Over the past decade, the Vancouver Canucks have made it a habit to draft a goaltender roughly two out of every three years.

In fact, ex-Canucks director of goaltending-turned-scout-who-still-has-a-huge-say-on-who-to-draft Ian Clark even said as much prior to the team drafting Aku Koskenvuo in 2021. You can see the pattern yourself, too. And when you do, you’ll likely agree that it’s at least likely the Canucks will select a goalie at the 2026 NHL Draft.

2017: Michael DiPietro (Round 3, Pick 64)
2018: Matthew Thiessen (Round 7, Pick 192)
2019: Arturs Silovs (Round 6, Pick 156)
2020: No goaltender selected
2021: Aku Koskenvuo (Round 5, Pick 137)
2022: Ty Young (Round 5, Pick 144)
2023: No goaltender selected
2024: No goaltender selected
2025: Aleksei Medvedev (Round 2, Pick 47)

Another trend you can see based on that list is the Canucks’ typical desire to get their goaltenders from the later rounds of the draft. Drafting Aleksei Medvedev in the second round certainly went against that trend, but perhaps the Canucks felt the need to get a prospect goaltender with some more pedigree since they didn’t select a goaltender in 2023 or 2024.

If the Canucks’ two out of every three years rule — or some similar version of the philosophy — is still in place, then it would seem like a safe bet to think that they will indeed select a goaltender in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.

The Canucks quite clearly have a type when it comes to their prospect goaltenders. Under the guidance of Ian Clark, the club has made a habit of selecting somewhat unpolished goaltenders who boast impressive physical traits, strong instincts, and good athletic ability.

One of the greatest quotes I’ve ever gotten from an interview subject in my career was when Ian Clark dropped this gem while we talked over the phone:

“For me, I’m a big believer when it comes to scouting in evaluating the intangibles when it comes to goaltenders. Technique and structure and all those types of things are very tangible. Those are things we can kind of do with our eyes closed. They’re very tangible and very blueprint-y.

“I say this, and I probably shouldn’t, but I say that we can teach a goaltender technique in a weekend,” Clark said with a laugh. “So for me, those things really don’t register for me when I’m evaluating a goalie. What I’m really looking at is the intangible things that I know through my history in the game are much more difficult to teach through nurture.”

At the time, we were talking about Aku Koskenvuo, a promising goaltending prospect that the Canucks selected in the fifth round back in 2021. Other NHL teams might put more importance on results and technical ability when evaluating prospect goaltenders, but the Canucks are looking for wild horses in the draft.

Big shock: those numbers typically improved shortly after Clark began working with them. All it takes is a weekend, after all!

But the Canucks can also deviate from their late-round strategy whenever they please if there’s a goaltender who still possesses those intangibles, as we saw them do with Aleksei Medvedev. That’s why we won’t limit our search to only late-round options today.

Here are the top 10 North American goaltenders, according to NHL Central Scouting:

And the top 10 International goaltenders:

In his May top 100 rankings (which came out just Wednesday), Daily Faceoff’s Steven Ellis has Tobias Trejbal (45th), Dmitri Borichev (46th), Harrison Boettiger (90th), Carter Casey (93rd), and Brady Knowling (95th) as the only goalies going in the top 100 of the draft.

We have five goaltenders who we think would be a good fit for the Canucks. Just one of them is projected to go in the top 100, meaning the Canucks will have some options if they want to add to their goaltending pipeline in the later rounds.

Remember, they’ve got a type.

After dissecting some tape, the netminder who jumps out the most is Dmitri Borichev. He’s 6’3 and extremely athletic — sometimes to a fault, which is the same thing I noted about Arturs Silovs once upon a time. Borichev is still working on his speed in the crease, but his eyes seem to follow the puck well, and eventually, with more coaching and development, he should be able to have his body catch up. Borichev is the top-ranked international goaltender, however, and unless the Canucks want to look for a goaltender with one of their second-round picks, they likely won’t get a chance to draft Borichev.

Tobias Tvrznik’s stock absolutely skyrocketed following a stellar debut WHL season with the Wenatchee Wild. As one colleague put it when we discussed Tvrznik, “he’s the only reason the Wild won any games this year.” Tvrznik put up a solid .913 save percentage through 39 games in his first WHL season in 2025-26. Possessing excellent NHL size, he relies on elite mechanics, strong lateral mobility, and exceptional east-west tracking. Standing at 6’3, Tvrznik excels at reading cross-ice plays, utilizing a powerful cross-crease push that allows him to get set early and square up to shooters. There isn’t much panic in his game. Best of all? He might be available as a mid-late round pick for the Canucks.

Staying in the WHL — and with Czech goaltenders — Marek Sklenicka is another name that we’ve got our eyes on. Sklenicka backstopped the Seattle Thunderbirds this past season, and had more than one hot streak that makes us think there is absolutely something there that can be harnessed with the right coaching and development. At 6’4, Sklenicka is a raw and athletic netminder. That athleticism should help him overcome one of his biggest obstacles, which, in my viewings, appears to be lateral movement and recovery after he’s dropped to the ice. I also have questions about his decision-making — I noticed a few instances where he dropped into the butterfly too soon –, but again, those are things that can be cleaned up at the next level. His ability to seal off the bottom of the net in a hurry is undeniable, and that’s one of the main things to look for in a goaltending prospect.

Back to the international ranks (and yes, it’s another Czech goaltender), David Vermirovsky rose from seventh on the midterm NHL Central Scouting rankings all the way up to third on the final rankings. The reason for that is largely thanks to a strong playoff run, where he posted a .913 save percentage through 13 games. The tallest goaltender on our list at 6’5, Vermirovsky is confident in his size in that he trusts pucks to hit his large frame when tracking shots through traffic. The crew over at Elite Prospects notes that Vermirovsky has an unconventional and unpredictable playstyle that can throw off shooters. Sounds like the perfect thing for him to work through! One drawback I noticed in my viewings of Vermirovsky is that he likes to keep his hands a bit too far back instead of out in front of him to further take away space. Again, something to work on, but just something I noticed that was worth mentioning. Now, Vermirovsky is likely more of an early/mid round pick more than he is a mid-late round option like some of the other names on our list, but the Canucks should be absolutely thrilled if they’re able to land him in the fourth or fifth round.

Now we move to a goaltender not ranked in the top 10 of European goaltenders. Some mock drafts have him as low as 193, while others, like Elite Prospects, have him ranked as a second or third round talent. We’d agree with EP on this one. Ranked 14th by NHL Central Scouting, there is absolutely a chance the Canucks would be able to snag Ainasto in the later rounds of the draft, and that would be a great option. At 6’4, Ainasto is surprisingly polished for an 18-year-old, but make no mistake about it, this is a goaltender with a ton of raw ability as well. His .892 save percentage with Jokerit in the Finnish U20 league likely hurt his draft stock, but we (and the Canucks) don’t really weigh results all that heavily when evaluating prospect goaltenders. It’s more about the process, and Ainasto’s process is solid.

Here’s an eight-minute video of him playing goal. Note especially the switching of stances (narrow when the puck is up high, lower as the play moves towards him), the smooth post integration, the explosiveness in his lateral movements, and the tracking of the puck through traffic:

Put me down as a big Juuso Ainasto guy.

Those are our five, as we are now officially less than a month away from the NHL Draft!