Vancouver Canucks miss out on No. 1 NHL draft pick

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The Vancouver Canucks won’t have the first pick in the NHL draft in spite of having the best odds entering Tuesday’s draw.

The team lost out to the Toronto Maple Leafs and secured the No. 3 pick overall. The San Jose Sharks will pick second.

Third was the lowest the Canucks could mathematically fall to after a dismal season that saw them finish 25-49-8, good for one of the lowest point totals and winning percentages in franchise history.

Still, the poor showing ensured that the team will be picking higher than it has in a generation. The last time the Canucks held a pick better than third was in 1999, when the team used the second and third picks in the draft to select franchise legends Daniel and Henrik Sedin.

Shortly after the draw Tuesday, Canucks president of hockey operations Jim Rutherford announced he would be stepping down from the role after next month’s draft.

Rutherford said he will be moving into an “advisor” role at that time.

His departure follows that of former general manager Patrik Allvin, who was fired on April 17, less than 24 hours after the Canucks’ season-ending 6-1 loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

Vancouver finished with the NHL’s worst record and had a 25.5-per-cent chance of winning the draft lottery, better than any other team and three times the odds of Toronto, which had an 8.5-per-cent chance of coming out on top.

This is the second time in the last decade that the Maple Leafs will pick first overall. They selected Auston Matthews to kick off the 2016 NHL Draft.

The Canucks have never held the No. 1 pick.

Forwards Gavin McKenna and Ivar Stenberg are the projected top picks in this year’s draft class.

McKenna, from Whitehorse, Yukon, has 15 goals and 36 assists in 35 games with Penn State. The six-foot, 170-pound winger also had 14 points (four goals, 10 assists) for Canada’s bronze-medal team at the 2026 world junior championship.

Stenberg played last season for Frolunda HC in the Swedish Hockey League, where he amassed 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) across 43 games. He also helped Sweden claim gold at the world juniors, contributing 10 points (four goals, six assists).

The 2026 NHL Draft will be held on June 26 and 27 at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center.

With files from The Canadian Press