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Canucks 2026 NHL Draft: A recent history of the 33rd overall pick
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Photo credit: © Bob Frid-Imagn Images
Stephan Roget
May 25, 2026, 13:15 EDTUpdated: May 25, 2026, 13:13 EDT
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The Vancouver Canucks will head toward Draft Weekend 2026 with two first round picks, slotted in at third and 24th overall. They’ll also have another pick, at 33rd overall, that is almost a first round pick.
In fact, for a moment there, it pretty much was a first round pick. When the NHL punished the Ottawa Senators for a trade clause snafu a few years ago, they removed the Sens’ 2026 first rounder. Had that punishment stuck, the Canucks’ pick would have been bumped up to 32nd overall, making it the equivalent of the last pick in the first round in any other year.
Predictably, the NHL backed down on its ruling and instead awarded the Senators the 32nd overall pick. And so, the Canucks remain at 33rd overall, and will be making the first selection of the second round in the 2026 Entry Draft.
Because we’ve already covered the recent history of the third overall pick and the 24th overall pick, and because this one is practically a first rounder, anyway, we thought it’d be worth our while to go over the history of the 33rd in the exact same way.
So, here it is. A fair warning before we set out: this will be a list with more misses than hits.

2010: John McFarland (RW) at 33rd overall to the Florida Panthers

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
0
0
0
0
Current Status: Retired
Peak Status: Bottom-six AHL forward
We start our list with an outright bust, and not the last. McFarland started to stagnate even in the OHL after being drafted, limped into the AHL, and only ever managed three pointless NHL games. He briefly went overseas, returned to North America, and retired from the ECHL after the 2018-19 season before he hit the age of 30. 

2011: Rocco Grimaldi (RW) at 33rd overall to the Florida Panthers

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
203
30
37
67
Current Status: KHL top-six forward
Peak Status: NHL bottom-six forward
At 5’7”, the odds were always stacked against Grimaldi making it in the NHL, and he ultimately made a pretty decent run at it. Grimaldi held an abundance of skill and determination, allowing for several PPG+ seasons at the AHL level, but the most he ever achieved in one NHL season was 31 points. He basically had a three-year run as a true NHLer and spent the rest of his career as an AHL call-up, then just a pure AHLer. He just went overseas to the KHL for this past season. 

2012: Sebastian Collberg (RW) at 33rd overall to the Montreal Canadiens

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
0
0
0
0
Current Status: Retired
Peak Status: AHL bottom-six forward
Another outright bust. Collberg only ever made it over to North America for two partial AHL seasons, where he maxed out at 18 points in 43 games. In fact, his draft year of 2011-12, in which he scored 17 points in 21 Swedish junior games, was the last time he had any sort of standout production. Even after returning overseas, Collberg didn’t score much, and in his most recent full season, he notched just seven points in 21 games in the Allsvenskan, Sweden’s second-tier league.

2013: Adam Erne (LW) at 33rd overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
424
47
52
99
Current Status: Bottom-six NHL forward
Erne has really battled to earn himself a long-term NHL career. He had to adapt his high-scoring junior game into a hard-hitting fourth line profile, but he successfully did so. He’s been knocked back to the AHL on a few occasions – including the entire 2024-25 season – but has always fought his way back, as he did while winning a full-time job with the Dallas Stars this past year. Erne may not be an overly exciting 33rd overall pick, but he’s more successful than the bulk of the other names on the list.

2014: Ivan Barbashev (LW) at 33rd overall to the St. Louis Blues

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
667
149
202
351
Current Status: Top-six NHL forward
There is no doubt who the best recent 33rd overall pick is, and it isn’t particularly close. Barbashev can’t quite be called an NHL star, having maxed out at 26 goals and 60 points in a single season, but he’s a very good top-six scorer who has made a habit of contributing to some very good teams. He’s already won a Cup with Vegas, and he’s now on the verge of the third round with them again, up to 12 points through 15 playoff games as of this writing. At 33rd, Barbashev represents a real best-case scenario, and is one of only two real difference-makers to be found on this list.

2015: Mitchell Stephens (C/W) at 33rd overall to the Tampa Bay Lightning

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
123
6
13
19
Current Status: NHL call-up/AHL middle-six
Stephens has stuck around the periphery of the NHL as a frequent call-up for his entire career due to a versatile and well-rounded game, but has never been able to break into full NHL minutes. In his rookie season, he played 38 games for the Lightning and seven more in the playoffs, winning the Stanley Cup. But that was an early career peak for him, and he’s never again played that many NHL games in a season.

