{"id":656419,"date":"2026-05-08T17:34:08","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:34:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656419\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T17:34:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T17:34:08","slug":"breaking-down-the-canucks-options-at-the-2026-nhl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/656419\/","title":{"rendered":"Breaking down the Canucks\u2019 options at the 2026 NHL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

Give your closest Vancouver Canucks<\/a> fan a hug today. It\u2019s been a tough week.<\/p>\n

The Canucks finished dead last in the NHL this season, giving them the best odds of landing the first overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. But the lottery balls didn\u2019t fall their way, with the Toronto Maple Leafs<\/a> landing the first pick, while the San Jose Sharks moved up seven spots to select second.<\/p>\n

All the pain, all the losing, all the drama. Just to miss out on Gavin McKenna. <\/p>\n

But picking third is much, much better than missing the playoffs by a point and selecting, say, 16th. The draft might not be super deep, but the top 10 is still quite solid. Regardless of who they take, Vancouver is set to select the best prospect the team currently has. And given it\u2019s the start of the team\u2019s rebuild window, that\u2019s vital.<\/p>\n

Vancouver\u2019s pipeline flat-out stinks right now. It\u2019s going to take years to get it up to full speed. Fortunately, the club has two first-round picks and another pair in the second at their disposal. But how should the club \u2013 with no active GM \u2013 handle this? Let\u2019s take a look at every realistic scenario:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Draft for need, or best player available?<\/p>\n

Assuming McKenna goes first overall to the Leafs, the Sharks will have to choose either the other best forward available, Ivar Stenberg, or a defenseman. Needs-wise, the Sharks need a blueliner<\/a> more than anything. Sam Dickinson and Eric Pohlkamp are strong options, but they\u2019re not too deep beyond that. <\/p>\n

So there\u2019s a real possibility the Canucks could have to choose between Stenberg \u2013 a skilled, do-it-all winger \u2013\u00a0or Malhotra, the Brantford Bulldogs powerhouse forward. Stenberg is ranked higher by more scouts \u2013 some think he\u2019s legitimately the best prospect available this year. Stenberg had 11 goals and 33 points in the top Swedish pro league this year. For reference, only two players have outproduced him in their draft year \u2013 the Sedin twins. That worked out mighty fine for the Canucks, didn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re looking for someone who excels in more facets of the game, Stenberg is the best choice in this draft class. We know the offense is there. Defensively, Stenberg is reliable, too. He\u2019s better with the puck than without it, but he understands when he needs to add extra focus on his own zone, giving him a strong \u201cB\u201d game to go alongside his high-flying offensive skillset.<\/p>\n

Stenberg would be the near-consensus best player available option if a defenseman goes No. 2. But what about the player that fits Vancouver\u2019s needs the most? That\u2019s where Malhotra comes in.<\/p>\n

Malhotra\u2019s incredible OHL playoff run has been the talk of the scouting community recently. He was a huge part of Brantford\u2019s success this year, which included 13 goals and 26 points in just 15 playoff games. Malhotra\u2019s steady, smart play has helped him emerge as the No. 1 center for this draft. Malhotra battles hard at both ends, giving opponents little time to make quick, heads-up decisions with the puck. <\/p>\n

Teams love players with NHL bloodlines (Stenberg is the younger brother of St. Louis Blues <\/a>forward Otto Stenberg). And like his father, Manny, Caleb rarely cheats for offense and is so reliable defensively. He understands defensive rotations, supports his defensemen deep in his own zone, and consistently puts himself in the right position to disrupt passing lanes. He plays a mature, low-risk game that translates very easily to the pro level. <\/p>\n

Malhotra\u2019s floor is high. Many see him as a second-line center at the very least. But will he have the natural play-driving ability to excel offensively in the NHL? Does he have first-line potential? That\u2019s what scouts want to figure out.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s rare to see a guy put up modest numbers in the BCHL and then explode offensively in their draft year at a higher level and thrust themselves up draft boards like Maholtra did. Does that sudden explosion give scouts pause? Some are concerned that the glow-up isn\u2019t sustainable. Others believe in his progression fully, given that he was often the best player on one of the top CHL teams on a nightly basis. That\u2019s not easy for a draft-eligible prospect.<\/p>\n

