The 2026 NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone and, in the end, it was probably a whole lot less busy for the Vancouver Canucks than most expected. Specifically, fewer players departed the organization via trade than most were expecting – just Conor Garland, David Kampf, and Lukas Reichel, all told.

But there will be more departures to come before the Canucks hit the ice to start the 2026-27 in about six months’ time. Some players will leave via free agency, and more trades will inevitably be made this summer.

Because this current 2025-26 season is the write-off of all write-offs, we thought the aftermath of a the deadline was a fine time to start looking ahead. There will be more changes from here, but for now, this is how the Canucks’ 2026-27 depth chart is taking shape.

For better and for worse, and probably for worse, the Canucks’ centre depth chart is fairly cut-and-dry. Pettersson remains in the top spot until something drastic changes, and Rossi is all-but penciled in to the 2C slot after him. From there, Blueger seems likely to be extended and, if so, would still outrank the younger Räty on the depth chart until otherwise proven.

In order to make this team, and avoid starting out in the AHL, Cootes will have to beat out at least two of the names above him, which might be a tall order. He probably starts out with better odds than Sasson, however, who may begin to transition over to the wing more full-time. Mueller brings this short list to a close as the only other centre likely to see NHL minutes in 2026-27.

 This chunk of the depth chart was a lot harder to decide on than the centre chunk. And, if anything, even less impressive. DeBrusk takes the top spot almost by default, and the same could be said for Boeser coming in behind him – neither impressed much in 2025-26, but both are still likely to be the team’s top producers from the wings all the same. Öhgren stands out as the biggest climber on this list, and has a realistic chance of starting out 2026-27 even higher, depending on how his offseason goes. We imagine we’ll draw some critiques for placing Lekkerimäki so high, but he’s going to get a legitimate chance at the top-six and PP1 in training camp, and more so than anyone lower than him in the ranks.

O’Connor, Höglander, and Karlsson will jockey for position if none end up traded in the summer, with at least one of them earning a spot in the top-nine next year. Chytil is incredibly hard to place, but we can at least safely stash him somewhere on the wing, with his NHL centre days likely behind him. Sasson stays relatively low whether he’s at centre or on the wing, and the newly-acquired Douglas comes in at the bottom if re-signed – he’s a pending Group 6 UFA.

As it stands, there’s no immediate help coming from Abbotsford to these wings, Lekkerimäki aside. However, it’s worth noting that this is a depth chart that either Gavin McKenna or Ivar Stenberg, if selected, could reasonably be at the top of right from the starts of their careers. That could be a really good thing or a really bad thing, depending on their readiness.

 Here, the rebuild is actually visibly apparent. Hronek maintains the top spot and will for the foreseeable future. Then, it’s a saw-off between Willander and Buium for 2D. We went with Willander for having the strong all-around rookie season, but it’s more reasonably a tie, and with the two playing opposite sides, it’s not a direct competition, anyway.

The elder Pettersson blueliner holds on to the last top-four position until the younger more firmly seizes it from him, which may not happen within 2026-27. Many are hoping for at least a little bit of a bounceback campaign from Marcus. Beyond that, Mancini will hope to break camp with the team again and stick there this time. Kudryavtsev, meanwhile, will still have some waiver exemption time and may start in Abbotsford again, but more properly belongs here on the depth chart, and may even outrank Mancini. Joseph could stick around as an extra if qualified, and the newly-acquired Thompson gets the last slot for having more NHL experience than the rest of the Abbotsford contingent already at the relatively young age of 23.

The Canucks are set to start with the same depth chart and arrangement in their crease as they did 2025-26 – but, boy, has that outlook changed. Demko’s health remains a major question mark, and probably always will. Lankinen’s performance suffered greatly this season, which has been great for the tank, but not great for hopes of him continuing to fill in as starter with Demko out.

Then, as if that weren’t complicated enough, Tolopilo runs out of waiver exemption status this summer, and so the Canucks will have to make a difficult decision if all three are healthy for camp – trade one of them, or attempt to pass Tolopilo through preseason waivers. The last option is less-than-ideal, given that Tolopilo might be the goalie most likely to give the Canucks a large number of quality starts in 2026-27.