First-round picks are the main currency that fuels a rebuild.

That’s already pretty obvious when it comes to the Vancouver Canucks. The top young players already on the roster, namely Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, Marco Rossi, and Liam Öhgren, were all drafted in the first round of their respective drafts, with the first three each being drafted in the first half of the first round.

Beyond that, the Canucks’ top-three list of prospects right now probably goes Caleb Malhotra, Braeden Cootes, and Adam Novotný, with each of them having been drafted in the first round themselves. Novotny is the latest to make a big splash at Training Camp, and in doing so, he’s put a little more faith and confidence in the efficacy of this rebuild.

There are some potentially impactful players in the organization drafted outside the first round, like Elias Pettersson II, Kirill Kudryavtsev, and Linus Karlsson, but the overall message here should be rather clear, and that’s that the Canucks have got to where they are primarily on the strength of their (and others’) first-round selections.

Which, in turn, suggests that something the Canucks might need to do in order to keep this rebuild moving in the right direction is to get their hands on some more first-round picks. Starting, ideally, with the upcoming 2027 NHL Entry Draft.

So, how possible is it that they pick up an extra first or two between now and next June?

It would seem as though the Canucks have a few different pathways to explore in this endeavour.

There are a handful of players on the roster right now that could reasonably be exchanged for a first-round pick, and perhaps then some. If we deem the under-25 crowd as untouchable, then the first player on the list is someone who’s about to turn 25 this week: Marco Rossi.

Rossi is a former ninth overall pick who plays centre and already has a career-high of 60 points. Last year, when the Canucks were initially trying to acquire him, Rossi was said to hold the value of a mid-round first and a couple of young players (the reported ask was the 15^th overall, Aatu Räty, and Arturs Silovs). Since then, Rossi has arguably increased his value, and a strong start to 2026-27 should only continue that.

The real question the Canucks need to ask is whether there’s a role for Rossi in the ongoing rebuild, or whether he’s ultimately best used as a trade chip. If it’s the latter, he probably starts being shopped this year, and a first being part of the return feels almost guaranteed.

The next most direct path to a first is Jake DeBrusk. There’s some debating to be had about his exact trade value, but he is someone who has scored at a 20-goal-or-greater pace for essentially his entire career, and is a proven power play and postseason success.

Vancouver fans might have lowered their expectations on a DeBrusk return due to some lacklustre returns for recent veterans. But some of that was circumstantial. Kiefer Sherwood was expecting a major contract extension, and got back two seconds. Conor Garland had an impending six-year extension with an NMC, and returned a second and a third. Tyler Myers was well into his golden years, and returned a second and a fourth.

DeBrusk, however, is signed for five more seasons at a cap hit of just $5.5 million. He scores like a borderline first-line player, and his pay is starting to approach third-line territory already. That tells us that DeBrusk is still worth at least a first right now, even after a season of very limited five-on-five scoring. Any return to normalcy in that department throughout 2026-27 only adds some change on top of his potential return.

Unlike Rossi, DeBrusk is almost guaranteed to be traded at some point in the future, even after recently backing away from his trade-related comments, especially once his NMC becomes a limited-NTC this coming summer.

A more debatable name is the senior Elias Pettersson. Some would argue that he and his contract still hold negative value, at which point one has to assume that the Canucks might need to retain salary to even get a return for him.

But others aren’t quite so sure. Pettersson still plays a premium position, still scores at an above-average second-line rate, and is still excellent defensively. Moreover, his cap hit becomes less of an overpayment with each passing month of NHL inflation – still an overpayment, to be sure, but less of one.

Pettersson probably doesn’t even need a great season to restore some of his trade value. A decent season, as in a return to at least 65-70 points and consistent two-way play, is probably all he needs to start getting some compelling offers for his services.

Getting a first-round pick back as part of a package for Pettersson is still very much on the table if the Canucks are willing to wait, and they might not have much of a choice on that front, anyway.

Another name to mention is Filip Hronek. Few would dispute that he’s currently worth far more than a single first-round pick. If whiteboard rumours are to be believed, the Boston Bruins were prepared to offer two firsts and a prospect for Hronek back in June, and it’s hard to see Hronek’s value doing anything but continuing to trend upward.

That said, Hronek has a no-movement clause and will until it expires on July 1, 2028. He’s also made it very clear that he has no current interest in waiving that clause. Hronek will probably be traded at some point, but it won’t be before the 2027 Draft, and it might not even be before the 2028 Draft.

Beyond Rossi, DeBrusk, and possibly Pettersson, the Canucks are rather low on options. Their only real other shot at an extra first is to acquire one by committee, as in trading multiple pieces for lesser returns and then hopefully combining those into a trade-up scenario.

Drew O’Connor is a pending UFA who, with another strong scoring season, could return something similar to Sherwood toward the deadline. Brendan Gallagher was brought in to mentor, but he’s also a pending UFA and only has a five-team NTC. The possibility of double-retaining on his salary means the Canucks could also get a sizeable return for him come deadline time. Paul Cotter, who signed a one-year deal, could also be a decent rental, as could Filip Chytil, a pending UFA, so long as he returns to some form of health.

Luke Schenn could be and has been a fine rental in his own right, though his full-NMC says he may take a pass on being moved this particular deadline.

And really, all a team needs to move up into the late first round is typically a couple of earlier second-round picks. Get a second for O’Connor, a second for Gallagher, and a third for Cotter, and that’s probably enough to get into the late 20s of the first round, which might be a worthwhile endeavor for the Canucks. They used all four of their first- and second-round picks in the 2026 Draft, but maybe they’ll aim for more quality over quantity in future drafts.

We’d like to end with a more long-shot pathway, and it’s this: Thatcher Demko returns to health and is subsequently traded for a first-round pick. Clearly, this one needs a lot to go right to even enter the realm of possibility. But if Demko returns to health and stays healthy this season, and if he returns to anything resembling the form that won him a Vezina nomination two years ago, then the volatility of the goaltending market means his value could swing from negative to positive in a hurry. It probably only takes a couple of months of great play for Demko to be worth a team taking a gamble on, at which point he’s suddenly become another option for the Canucks to cash in for a first-round pick – assuming, of course, he’s willing to waive his new NMC.

Overall, we’d put the Canucks’ odds of obtaining at least one more first-round pick before June 2027 as relatively high, and the fact that they’ve got multiple pathways toward that goal makes it all the more likely they’ll achieve it.