The Vancouver Canucks just got a huge draft update that has fans dreaming big
The Canucks should have their phone in hand, because Elliotte Friedman says San Jose could be open to moving in the draft.
On Donnie and Dhali, Friedman framed it plainly. San Jose has a decision to make about whether they want to move down, and he expects them to be presented with options.
Options is the key word. When a team holding a premium pick starts fielding offers, the whole board behind it shifts.
And no team should be watching more closely than Vancouver.
The Canucks just finished 32nd overall with 58 points. That's rock bottom, and rock bottom is where rebuilds either accelerate or stall.
Friedman's comments were about San Jose, but the ripple effect reaches every team hunting young talent this summer.
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Trading up would test Vancouver's whole rebuild plan
Here's the dream scenario Canucks fans are already gaming out.
Gavin McKenna is widely expected to go first overall to Toronto, so the real intrigue starts at the next pick.
If San Jose is willing to slide down, a team like Vancouver could try to climb up and grab a coveted prospect, with a name like Stenberg floated in those conversations.
Fair warning here. Draft order, lottery outcomes and the finer points of prospect profiles are the murky part, so treat the specifics as speculation, not settled fact.
What's not speculation is Vancouver's direction.
The organization spent the offseason signaling a pipeline-first approach, headlined by the hire of Daren Hermiston into a player development and personnel role.
So the philosophical fit is there. A rebuilding club chasing a higher pick to land a cornerstone makes sense on the surface.
The catch is what it costs. Trading up means surrendering assets, and a team that won just 25 games can't afford to strip its cupboard to climb a few spots.
It's a bit like a struggling business spending its savings on one big bet. If it hits, you look brilliant. If it misses, you've set yourself back years.
Here's my read: if the price is reasonable, Vancouver should absolutely explore it. Bottoming out only pays off if you turn the picks into players.
Whether San Jose actually moves, and whether the Canucks have the ammunition to pounce, is the part nobody can answer yet.
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LIVE
JUNE 9, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Nikolaj Ehlers | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jordan Staal | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Jackson Blake | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| William Karlsson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Logan Stankoven | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mark Stone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Sebastian Aho | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Rasmus Andersson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jalen Chatfield | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shayne Gostisbehere | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Taylor Hall | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Mitch Marner | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brayden McNabb | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Shea Theodore | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | - | - | |
| Brandon Bussi | - | - | - | |
| William Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Dylan Coghlan | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||