Canucks sending Sedins to the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery

Who better to represent the Vancouver Canucks at the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery than the gentlemen who represent the last time the Canucks drafted in the top three of the draft?

On Saturday, Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford confirmed to Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston that Daniel and Henrik Sedin would be the Canucks’ representatives for the Draft Lottery on Tuesday, May 5th.

“Very appropriate,” Rutherford told Postmedia of the decision.

The Canucks will have the best odds of any team at landing the first overall pick after finishing 32nd in the NHL standings this past season. They cannot fall lower than third overall, which means they are guaranteed to draft in the top three for the first time since they selected Daniel and Henrik in 1999.

Vancouver Canucks Draft Lottery Odds

• 1st Overall Pick: 25.5%
• 2nd Overall Pick: 18.8%
• 3rd Overall Pick: ~55.7% (Combined odds of falling to 3rd)

The Draft Lottery will feature a live drawing of the lottery balls from the NHL Network’s Secaucus, N.J., studio. According to the Canucks’ social channels, the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will begin at 4 PM Pacific Time.

Sedins represent the ultimate Canucks draft success

Outside of Pavel Bure in the sixth round of the 1989 draft — and some might even argue ahead of Bure — the first ballot Hall of Famers are the two best draft picks the Canucks have ever made.

The story has been told many times before, and in much more detail than we’ll get into today, but as a reminder: Canucks GM Brian Burke’s wheeling and dealing on the draft floor in Boston back in 1999 landed the Canucks Daniel and Henrik at second and third overall, respectively.

To get there, Burke first traded defenceman Bryan McCabe and a future first-round pick to Chicago to acquire the fourth overall selection. He then flipped that fourth overall pick along with two third-rounders to Tampa Bay to secure the 1st overall pick. Finally, Burke traded the top spot to the Atlanta Thrashers for the second overall pick and a guarantee they wouldn’t select one of the twins. The rest is history.

The Canucks retired the franchise-altering twins number 22 and number 33 in 2020. Can they land their next franchise cornerstone in this year’s draft? We’ll soon find out.