Canucks Draft Preview: Is first-round pick a trade chip?

VANCOUVER — Rarely have the Vancouver Canucks entered draft week more motivated to trade their No. 1 pick. And rarely has the value of that commodity seemed more depressed.

A below-average draft class, rapid salary-cap inflation after years of pandemic-related suppression, and National Hockey League parity that makes almost everyone except the San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks think they have a chance has eroded the value of draft capital.

Sure, middle first-round picks on Friday are handy for adding another good prospect to your development pipeline. But most teams with spending room are trying to win, which means prioritizing players over picks.

It is amid this economic climate that Canucks general manager Patrik Allvin — since the end of Vancouver’s disappointing season and since hockey-operations president Jim Rutherford pledged on April 21 to “do whatever it takes” to acquire a top-six centre — has been trying to orchestrate an impactful trade to help his team rebound.

And since the Canucks have made it clear that top prospects like defencemen Tom Willander and Elias Pettersson and winger Jonathan Lekkerimaki are largely off-limits, their 15th overall pick on Friday night is still one of the most valuable assets they have to spend.

Unlike last year’s draft when the Canucks did not pick until near the end of the third round, they currently hold at-bats in each inning, including three selections in the top 65 after acquiring the San Jose Sharks’ well-travelled, third-round slot by trading defenceman Carson Soucy to the New York Rangers at the March deadline.

But we don’t know if they’ll actually be using the first pick.

“You know what? That's fine,” Canucks amateur scouting director Todd Harvey said. “If that (trade) is going to help our team be better, our group understands that. If we can make our team better, and we have to do things like that, then all our guys are for that.”

Harvey and his staff appear to have found good value in recent drafts — and after them. The franchise won its first Calder Cup on Monday when the Abbotsford Canucks beat the Charlotte Checkers, the Florida Panthers’ farm team, 3-2 in Game 6 to claim the American Hockey League championship.

That team includes several players picked in middle and late rounds, as well as a few undrafted free agents signed by the Canucks. A bunch of Abby Canucks will be pushing for NHL roster spots next fall.

Of course, it’s exponentially more likely that players drafted in the first round become NHLers, even if the 2025 class is regarded as thin on potential superstars.

“Obviously, there's not a Connor McDavid, the franchise kind of player, at the top of the draft,” Harvey said. “But there's some really good players and some star quality in this draft. Our job is not to kind of worry about, you know, how good the draft is. Our job is to find the right players for our team.”

Draft picks

1st (15th), 2nd (47th), 3rd (65th, San Jose via Vegas and New York Rangers), 4th (117th, Ottawa via Edmonton), 5th (143rd), 6th (175th), 7th (207th).

Potential Round 1 options

LW Carter Bear, Everett, WHL

A centre would be ideal, but the Canucks may have a hard time passing on Bear if the goal-scoring left winger is still available at No. 15. With 40 goals and 82 points in just 56 games, Bear was tracking as a potential top-10 pick until his season ended with a frightening skate cut to his Achilles. There is a lot to like about his game besides offence. The sturdy six-footer competes relentlessly, gets to the net and tough areas and has leadership qualities to go with his skill.

C Cole Reschny, Victoria, WHL

The two-way centre moved up draft rankings in the second half of a season that saw him amass 92 points in 62 games, then cap it with 25 points in just 11 Western League playoff games and an impressive tournament for Canada at the world under-18 championship. The Manitoban is five-foot-11, but strong on his skates and in all zones. He has exceptional speed and elusiveness and projects as a potential top-six playmaker at the NHL level.

C/W Cullen Potter, Arizona State, NCAA

Potter is one of the most intriguing — and exciting — wild cards of the draft. At five-foot-nine, he appears in draft rankings/projections anywhere from inside the top 10 to 50th. Sportsnet’s Jason Bukala ranks him 24th. What’s indisputable is that Potter is one of the most explosive, dynamic skaters available — a one-on-one menace who has an offensive ceiling in the stratosphere. The Minnesotan produced 22 points in 35 games as a college freshman, then added eight points in seven games for Team USA at the U-18s.

LAST YEAR’S TOP PICK

After loading up ahead of the 2024 trade deadline for their 13-game playoff run, the Canucks didn’t pick last year until they selected Swedish goal-scorer Melvin Fernstrom 93rd overall. It looked like a good pick. But halfway through his rookie-of-the-year season with Orebro of the SHL, Fernstrom was part of the package sent to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the three-team, Jan. 31 blockbuster that saw J.T. Miller go to the New York Rangers and defenceman Marcus Pettersson, among others, come to the Canucks. Part of the reason Fernstrom was considered expendable is the volume of mid-tier prospects the organization has amassed under Allvin.

The Canucks’ last first-round pick, 2023’s Willander (11th overall), ended unusually nervy contract negotiations by signing his entry-level contract with the Canucks in May after two solid seasons at Boston University. The right-shot, shutdown defenceman is expected to begin his pro career in Abbotsford next fall but could be on the NHL team soon.

One bold prediction

Despite the buyers’ market, the Canucks will get enough for their first-round pick to trade it this week for immediate help in the top six. And that won’t be their only trade before free agency opens as Allvin and Rutherford urgently try to reload for another run at the Stanley Cup Playoffs — and the chance to keep star defenceman Quinn Hughes beyond next season.