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Since at least December of last year, Vancouver Canucks fans have been thinking about who their team might take with its first-round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. 

For a while, before the draft lottery, fans were hopeful that player would be Gavin McKenna. Then, of course, the draft lottery balls didn’t fall the Canucks’ way. Instead, the Toronto Maple Leafs, of all teams, were gifted the first pick in the draft, with the Canucks falling all the way to third, despite having the best odds and finishing last in the standings by a country mile. 

The attention turned to the prospective number two player, winger Ivar Stenberg, who has been playing well in the Swedish Elite League as a teenager. There was some thought that the San Jose Sharks, who are stocked with young forwards, might pass on Stenberg for a defenseman, of which there are many talented ones in this draft. 

Then, earlier this week, San Jose traded one of those forwards to Ottawa, all but ensuring that the Sharks would draft the talented Stenberg to serve on Macklin Celebrini’s wing for the next decade or two. 

Once the Canucks hired Manny Malhotra to be the team’s next head coach, it did seem like Caleb Malhotra, Manny’s son and Brantford Bulldogs star centre who exploded in the second half of the draft, would be the team’s slam dunk selection at No. 3. 

In the last week or so, things have shifted from that view. While Malhotra was once by far the consensus pick at third for the Canucks, it’s now a lot closer according to the betting odds. 

The odds now have smooth-skating Soo Greyhounds defenceman Chase Reid and Maalhotra neck-and-neck for the best odds to be the Canucks’ third-overall pick. Fellow defencemen Carson Carels and Keaton Verhoeff are further down the list, as are Stenberg and Swedish centre Viggo Björck. 

Let’s dig into who we think the Canucks should and will draft at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo on June 26. 

Should draft: Carson Carels

Let’s start with this: I’m no scout. Aside from winning my highly competitive dynasty pool two years running (thank you very much), I have little to no experience evaluating prospects. (Though… ask anyone, I called it on Lane Hutson.)

I’ve always thought the hype around Malhotra was a little bit strange. Yes, he’s a big centre who put up points at a very strong rate on the back half of his draft year. But this is a guy 

The belief that the Canucks were going to draft him over Stenberg, which was apparently the case at one point in time, is baffling. 

Even the undersized, feisty Bjorck, who is already playing against men in Sweden, would be my choice at centre over Malhotra. The ceiling just feels a bit limited with Malhotra, and while both he and his dad seem like absolute class acts, it feels like the Canucks are chasing one of the only things they actually have in their prospect pool: a steady and good No. 2 centre. Braeden Cootes, drafted last year at No. 15 overall, should be that player. 

Honestly, from everything I’ve seen, Reid seems like a great pick and he does seem to be the league consensus over Carels. By all accounts, Reid is a point-producing defenceman, an excellent skater who can play both sides of the puck. He’s also right-handed, and excellent rearguards on that side are hard to find. 

Carels though, is big, nasty, and an offensive threat. The Manitoban had 73 points in 58 games for the Prince George Cougars. He seems like the type of mobile, reliable, two-way player who can be a lynchpin in a team’s top four for years to come. 

Almost all draft prognisticators have the two defencemen close to each other, with Reid the slight favourite. I could be dead wrong, and I do think Reid will be great, but I would lean toward Carels. 

Will draft: Chase Reid

It just seems like all the heat is on the American defenceman going to the Canucks.

There’s no doubt that the team would love to solidify its prospect pool on the back end, with a stud prospect joining Tom Willander, Zeev Buium, and D-Petey. It’s also entirely possible that the team is reading too much into handedness and wants Reid to balance out the left Buium. Who knows. Taking Reid seems like a smart play. The Canucks get a smart, offensive blueliner who is solid in his own end and can skate for days. 

Some of Reid’s most common comparables are players like Zach Werenski, Seth Jones, and Adam Fox. Yeah, we’ll take it. We can worry about the American factor later, one supposes.