Ranking the last 10 Canucks first round picks from worst to best

After two seasons without one, the Vancouver Canucks will have a first round pick this year when they head to Montreal this July.

At 15th overall, they have the chance to boost their prospect pool and hopefully find themselves a gem. I already wrote about which players the Canucks might select at 15 so you can give that a read if you want.

The first round of the NHL Entry Draft has the best prospects in the draft class. As a result, teams are determined to nail their first selections. While some first round picks turn out to be gold, many did not pan out and are labelled “busts.”

The Canucks are no exception. They picked players in the first round that became dynamite and also picked players that ended up being disappointments.

Let’s look back at the last ten first round selections by the Canucks and rank them from worst to best. The top five were easy to rank but not the bottom five. It was very difficult to determine which draft bust was worse.

#10: Brendan Gaunce: 2012 26th overall

Brendan Gaunce managed 68 points in 68 games with the Belleville Bulls of the OHL. That impressed the Canucks scouts and they took him with their first round selection in 2012.

Gaunce was praised for his two-way play as well as his ability to drive to the net. He was also known for being physical.

There was some top-six potential in Gaunce but it never ended up being that way. With the Canucks, he was a depth player and he constantly went back and forth between Vancouver and the AHL’s  the Utica Comets.

He was one of those players that rarely made an impact on the ice. When he was noticeable, it was usually for the wrong reasons. Gaunce did manage to play 117 games with the Canucks scoring 6 goals (I’m pretty sure at least four or five of them were deflections.) and managing 9 assists for 15 points.

After leaving Vancouver in 2019, he signed with the Boston Bruins but only played one game with them in the 2019-20 season. But he did manage 18 goals and 19 assists in 52 games with the AHL’s Providence Bruins.

Gaunce spent the 2020-21 season with the SHL’s Växjö Lakers before signing a one-year deal with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He managed to play 30 games with the Blue Jackets last season scoring five goals (Including three in seven games) and managing two assists.

https://twitter.com/Sportsnet/status/1496307962100555777

It was good to see him revive his NHL career.

#9: Olli Juolevi: 2016 fifth overall

Olli Juolevi was the Canucks highest draft pick in years and he turned out to be a big disappointment. The pick was met with criticism at the time it was made because the Canucks passed on Matthew Tkachuk (Juolevi’s teammate in London.) who went the very next pick to the Calgary Flames.

What made things worse was that several defencemen taken after Juolevi are now solid NHL defencemen. They include Mikhail Sergachev, (Taken ninth Tampa Bay Lightning) Charlie McAvoy (14th overall by the Boston Bruins) and Jakob Chychurn. (16th overall by Arizona Coyotes.)

Juolevi was a highly touted defenceman going into the draft. Scouts praised his complete game and his puck-moving skills as well as his playmaking ability. Then-General Manager Jim Benning justified drafting Juolevi by saying they needed a defenceman.

Juolevi had the upside and the potential but it didn’t work out. Part of it was due to the injuries he sustained when trying to make the NHL. In the summer of 2018, he suffered a back injury while doing offseason training. As a result, he needed “a microdiscectomy procedure for a disc in his low back”.

He managed 13 points in 18 games with the Comets the following season but his season ended with a knee injury which required surgery. After that, Juolevi wasn’t the same and that was noticeable with his defensive zone play and his pivoting. He finally made the NHL in the bubble in game 4 against the Minnesota Wild in the qualifying round.

Would Juolevi have been a decent NHL player without the injuries? Maybe. After playing 23 regular season games and recording three points with the Canucks, he was traded Juolevi last September to the Florida Panthers for Juho Lammikko and Noah Juulsen. Lammikko turned out to be a decent fourth line centre while Juulsen looked solid in Abbotsford.

As for Juolevi, he played 10 games with the Panthers this past season before being claimed off waivers by the Detroit Red Wings and he played eight games with them. He recorded zero points this past season.

Unfortunately, Juolevi will be best known in Vancouver for looking during a bag skating session at last year’s training camp.

#8: Hunter Shinkaruk: 2013 24th overall

Hunter Shinkaruk was a machine with the WHL’s Medicine Hat Tigers.

In his draft year, he scored 37 goals and 49 assists for 86 points in 64 games. Those are insane numbers.

Scouts praised his goal-scoring ability as well as his skating and playmaking. However, his biggest flaw was his size standing at only 5’10” and 186 pounds. That could be the reason why he fell to 24th overall. At the time, it looked like the Canucks got themselves a potential steal.

He impressed fans in the preseason with this snipe against the San Jose Sharks.

Before the 2016 trade deadline, he was traded to the Calgary Flames for Markus Granlund. Canucks fans took that trade with fury.

Unfortunately, Shinkaruk could not translate his game to the NHL. He only played one game with the Canucks and managed 76 points in 119 games with the Comets. He only played 14 games over two seasons with the Flames managing two goals and two assists. Shinkaruk was putting up decent numbers in Stockton but he was traded to the Montreal Canadiens for Kerby Rychel in August 2018.

