Vancouver Canucks: Finishing last isn’t just about Rasmus Dahlin

For the Vancouver Canucks, finishing 31st isn’t only about having the best odds at landing the first overall pick (which’ll be Rasmus Dahlin), but to ensure that they stay inside the top four.

The Vancouver Canucks won’t be playing any meaningful hockey in April, but the fans get to at least look forward to the draft lottery for the third consecutive year. The chance to draft another franchise star awaits.

Entering play on Tuesday, the Canucks are tied with the Arizona Coyotes for second last in the NHL, though Vancouver holds the tiebreaker with three more regulation plus overtime wins. The Buffalo Sabres are just a point behind the Canucks.

But here’s the fun part for Vancouver fans: Buffalo or Arizona play on Wednesday, which ensures one of them will get two points. Should the Canucks lose to the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday, they’ll be 30th by the end of Wednesday.

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If they lose in regulation tonight and the Sabres beat Arizona in overtime, then the Canucks fall down to 31st.

That would give them the 18 percent chance of winning the draft lottery, which would land them Swedish sensation, Rasmus Dahlin.

But as the New Jersey Devils showed last year (they only had a three percent chance at winning the lottery), finishing last doesn’t always mean you’ll get lucky in the lottery.

For all we know, the Canucks could be better off in the 21st spot in the league standings right now.

We won’t know until the draft lottery. But it’s crucial for the Canucks to finish last, since the 31st team cannot pick any lower than fourth.

That would mean even if they don’t get Dahlin, Vancouver has the chance on big forward and pure goal-scorer, Andrei Svechnikov, Czech standout Filip Zadina or another smooth-skating defenceman in Adam Boqvist.

In 2016, the Canucks finished 28th. The draft lottery was unkind to them, as Vancouver fell down to fifth. They had to miss on generational stars Auston Matthews and Patrik Laine, plus flashy centre Pierre-Luc Dubois and speedy winger Jesse Puljujarvi.

They had to settle for defenceman Olli Juolevi with the fifth pick (yes, they probably should have taken Matthew Tkachuk here), but missing out on those top-four was a brutal blow for general manager Jim Benning and president Trevor Linden.

This year’s draft is also full of can’t-miss talents. Even though Dahlin is the undisputed top player of this draft, the Canucks simply couldn’t complain about Svechnikov or Zadina (imagine one of these wingers with Brock Boeser), and Boqvist.

Brady Tkachuk is another possible pick in the top-five, but the Canucks truly need one of those top-pairing blueliners, plus Zadina or Svechnikov would probably be better fits for Vancouver, given their superior skill sets.

Next: Canucks: Re-visiting the John Tavares sweepstakes

The Canucks look poised to finish as the NHL’s worst team. It doesn’t guarantee that they’ll land Rasmus Dahlin, but it promises them a top-four pick, which would bring an absolute game-changer to this franchise that needs one most.