Heading into the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday, May 5, you’re going to hear a lot about how the Vancouver Canucks are hoping to get the first-overall pick for the first time ever. After all, in their entire 50+ year history, the Canucks have never held the first-overall pick in the draft.

Well, that’s not exactly true.

While it’s true that the Canucks have never picked first overall in the NHL Amateur or Entry Draft, they did ever-so-briefly hold the first-overall pick in the 1999 draft. They just didn’t use it.

The Canucks have Trevor Linden to thank for getting that first-overall pick — at least, in part — and the pick helped the Canucks select not just one but two of the greatest players in franchise history: Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

It all begins with Mark Messier and Mike Keenan. As that less-than-dynamic duo dismantled the Canucks, several fan-favourite players were traded away. That included former captain Trevor Linden, whose “C” had been handed over to Messier.

On February 6, 1998, Keenan sent Linden to the New York Islanders for Todd Bertuzzi, Bryan McCabe, and a third-round pick, which the Canucks used on Jarkko Ruutu. It was a controversial trade at the time, and an extremely consequential one.

When the trade was made, McCabe was the centrepiece. At just 22, McCabe had been named captain of the Islanders at the start of the season, and he was shocked to be moved so soon after taking on that leadership role.

McCabe was seen as the linchpin of the Canucks’ defence going forward, filling what had been a major weakness. But it was Bertuzzi who would have the biggest impact on the Canucks as a player.

Bertuzzi was a former first-round pick, but hadn’t lived up to that billing. At the time of the trade, Bertuzzi had just 7 goals and 18 points in 52 games and a minus-19 that was tied for the worst among Islanders forwards with future Canucks head coach Travis Green.

“If I ever felt he was going to fulfill his potential, I would have been a fool to make the deal,” said then-Islanders’ general manager Mike Milbury about including Bertuzzi in the trade to the New York Daily News.

If Milbury wants to call himself a fool, who am I to argue? Bertuzzi became one of the premier power forwards in the NHL, finding chemistry with Markus Näslund and Brendan Morrison on the West Coast Express, and scoring 188 goals and 449 points in 518 games as a Canuck.

But it was McCabe who helped deliver the Twins.

Heading into the 1999 NHL Entry Draft, the Canucks held the third-overall pick behind the Tampa Bay Lightning and expansion Atlanta Thrashers. But Canucks general manager Brian Burke didn’t want to keep the pick.

Aside from Patrik Stefan, expected to go first overall, Burke didn’t think very highly of any of the prospects expected to go in the first round in 1999. He wasn’t entirely wrong about the quality of the draft: 12 of the 28 players selected failed to play 100 games in the NHL.

He was particularly unimpressed by the twin brothers from Sweden, Daniel and Henrik Sedin, who had underwhelmed at the 1999 World Junior Championship. Burke felt they had only put up points against weaker teams and struggled against tougher competition. Besides, there was plenty of talk that the Sedins would only be effective together, and trying to draft both of them seemed like a headache that wasn’t worth the pain.

Thomas Gradin, the Canucks’ first Swedish star on the ice and newly promoted Head Scout, was adamant that the Canucks had to have not just one Sedin but both. He convinced Burke to give the Sedins another chance to impress him when they made Team Sweden at the 1999 World Championship. While the Sedins didn’t pile up points, it was readily apparent what made them special, and Burke came away impressed by their performance against bigger and stronger opposition.

There was just one problem: the Canucks only had one pick in the first round.

Enter Bryan McCabe.

Since the Linden trade, the Canucks had added significant pieces to their blue line. Ed Jovanovski joined the Canucks from the Florida Panthers in the Pavel Bure trade. Mattias Öhlund had stepped up as the team’s top defenceman. Bryan Allen, picked fourth overall in 1998, was the Canucks’ top prospect.

Along with Adrian Aucoin, Jason Strudwick, and an emerging Brent Sopel, the Canucks’ young blue line made McCabe expendable. But he was still just 23 years old and playing 23+ minutes per night, so he had significant trade value.

Now Burke just needed to find a trading partner. That was going to be easier said than done.

The expansion Atlanta Thrashers were set to pick just ahead of the Canucks, and trying to pry the first-ever draft pick in Thrashers history was a complete non-starter. Thrashers general manager Don Waddell was aiming to draft a franchise-defining star and had no interest in trading for an older player.

The Tampa Bay Lightning, on the other hand, were willing to trade the first-overall pick, with newly-hired general manager Rick Dudley aiming to execute a quick rebuild after several seasons of disappointment. Dudley wasn’t high on Stefan or any of the other prospects at the top of the draft and was more than willing to move his pick for some immediate help.

But Dudley had no interest in Bryan McCabe; he wanted a goaltender and some scoring help. So, that didn’t help Burke either.

Chicago Blackhawks general manager Bob Murray was in a position to help Burke, however.

Murray held a similar view of the 1999 draft as Burke. In fact, Murray and Burke had carpooled together to the 1999 World Championship, where both had been thoroughly impressed by the Sedins. Murray wanted both Sedins, but he was in an even worse position to try to get them.

The Blackhawks held the fourth overall pick, giving Burke the advantage. As much as Murray wanted Burke to trade the Canucks’ pick, Burke wasn’t budging, and instead insisted that Murray trade his pick to the Canucks.

“Okay, you smart Irish bastard,” said Murray to Burke, according to Sportsnet’s Marc Spector. “But it’s going to cost you.”

The cost was McCabe and a future first-round pick in either 2000 or 2001. It was a bold move by Burke, but his work wasn’t done.

Burke and the Canucks now held the third and fourth-overall picks, but that still left them in a precarious position.

If either the Lightning or Thrashers decided to pick one — or worse, both — of the Sedins, the Canucks would be in trouble. They would have moved their primary trade piece for a prospect they didn’t really want.

Burke wanted certainty. To get that, he needed the first-overall pick.

Burke went back to Dudley and the Lightning with the Blackhawks’ fourth-overall pick in hand. While he didn’t have the goaltender or forward help the Lightning were looking for, he could offer them more draft picks, which could then be exchanged for players in other trades.

Dudley took the deal, trading the Lightning’s pick for the fourth-overall pick and two third-round picks. He then flipped the fourth-overall pick to the New York Rangers for future Canuck Dan Cloutier, Niklas Sundstrom, and first and third-round picks in the 2000 draft.

With that, the Canucks had the first-overall pick for the first time in franchise history. Since the draft lottery never went their way, they had to work for it, from Linden to McCabe to the Blackhawks’ fourth-overall pick to the Lightning’s first-overall pick.

Burke knew the Thrashers wanted Patrik Stefan, so he could have simply used the first-overall pick to take one of the Sedins, then draft the other third overall. That would have ended the Canucks’ drought, and it would no longer be a story in Vancouver that they had never picked first overall.

But Burke was a showman. He knew that bringing Daniel and Henrik Sedin up on stage separately wouldn’t do.

So, he approached Waddell and offered him the chance to have the Atlanta Thrashers pick first overall in their first draft. All he asked for was a conditional third-round pick and assurances that Waddell wouldn’t take one of the Sedins. The deal was done, and the Canucks gave up the first-overall pick so they could take the Sedins second and third.

Waddell and the Thrashers got their moment in the spotlight, but Burke and the Canucks got two Hall-of-Famers. The Canucks can only dream of having a similarly franchise-defining draft this year.

It would definitely be a lot less work if the Canucks could just win the draft lottery on Tuesday.