After that, Shinkaruk did not see the NHL again and played for the Laval Rocket and then the Charlotte Checkers in the AHL. In 2019, he left North America and played two seasons for the KHL’s Kunlun Red Star in China before signing for Latvian KHL side Dinamo Riga.

Part of the reason why Shinkaruk did not work out was injuries. He suffered a torn labrum early in the 2013-14 season and underwent hip surgery in January of 2014.

It’s a shame he didn’t pan out because it looked like he had the potential to be elite and was so fun to watch in the WHL.

#7: Jake Virtanen: 2014 6th overall

Jake Virtanen was Benning’s first draft pick as GM.

There was a lot to like about the Abbotsford native. With the WHL’s Calgary Hitmen, he knew how to score plenty of goals, displayed great acceleration and threw some big hits. There was a ton of upside and a ton of potential in Virtanen.

However, Virtanen’s defensive play and decision-making were big flaws. Turns out, they were the biggest reasons why he didn’t become a top-six forward.

Virtanen had the tools but he didn’t know how to use them properly. He was constantly making the wrong decisions with the puck. That included him dumping and changing in overtime in the 2020-21 season. Virtanen also looked totally lost without the puck.

There were moments where some people thought he would break out which included the 2019-20 season where he managed 18 goals and 18 assists in 69 games. But consistency was also another issue with him. It looked like Virtanen was just happy to be playing in the NHL and it did not look like he wanted to improve his game.

The Canucks bought him out last summer and he spent this past season with the KHL’s Spartak Moskova.

Virtanen also was placed on leave by the Canucks in May of 2021, after there were sexual assault allegations that went public. As a result, an investigation was launched by the Vancouver Police Department and he was charged with sexual assault last January.

#6: Jared McCann: 2014 24th overall

Jared McCann was the other player selected in the first round by the Canucks in 2014.

Scouts liked his two-way game, skating, shot and work ethic. After impressing with the Sault Saint Marie Greyhounds, the Canucks decided to keep him along with Virtanen on the roster during the 2015-16 season.

He started off strong. Canucks fans were excited after watching him score his first NHL goal against Calgary.

But McCann struggled with consistency and there were a lot of areas in his game that needed to improve. He probably should have been sent back to junior that year.

Former teammate Jannik Hansen said on Sportsnet 650 last week that Benning was looking for a success story and McCann and Virtanen were both rushed to the NHL.

While the Canucks let him in the NHL too quickly, they also gave up on him too quickly. In May of 2016, he and Vancouver’s 2016 second and fourth round picks were traded to Florida for Erik Gudbranson and a 2016 fifth.

McCann improved gradually with the Panthers and the Pittsburgh Penguins. This past season, it looked like he broke out. With the Seattle Kraken, McCann managed 27 goals and 23 assists for 50 points in 74 games.

If only the Canucks were more patient with McCann.

#5: Vasily Podkolzin:2019 10th overall

Vasily Podkolzin was the last player the Canucks picked in the first round.

It’s still early for him but he has shown promise in his rookie season. 14 goals and 12 assists for 26 points in 79 games aren’t bad numbers at all. Throughout the season, he seemed to gradually improve.

He was displaying his strength when he had the puck and was also trying to get involved physically. Podkolzin’s passing also improved as well as his defensive play.

There is a lot to like about the Russian and expect him to take a bigger step next season. At just 20-years-old, Podkolzin is only going to get better from here.

#4: Brock Boeser: 2015 23rd overall

When Brock Boeser was taken 23rd overall by the Canucks in 2015, scouts were saying the same thing: He is a pure goal scorer. Boeser displayed that in his rookie season scoring 29 goals and that earned him a Calder Memorial Trophy nomination.

However, Boeser has evolved into more than just a goal scorer. Throughout his NHL career, he improved his passing and has become a decent playmaker as well.

Unfortunately, Boeser has struggled with consistency and injuries since coming into the league. Staying healthy and finding ways to produce points consistently are things he is working on.

Boeser has gone through plenty of hardships in his life and his father Duke passed away a couple of weeks ago. Our condolences go out to the Boeser family.

#3: Bo Horvat: 2013 9th overall

The Canucks shocked the hockey world when they traded Cory Schneider to the New Jersey Devils during the 2013 NHL Draft. (Which was being held in Newark.)

As a result, they took Bo Horvat who is now their captain. Despite his strong two-way game, the biggest concern was his skating. However, Horvat wanted to improve on that.

The following summer, he worked with skating coach Kathy McLlwain in Ontario. Once he made the NHL, Horvat’s skating was drastically different than in junior.

While Horvat’s defensive play has declined in recent seasons, he has established himself as a solid offensive player and has been great at faceoffs. He has also proven to be a big-game player. That was evident in the bubble in the Canucks first round series win over the St. Louis Blues.