Top 5 Vancouver Canucks draft picks that turned out to be steals
With the draft coming up in Vancouver this year, let’s take a look at the Vancouver Canucks best steals that they’ve walked away with at the draft.
Hindsight is 20/20 right? I always find it interesting to see how people do redrafts years later to see where the players probably should have been picked, after seeing their careers unfold. Let’s take a look at some Vancouver Canucks players who were drafted later and turned out to be steals.
When making this list, I took into account a few things. I looked at how many players who were taken ahead of the players mentioned even played in the NHL, and if they did, how much of an impact those players made in the league compared to the Canucks’ picks that I mention.
I also took draft position into account, so if a player was selected in a later round and made an impact with the Canucks at the NHL level, they’re likely on this list. Of course, I’ve tried to narrow it down to five, so there’s obviously some players that likely could have made this list. Here are the five biggest draft steals ever in Canucks history.
5. Jannik Hansen
Jannik Hansen was a ninth-round pick who played in the NHL. That alone should be reason enough for him to be on this list. Taken at 287th overall of the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Hansen enjoyed ten seasons as a member of the Canucks before being traded to the San Jose Sharks in 2017.
The Rodovre, Denmark native provided the early 2010’s Canucks teams with the secondary scoring necessary in order to be a real threat in the league. Although a rather quiet player when speaking to the media and in the public eye, Hansen was known to be quite a jokester with his teammates, and could take it right back just as well as he could dish it out.
Just listen to this clip from CBC’s After Hours, where former Canucks goaltender Cory Schneider is asked by Scott Oake to showcase his Hansen impression, which Schneider said the rest of his Canucks teammates absolutely got a kick out of.
Hansen was a player that was popular amongst his teammates, but more importantly, he was an effective player with the team for ten solid years and truly was a diamond in the rough at the draft table.
4. Doug Lidster
Doug Lidster was selected in the seventh round at 133rd overall of the 1980 NHL Entry Draft. Reigning from Kamloops, British Columbia, Lidster played hockey with the Colorado College Men’s team before making his debut for the Canucks in the 1983-84 season. In that season, Lidster played eight games and didn’t record a point.
In his next full season with the Canucks in 1984-85, Lidster showed signs of offensive prowess, recording six goals and 24 assists in 78 games. Lidster’s best offensive season of his career came in 1986-87, where he scored 12 goals and picked up 51 assists, good for 63 points overall, in 80 games.
This from the Hockey Hall of Fame website:
Doug Lidster was a superior offensive defenceman who played nearly 900 games for three different clubs. He was an excellent quarterback on the power play and constantly helped his team’s transition game with his ability to carry the puck out of his own zone.
Ironically enough, Lidster was traded to the New York Rangers prior to the 1993-94 season, in exchange for goaltender John Vanbiesbrouck, who was then selected by the Florida Panthers in the expansion draft with the first overall selection.
Lidster would go on to help the Rangers defeat the Canucks in the Stanley Cup Finals of 1994, where Lidster scored two goals. Despite this, Lidster remains a Canucks legend. Lidster played a total of 16 seasons in the NHL, and served as an assistant coach for the Canucks from 2014-15. Not bad at all for a kid from Kamloops who was taken in the seventh round.
3. Alex Edler
Believe it or not, the Canucks franchise leader in goals, points, and games played by a defenceman was taken in the third round at 91st overall in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft. Although his future with the team remains in question, Alex Edler is one of the biggest steals in the history of the Vancouver Canucks.
Edler looked like he was something special from almost the second he first put on a Canucks uniform (which was red, silver, and navy blue at the time). Edler was just 20 years old when he made his debut, and now at the age of 33, it’s hard to remember that Edler has been around for so many years.
Edler was a huge part of the dominant Canucks teams of the early 2010’s. He picked up 11 points in the Canucks 2011 Stanley Cup Playoff Run, second to only Christian Ehrhoff, who had 12 in those playoffs. Edler has been a player that the Canucks have been extremely lucky to have on their team, as on top of his on-ice abilities, his veteran leadership is invaluable.
Edler mentors the Canucks young defencemen and helps them understand what it takes to be an effective defenceman in the NHL. We will have to wait and see if Edler gets to finish his career wearing only a Canucks uniform for the duration of it. Regardless, Edler was a steal in the third round.
2. Stan Smyl
How could I not put the “Steamer” on this list? Stan Smyl was selected in the 3rd round at 40th overall of the 1978 Amateur Draft. Keep in mind, this was back when there were just 17 teams in the NHL.
Smyl left his home in Alberta to join the Bellingham Blazers of the British Columbia Junior Hockey League. Nicknamed the “Steamer” for his hard-nosed style of play, the sixteen-year-old led Bellingham to a Fred Page Cup title, scoring 33 points in 25 playoff games. He then played junior hockey as a member of the New Westminster Bruins, whom he served as captain for, where he picked up 212 points in 197 games over the course of three seasons.
Although smaller in stature, at just 5’8 (5’10 with skates on), Smyl played with an undeniable level of passion and as mentioned above, played an extremely hard-nosed game. However, it was his size that made so many teams pass up on him, and was the main reason that he was still available for the Canucks to pick in the third round.
Smyl would go on to record 673 points in 896 games over the course of his 13-year NHL career. Smyl played every single game of his career for the Canucks, and he became the first Canucks player to have his jersey number retired as his #12 was raised to the rafters at the Pacific Coliseum on November 3, 1991. In 2000, he was inducted into the British Columbia Hockey Hall of Fame. Smyl was a steal of a pick, and will always be a Canucks legend.
1. Pavel Bure
You knew this one was coming. When I put out the question on Twitter to see what people’s thoughts were on who should make this list, I said, “Other than Pavel Bure or Pettersson, who is the biggest draft steal in Canucks history?” It was clear that both Pettersson and Bure were going to make the list. Everyone knows that Bure is the biggest steal in Canucks history.
Selected in the sixth round at 113th overall of the 1989 NHL Entry Draft, Bure is the only Canucks player in the Hockey Hall of Fame who played for the team for more than three seasons. People this past year were saying that Pettersson was the most exciting Canucks’ rookie since Bure. So how is it that the player who sets the bar for Canucks rookies and held the rookie points record up until last year, fell to the sixth round? Pat Quinn. That’s how.
NHL organizations were afraid Bure would not leave the Soviet Union to play in the NHL, thus deterring teams from selecting him early, although scouts and analysts believed he could have been selected as high as the second round had he defected. Pat Quinn was willing to take a chance on Bure, and boy did it pay dividends for the team.
Bure spent seven years with the Canucks, and in three of those seven seasons, Bure scored 50+ goals. Fans will never forget the 1993-94 season where Bure scored 60 goals in the regular season and helped the Canucks reach the Stanley Cup Final for the second time in the franchise’s history. In those playoffs, Bure picked up 16 goals and 15 assists in 24 games played.
How Luke Schenn became an instant Canucks fan favourite. dark. Next
Bure is hands down the biggest Canucks draft steal of all time, but I want to hear from the rest of you who else should have made this list! There are many players that could have been mentioned, and while it’s still early for Pettersson and Boeser, those two are going to be headlining an elite new core for the Canucks for years to come, and the teams that passed on them are likely going to be kicking themselves for it.