Stenberg is the one that scouts deem to have the higher ceiling \u2013 but is he the right choice for Vancouver over the top center in the draft? <\/p>\n

Take a defenseman?<\/p>\n

With Zeev Buium and Elias Pettersson becoming full-time defenders, that leaves Tom Willander as the best defender in the system. Beyond that, Kirill Kudryavtsev is a solid depth guy, while Sawyer Mynio could get into NHL action in the long-term future.<\/p>\n

But landing Chase Reid, Carson Carels or Keaton Verhoeff would give the blueline the long-term boost they need. The 2026 NHL Draft is very heavy down the middle, and if this is going to be a long-term rebuild for the Canucks, they might elect to snag a quality defender now and draft a center next year instead. <\/p>\n

Reid is an excellent skater, has a solid 6-foot-2 frame and is always involved at both ends of the ice. His confidence is incredible, too. You can argue that the OHL isn\u2019t as strong as it once was because the older competition jumped to the NCAA early, but Reid looked so confident at the World Juniors, too. He\u2019s truly a fascinating defender who doesn\u2019t lose many battles, and his size, shot and mobility are all elements of his game that should allow him to transition quite nicely to the NHL.<\/p>\n

Carels was an absolute workhorse this year. He was not only one of the best young defenders in the WHL but also one of the best blueliners in the entire CHL. Carels is built strong, but still needs to work on getting tougher, overall. Beyond that, his D-zone coverage is solid, and he\u2019s great with the puck. I\u2019d bank on him being totally fine.<\/p>\n

And then there\u2019s Verhoeff, who jumped to the NCAA at 17. He had growing pains, for sure. But as a 6-foot-4 defender with solid mobility and two-way play, Verhoeff has a lot of runway. I like that he\u2019s willing to take risks with the puck, even if they don\u2019t always pay off. He\u2019s adaptable, and I know NHL teams like the potential for him to be a solid top-four blueliner.<\/p>\n

Next year\u2019s defensive crop will have Landon DuPont, the projected No. 1 pick. The Canucks will definitely be in the conversation to snag him, but we know finishing last doesn\u2019t guarantee anything, anyway. Maybe the Canucks elect to take a blueliner instead to try and get ahead of that whole in the pipeline.<\/p>\n

Trade pick(s) to move up?<\/p>\n

Vancouver also owns Minnesota\u2019s<\/a> first-rounder, which will land somewhere in the 20-24 range. That, mixed in with Vancouver\u2019s second-round pick, gives them plenty of capital to push forward in the draft. Moving up a spot doesn\u2019t make a lot of sense (top five picks are rarely moved, really), but using their two later picks to move up to, say, the 10-15 area could be beneficial. Maybe the Canucks view Tynan Lawrence as their guy, but don\u2019t want to use their first pick on it. Could you imagine them getting Stenberg and Lawrence \u2013 two guys who were gunning for first overall around Christmas? <\/p>\n

With four picks in the first two rounds<\/a>, that gives the Canucks some serious flexibility. Would they prefer quantity or quality? Given the team\u2019s lackluster pipeline, using all four picks isn\u2019t a bad call. But if the scouting department believes in someone in particular, just get them. Vancouver has six picks in the first two rounds of the 2027 and 2028 drafts combined, and will likely continue to accumulate more as the rebuild continues. Get the guys you see the most value in.<\/p>\n

Moving up to No. 2 likely isn\u2019t worth it. That\u2019s going to eat up other assets, and moving up doesn\u2019t guarantee you\u2019re getting a significantly better prospect. This isn\u2019t a world where one or two guys are miles ahead of the rest \u2013 if you asked all 32 scouting departments, you\u2019d probably get 3-4 different names at No. 1. Vancouver will be happy with whomever they take.<\/p>\n

But with their other picks? That\u2019s where things could get interesting.<\/p>\n

SPONSORED BY bet365<\/p>\n

Recent Articles by Steven Ellis<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Give your closest Vancouver Canucks fan a hug today. It\u2019s been a tough week. The Canucks finished dead…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":597787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194298],"tags":[49,48,55],"class_list":["post-656419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-vancouver","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-vancouver"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=656419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/656419\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/597787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=656419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=656419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=656419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}