We made it, Vancouver Canucks fans. We are mere hours away from the 2026 NHL Draft, where we’ll see the Canucks select twice in the first round (third and 24th overall) for the first time since the 2014 NHL Draft.

While those selections, Jake Virtanen and Jared McCann, did not provide much in terms of contributions to the Canucks’ roster, the organization is hoping to land a difference-maker at third overall. And the third overall pick has a long history of proven top-tier contributors:

With this being one of the most important drafts in Canucks history, here is everything you need to know to get primed for tonight’s draft.

Tonight, Friday, June 26, at 4 PM PST, in Buffalo, New York. Unfortunately, this year is another decentralized draft. They tested this style last year, and there were some technical difficulties reaching some teams’ war rooms, so hopefully that is all cleaned up for tonight.

Day 1 is the entire first round, the top 32 selections. Day 2 of the draft kicks off on Saturday morning, where teams will complete rounds two through seven. The draft can be streamed on Sportsnet on both days.

At the time of this writing, the Canucks hold 10 picks in the draft. This is the most selections the organization has had since the infamous 2003 draft. But with how crazy the trade market seems to be this week, we could see the Canucks acquire more picks or package a few to move up in the draft.

But for now, these are the selections the Canucks are projected to be making:

The Canucks acquired four of these selections via trade this past season: 24th overall in the Quinn Hughes trade, 41st overall from the Kiefer Sherwood deal, 176th overall in the David Kämpf trade, and 184th overall from the Lukas Reichel deal.

For most of the draft year, Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg have been viewed as the two top prospects in this class. Both are expected to go in that order, so the draft truly starts with the Canucks pick at third overall. Let’s get into some options for the Canucks’ two first round selections:

There’s a crop of just two forwards the Canucks could consider at third, centremen Caleb Malhotra and Viggo Björck. If they choose to go the defencemen route, Vancouver would have their choice of the top available options, right-shot defenders Chase Reid or Keaton Verhoeff, or the left-handed Carson Carels or Alberts Smits.

It’s a bit harder to project who might be available at 24th overall than at third overall, and what they do with their first pick likely dictates the type of player they select later. If they do defenceman at 3, they might lean toward a centre.

Some possible centre options at 24 would be Ilia Morozov, Oliver Suvanto, Maddox Dagenais, Jack Hextall and Brooks Rogowski. However, if they take a centre at 3, that might open up their options to take any position. Some of the other available forward options around that stop are Mathis Preston, JP Hurlbert, or Liam Ruck. Or if they go the defence route, Tommy Bleyl, Xavier Villeneuve or William Håkansson could be of interest.

Here are the players the Canucks have selected in the pick slots throughout their history:

1st Round, 3rd overall: Henrik Sedin (1999), Dennis Ververgaert (1973), Don Lever (1972), and Jocelyn Guevremont (1971).

1st round, 24th overall: Jared McCann (2014), Hunter Shinkaruk (2013), and Rob Murphy (1987).

2nd round, 33rd overall: Kole Lind (2017), Taylor Ellington (2007), and Leif Rohlin (1988).

2nd round, 41st overall: Danila Klimovich (2021), Yann Sauve (2008), and John Hughes (1974).

3rd round, 78th overall: N/A

4th round, 97th overall: N/A

5th round, 129th overall: Ron Thorpe (1999) and Todd Fanning (1987).

6th round, 161st overall: Mats Josten-Froshaug (2008) and Eric Johnson (1991).

6th round, 176th overall: Jackson Dorrington (2022), Taylor Matson (2007), Evgeny Babariko (1993), and Sandy Moger (1989).

6th round, 184th overall: Rodrigo Abols (2016).

It’s been relatively quiet surrounding the Canucks this week. While all the other teams seem to be making moves, the Canucks have been lurking in the shadows, but haven’t gotten anything across the finish line. So, will they pull the trigger on a trade? Chatter about trades involving Jake DeBrusk and Elias Pettersson is heating up. Those types of moves are often complicated by the terms and protections in their contracts, so that is something to watch for.

However, the biggest Canucks storyline is what they’re going to do with the third overall pick. It appears as though it’s down to a two-horse race between centre Caleb Malhotra and defenceman Chase Reid. Will those rumours remain true? Or will we see the Canucks truly shake up the draft and go a bit off the board with a Carson Carels or Viggo Björck? We wouldn’t put our money on that, as we haven’t heard the Canucks linked to those players. But you never know what might happen on draft day.

Regardless, whoever they select at third overall will instantly become the organization’s top prospect in the system.

This is the day we’ve been waiting for since the Canucks went full rebuild mode. So, sit back, grab your popcorn and enjoy the action, folks. OR, come hang out with me, Tyson Cole, producer Jake Fraser, with regular check-ins from Dave Hall live at the draft, along with a ton of special guests throughout the show as we react LIVE to all of the picks.