2016: Rasmus Asplund (C) at 33rd overall to the Buffalo Sabres

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
189
18
31
49
Current Status: Swiss League star
Peak Status: Bottom-six NHL forward
Asplund put together a short, solid career as an NHL fourth-line centre with good defensive chops and a little bit of offence, as evidenced by his 27 points in 2021-22. But that offence dried up rather quickly, and as soon as Asplund began to slow down, he fell behind the pace of the league. He’s since moved on to the Swiss A League, and probably isn’t coming back. 

2017: Kole Lind (RW) at 33rd overall to the Vancouver Canucks

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
31
2
6
8
Current Status: Top-six AHL forward
Why wasn’t anyone taking Kole Lind? Probably because he was never all that good in the first place. Lind’s effortful game caught Jim Benning’s eye, and has allowed him to carve out a solid career as an AHL scorer, but any attempts to break into the NHL have fallen short. In the end, Lind just didn’t have the wheels or the puck-handling ability to take the next step.
Of course, all that didn’t stop Lind from being selected in another draft, that being the Seattle Expansion Draft.

2018: Jonatan Berggren (RW) at 33rd overall to the Detroit Red Wings

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
205
37
43
80
Current Status: Bottom-six NHL forward
Berggren was a player who seemed on the verge of breaking through with the Detroit Red Wings for a number of years, but never really made it happen. The Wings finally gave up on him this past season, placing him on waivers, and he was picked up by the Blues, where he responded with a career-high pace of 16 points in 36 games. It remains to be seen whether Berggren can build on this into a full-time NHL gig.

2019: Arthur Kaliyev (RW) at 33rd overall to the Los Angeles Kings

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
204
38
38
76
Current Status: NHL call-up
Kaliyev is one of those players with so much talent that he’s truly been given every opportunity to make it at the NHL level, and has still never really figured it out. He got 27 points in 80 games as a rookie, then 28 in 56 games as a sophomore, but really fell off the production cliff thereafter. He’s bounced from Los Angeles to New York and now to Ottawa, where he spent the majority of this past season in the AHL. It is hard to see Kaliyev getting too many chances after this.

2020: Roby Jarventie (LW) at 33rd overall to the Ottawa Senators

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
10
0
1
1
Current Status: Top-six AHL forward
At 23, Jarventie is right on that cusp of transitioning from prospect to a more long-term AHLer. His minor league numbers are impressive, but he hasn’t made much of a permanent impression with the Oilers, who are always seemingly on the lookout for cheap and effective depth. Jarventie has recently been surpassed by a number of younger forward prospects.

2021: Prokhor Poltapov (LW) at 33rd overall to the Buffalo Sabres

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
0
0
0
0
Current Status: Top-six KHL forward
This is a player who never even attempted to come over to North America, so it’s hard to put any sort of label on him. Poltapov’s KHL numbers look solid and consistent, if unspectacular.

2022: Owen Beck (C) at 33rd overall to the Montreal Canadiens

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
28
1
1
2
Current Status: NHL call-up
Beck is still young enough to be considered a prospect, but he’s also quickly running out of opportunities in Montreal as younger, better prospects pass him by on the depth chart. His AHL numbers haven’t been standout yet, and that will probably translate into him having to break through with some other, less deep organization if he’s to break through at all.

2023: Nico Myatovic (LW) at 33rd overall to the Anaheim Ducks

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
71
7
12
19
Current Status: Bottom-six AHL forward
You’d hate to write off a 21-year-old, but Myatovic is a forward who never even achieved point-per-game status in the WHL, and has only achieved 38 points in 149 career AHL games. Unless he becomes a really robust fourth line type, it’s hard to imagine Myatovic carving out any sort of NHL career at this point.

2024: Igor Chernyshov (LW) at 33rd overall to the San Jose Sharks

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
28
9
10
19
Current Status: Burgeoning top-six NHL forward
It’s taken us a while, but we’ve finally arrived at our second true difference-maker. The sample size is small, but Chernyshov has been an instant NHL success, and looks to be a long-term addition to a young and exciting top-six in San Jose. Sharks fans will attest that he’s looked even better than those rookie numbers will suggest, and Chernyshov seems well on his way to top-six status at the very least, and maybe even a form of NHL stardom.

2025: Haoxi Wang (LD) at 33rd Overall to the San Jose Sharks

 
Games
Goals
Assists
Points
Career
0
0
0
0
Current Status: Top-five prospect
We’re officially in the ‘too soon to call’ range with Wang. China’s top prospect ever is shaping up to be a big, mean, rangy defender, but is still in the OHL as of this point and has a long road to go before he’s skating any regular NHL minutes.
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