The Vancouver Canucks have spent the opening days of Ryan Johnson’s tenure emphasizing process, alignment, and patience, but the third overall pick may offer the first real test of how firmly they intend to stick to those principles.

Gavin McKenna is widely expected to be gone by then. After that, there’s far less predictability. San Jose could take Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg at No. 2, but if the Sharks chase one of the class’s high-end defencemen instead to complement their dynamic forward crop, Vancouver’s best player available strategy could get complicated in a hurry.

Earlier this week, when asked how those conversations have played out with Vancouver’s scouting staff, Johnson described the club’s philosophy as a balance between best player available and organizational need.

“Originally through the list, they are targeting what they think the best player available would be in that slot,” said Johnson. “Something we discuss organizationally is are there needs or areas of intrigue from a certain player type. Those are things we’ll still be talking about as we head towards the end of June.”

That answer is important because if the Sharks pick right-handed defenceman Chase Reid at second overall, as many pundits are suggesting, Stenberg would arguably be the cleanest best-player-available once Vancouver is on the clock. If not Reid, the Sharks would still have their pick of projected top-pairing defencemen, including Carson Carels or Keaton Verhoeff.

Stenberg has built one of the strongest draft-year profiles in the class. The 18-year-old Frölunda winger tallied 33 points in 43 SHL games this season, the most by an 18-year-old in Sweden’s top league since Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 1998-99. He also added 10 points in seven games while helping Sweden win gold at the World Juniors. His pre-draft résumé may not have carried the same hype as some of the class’s other top names, but that kind of production in a draft-eligible season is difficult to overlook.

There is a reason Stenberg was the main challenger to McKenna at the top of the draft throughout the season. He may not have the Canadian phenom’s pure offensive electricity, but his skill could translate to a top-six role in the NHL as soon as next season. In a draft where the top five could swing based on positional preference, Stenberg is the type of player who could punish teams for overthinking their selections.

Canucks fans have seen this movie before. Vancouver targeted Olli Juolevi in 2016 while trying to replenish its blue line, selected Danila Klimovich in the second round while Logan Stankoven was still available, and more recently took Tom Willander when the organization needed a right-shot defender. Those examples can be accused of cherry-picking, but they speak to a larger frustration that has followed multiple Canucks regimes. Too often, the organization has tried to outthink the board with high-end hockey talent still sitting there.

That makes the growing noise around Caleb Malhotra slightly concerning.

One of the most compelling names connected to Vancouver approaching the draft, Malhotra, will be heavily discussed in the market over the coming weeks. He plays centre, brings a mature two-way game, and finished his OHL season with the kind of playoff run that has him rocketing up draft boards.

Daily Faceoff’s post-lottery mock had the Canucks taking Malhotra third overall, despite framing Stenberg as the near-consensus best-player-available option for Vancouver if a defenceman goes second. Malhotra’s late-season surge with Brantford and his stronger positional fit were cited as the swaying factors.

The Canucks’ decision in that circumstance comes down to whether Malhotra’s profile as a centre outweighs the possibility of a higher-ceiling winger falling into their lap.

It’s no secret the Canucks badly need centres. But they also need young defencemen. They quite honestly need prospect depth and high-end talent at nearly every position, including on the wing. A rebuild of this scale should not be shaped by one positional hole, especially with Johnson repeatedly emphasizing draft-and-develop patience. The No. 3 pick must be viewed as a long-term cornerstone, not a short-term roster patch, particularly if Malhotra will still require one to two more seasons of development at Boston University.

Johnson also hinted that the top of this draft may not unfold as predicted. “My gut feeling tells me we should be prepared for anything,” Johnson said. “I don’t think it will go as scripted, and that’s not my knowledge. I think it’s just one of those years where it may fall out of the typical order.”

That uncertainty works both ways. It could mean Stenberg is gone before Vancouver picks. It could mean the Canucks have a defenceman higher than the public rankings suggest. It could also mean the team has internally zeroed in on Malhotra.

But if Stenberg is sitting there at No. 3, Vancouver’s stated approach becomes much harder to hide behind. Johnson said the Canucks know they are going to get “a really good hockey player” in that spot. The question is whether they take the one who best matches the depth chart or the one with the highest potential as a hockey player.

As the franchise tries to reset its standards, this is the kind of decision that could reveal a lot about this regime’s team-building philosophy and how much Vancouver trusts its own process.