offseason. To re-unite with his best buddy Petey? It\u2019s no coincidence Kuzy and Petey\u2019s best season of their careers was when they played on the same line in 22-23. Until Tocchet ruined both of them<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to say there is a non-zero chance Andrei Kuzmenko signs here this summer. Now 30, Kuzmenko missed the stretch drive with a torn meniscus, but returned to play one game in the playoffs. He hasn\u2019t been anywhere close to the goal-scoring force that he was in his first NHL season with the Canucks. Then again, as you point out, Elias Pettersson hasn\u2019t been the same since he had Kuzmenko on his wing finishing plays on the regular. On some levels, a reunion makes sense for both the player and the team. I don\u2019t expect it to happen, but I can\u2019t rule it out entirely. Kuzmenko is a pending unrestricted free agent, so we\u2019ll see if there is mutual interest between the Russian winger and the Los Angeles Kings ahead of July 1st. If not, and Kuzmenko makes it to the open market, I could see the Canucks kicking tires on a short-term deal.<\/p>\n

Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Do you think the Canucks will be active during free agent frenzy, and do you think it will matter who they draft as the reason if they are more, or less, active?<\/p>\n

I was asked last week for a couple of names I thought the Canucks should chase in free agency. I said Michael McCarron<\/a> and Jeremy Lauzon. I\u2019m still skeptical that a last-place team should be looking to be big spenders this summer. First of all, the talent pool is relatively thin, and the Canucks don\u2019t need to be big game hunters. They should be methodical in their approach and look to overspend on shorter deals. The money doesn\u2019t really matter right now. But propping up the young players on the roster does. As for the second part of your question, the opportunity to play with a Gavin McKenna<\/a> or Ivar Stenberg might be intriguing to a free agent looking for a new place to play. But I doubt the Canucks will find top-end centres in free agency this summer, and both McKenna and Stenberg are wingers. So I\u2019m not convinced that who the team drafts will really make much of an impact on the club\u2019s approach to free agency.Replying to @patersonjeff<\/a><\/p>\n

Love your thoughts on the evolution of refs calls through a playoff game. Canes\/Flyers seemed to have extreme variation. I understand they were kicking people out to \u201cgain control\u201d of the game at the end. What seems extreme is what is called in the 3rd vs let go in the 1st.<\/p>\n

The \u2018slashing\u2019 call on Garnet Hathaway midway through the second period of Saturday\u2019s Game 1 between Carolina and Philadelphia was as weak a call as I\u2019ve seen in these playoffs and maybe one of the weakest ever. Did Hathaway tap William Carrier on the pants with his stick? Absolutely. But there is no way that transgression rose to the level of a minor penalty. Referees need to have a feel for the game. Talk to the player. Warn him once. If he wants to test the officials\u2019 limits a second time, then by all means put him in the box. But to that point in the game, there really hadn\u2019t been a need to clamp down.<\/p>\n

The game wasn\u2019t terribly physical. It certainly wasn\u2019t threatening to explode. I have no issue with officials issuing misconducts late in a game if the score is out of reach and players are simply message sending. That can get tedious, so I fully understand the thinking there. As for the landscape changing as games go along, that has always been an issue. Referees claim they don\u2019t want to be a factor by putting a team on a late power play. But it stands to reason that they are a factor if they ignore a blatant penalty simply because it\u2019s a close game in the third period. The rules are the rules. Just enforce them as they are laid out in the rulebook. What is considered a penalty in the first period should also be one in the third. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done. And so the annual angst that accompanies playoff hockey persists. Refereeing at that level is a difficult job. But too often at this time of year, we\u2019re all left talking about calls and non-calls rather than the incredible action the opening rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs present.<\/p>\n

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