Vancouver Canucks fans will be holding their breath when the team makes the 11th overall selection at Wednesday’s 2023 NHL Draft. Not necessarily because they’ll be meeting a new star in their organization, but because the potential exists for the Canucks to select another first-round flop. It’s a historic problem that has seen Vancouver strike out too many times over the past two decades.
The Canucks are strapped for cap space and have an absence of elite prospects remaining outside the NHL, with the potential exception of Jonathan Lekkerimäki, last year’s 15th overall pick who is coming off a rough season.
While 2023 might feel like a moment to make a safer pick, the Canucks should swing for the fences and attempt to find a draft steal who can help change the organization’s fate.
Here’s a look at the players the Canucks should target at 11th overall:
David Reinbacher or Axel Sandin Pellikka
If either defender remains on the board, the Canucks should run, not walk, to the podium to make their selection. Outside of Quinn Hughes, the club doesn’t have a homegrown blueliner on the roster, nor a player who looks like they are a future top-four member.
Reinbacher and Sandin Pellikka are both puck-moving defenders who can skate and play a possession-driven game. Sandin Pellikka plays a closer style to Hughes, while Reinbacher has more size and is likely much closer to being NHL-ready.
Gabe Perreault
Ranked 13th in Yahoo’s final NHL draft rankings, it’s a bit of a reach to go in on Perreault here, but he is perhaps the pick with the biggest upside at this point. He’s the top-scoring American-born player available in this draft, and while some have accused him of being a passenger with his USNTDP teammates, all he does is score.
Any defensive issue that exists can still be corrected. What can’t be taught is Perreault’s innate ability to generate offensive chances and fill the net. Perreault is a top-six forward or bust, and while the Canucks can’t afford a bust, they also can’t pass up a player with this upside.
Eduard Sale
It would be no surprise to see Sale off the board before pick 11, but it would also be no surprise to see the Czechia forward slip beyond the Canucks’ draft slot. Sale has oscillated between possible top-five pick to mid-round risk this season due to inconsistency. The skill set is obvious; when he is on he can play alongside the best in the world and produce.
Sale is not the safe pick, but he just might be the right pick for a Canucks organization that needs to take elite skill and then put faith in its development team to work out existing issues.
Who are the safe picks in Round 1?
It’s hard to call any young prospect safe, but there are players who look more complete and that appear to be locks to join the NHL — although with a potentially lower ceiling. Depending on the philosophy of the Canucks management team heading into the draft, Vancouver could aim to target any number of these “safer” picks.
Oliver Moore is one player that looks safe, but also has a higher-end upside. He was Yahoo’s 11th-ranked player, and has been heralded for his two-way play that could see him pivot a top-six grouping. The other “safe” players in Round 1 include names like Matthew Wood and Nate Danielson, who both look like good bets to play contributing middle-six roles at the NHL level.
Cash-strapped and prospect poor, safe isn’t always the best way forward. After trading away franchise captain Bo Horvat and shopping other players, a shift is underway in Vancouver. But due to cap and contract restrictions, drafting for elite talent may be the only logical fix on the horizon.
