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Who might the Canucks have wanted at 25th overall in their proposed trade with Senators?
Photo credit: © Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
By Jacob Fraser
Aug 14, 2026, 13:47 EDT
The trade didn’t end up happening, and the Sens went on to select Jonas Lagerberg-Hoen at 25 and Adam Nemec at 72. The Canucks went on to take Brooks Rogowski and Niklas Aaram-Olsen at 33 and 41.
While adding Rogowski and Aaram-Olsen to the Canucks prospect pool is a good thing for the organization, it can also be fun to play the what-if game.
So what if that trade went through? The Canucks had just selected Adam Novotný 24th overall, so who would have been their selection just one pick later? Let’s explore a few options for who the Canucks may have selected at 25th overall.
Gleb Pugachyov
Just one pick after the Senators’ first selection, the Montreal Canadiens traded up to draft Gleb Pugachyov at 26th overall. The Kazakhstani winger is a 6’3”, 198-pound workhorse who can get things done at both ends of the ice.
Pugachyov certainly would have been of interest to the Canucks given that size and high motor, along with a very good, hard shot. Similar to Rogowski, Pugachyov is considered more of a raw talent but has the potential to be an impactful third-line winger.
While there are things he needs to work on to perfect his game – skating and agility – Pugachyov could have been a player the Canucks view as a big part of the team’s bottom six on the wing.
Maksim Sokolovskii
If they weren’t going to opt to go with a big, tall centreman in Rogowski, why not take the big, tall defenceman? Maksim Sokolovskii was selected 27th overall by the Philadelphia Flyers; if the Canucks made the trade for 25th overall, he certainly could have been gone before then.
The Russian defenceman is 6’7” and weighs in at 238 pounds. Given that the future of the Canucks blueline includes Zeev Buium, Tom Willander, along with Kirill Kudryavtsev and Sawyer Mynio potentially being in that mix later down the line, Sokolovskii could have added some size to what is a slighter backend.
Sokolovskii has a lot to work on before he makes the jump to professional hockey; he’s not the most mobile skater and doesn’t quite move the puck well enough yet. That said, his physicality, paired with his size and strength, would have made him a very intriguing player for the Canucks at that spot.
Jaxon Cover
Pugachyov and Sokolovskii are both bigger players who don’t quite have the same ceiling as some like Jaxon Cover. Had the Canucks traded up to 25th overall, perhaps they would have opted to go with a skilled winger with a high ceiling.
Of the players available at the time, Cover might fit the bill better than anyone. Coming from the Cayman Islands, Cover has only really played ice hockey for about four years. Before that, he played roller hockey. The games have some similarities, but roller hockey only has four players on the rink at a time. There’s a lot more space, which gives players a lot more chances to use their skill, and that shows in Cover’s game.
Since he’s only really played ice hockey for a relatively short amount of time, he’s still a very raw prospect. On top of that, he is a slighter player, but his skill, creativity, and vision make him a top-six forward prospect.
It may have been a bit of a swing for the Canucks to take at 25, but it definitely would have been a fun one to take.
Brooks Rogowski
Sometimes, the simple choice is the right one. Although it’s fun to play a bit of armchair GM and imagine different could-have-been scenarios, the most likely reason for the Canucks trying to move up to 25 was to get their guy, Brooks Rogowski.
Given his size and his current projection, the Canucks may have thought he wouldn’t be available to them at 33rd overall. In 2025, we saw Mason West go 29th overall to the Chicago Blackhawks. Another big centreman who was considered a raw talent and was also very focused on another sport. West played football; Rogowski played baseball. Given the similarities in their profiles, the Canucks probably thought someone would swoop in and take the Canucks guy in the late first.
With the other three players, Cover, Sokolovskii and Pugachyov not being centremen, there’s definitely an argument that Rogowski was the right pick to add depth to the Canucks prospect pool. The team need to add depth down the middle, and now, in two drafts, they’ve gone from Ty Mueller and Riley Patterson being their top prospects down the middle to having Braeden Cootes, Caleb Malhotra and Rogowski. That’s a major upgrade.
Given how the draft ended up falling for the Canucks, there probably isn’t much they would change. The team was thrilled with the players they added, according to reports; all four of their top-four picks were ranked in the team’s first round, so the outcome probably couldn’t have been much better.
What do you think Canucks fans? Who would you have wanted the Canucks to draft at 25 had they pulled off this move? Let us know in the comments below!
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