Just a few short seasons ago, the Vancouver Canucks finished atop the Pacific Division, and with a deep team full of superstars, the expectation was that they could compete for a Stanley Cup in the coming seasons.
Unfortunately, things have completely fallen apart for the team since then, and after trading star defenseman and captain Quinn Hughes in 2025/26, they finished the year as the worst team in the National Hockey League. In that deal, the Canucks got back a talented young defenseman in Zeev Buium alongside Marco Rossi and Liam Ohgren, but with the team now completely into a rebuild, they’ll need much more talent before they can be considered contenders for the Stanley Cup Playoffs again.
The Rebuild in Vancouver Begins
GettyThe Vancouver Canucks
While the Canucks still have some good names like Elias Pettersson, Brock Boeser and Thatcher Demko, this just isn’t a team built for success, and this summer, they made some big changes early. After parting ways with Head Coach Adam Foote and GM Patrik Allvin, the team brought in some familiar faces, hiring Ryan Johnson and the Sedin twins to key front office roles while promoting AHL Head Coach Manny Malhotra to the NHL level.
There’s plenty of work left to be done however, and the next phase of that work begins at the 2026 NHL Draft, with the Canucks holding the No. 3 overall pick along with other notable picks at No. 24 and 33 overall.
The focus is clearly at No. 3 overall, and with Malhotra’s son Caleb fitting everything this organization needs moving forward, there’s been high expectations that the Brantford Bulldogs center will be heading to Vancouver this summer.
Canucks Front Office Pushing for a Defenseman
However, that’s not the teams only option, with players such as Chase Reid, Carson Carels and Ivar Stenberg all reportedly drawing the Canucks interest at No. 3 overall, with the team hoping to land their next franchise cornerstone at the pick. In fact, according to Frank Seravalli during his appearance on the Blackhawks Breakaway podcast, there are those in the Canucks front office that are actively pushing for a defenseman at the pick.
In 2026, there’s no shortage of talented defensemen, with Reid, Carels, Keaton Verhoeff and Alberts Smits all expected to be potential top-pairing blue liners in the NHL, giving the Canucks plenty to think about when they take the board. Of course, this could simply be a backup plan for Vancouver in the case that the San Jose Sharks pass on Stenberg at the No. 2 overall pick, with the overarching belief around the NHL being that Reid could be a superstar at the next level.
On top of the Canucks decision, there’s the added layer of Malhotra being the son of the teams now Head Coach, and while that may not play into it, clearly some in the front office believe this crop of defenseman are good enough to use a No. 3 overall pick on. This all depends on how the top two picks play out, with the potential for the Sharks to trade out of the No. 2 pick, but right now, it appears the Canucks can’t be locked in to a certain player at No. 3 overall.
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