With the recent draft lottery results of today, the Canucks dropped to third, (to the surprise of no one) 

So, let’s take a look at who they could possibly draft at 3rd overall, from most likely to least likely. 

Caleb Malhotra 

This one feels like a match made in heaven, doesn’t it? Crafting the highly touted prospect that is also the son of your hot head coaching prospect in the AHL. Even though Caleb Malhotra finished high in the draft ranking, I have doubts.  

His father, Manny, now the head coach of the Abbotsford Canucks, was also a high draft pick. 7th overall by the New York Rangers, his locker was placed next to Gretzky in his rookie year.  

Now, many grew into a very serviceable third/fourth line center in the NHL. Very good at playing a defensive shutdown role and winning face offs. But he never really lived up to the hype of being a top 10 draft pick.  

It feels kind of eerily similar to Caleb’s path.  

Stop being said this looks like the most likely choice for the Canucks to choose at 3rd overall at this year’s draft.  

Chase Reid 

Chase Reid will likely be the best player available at 3rd overall. And this seems like a good pick for me. Reed’s stock has been on the rise the last few months and adding him to a defensive corps that already has the likes of Tom Willander and Zeev Buium sounds like a pretty good idea.  

And that’s exactly why I don’t think they’re going to draft him. The Canucks management group seem pretty preoccupied boosting their forward group. And I don’t blame them; the scoring threats this year were terrible.  

This is why I think the club will draft either Caleb Malhotra or this guy listed below 

 Ivar Stenberg 

Hear me out hear me out let me explain. Despite the Canucks falling to third overall there is a slight chance they could still be able to get Stenberg.  

The Sharks already have crazy forward depth. Headlined by Macklin Celebrini, Will Smith, Micheal Misa, Igor Chernyshov and even Colin Graf. But they lack help on the defensive end.  

The sharks have been rolling out the fossilized versions of John Klingberg and Dimitri Orlov on their blue line for last season. The only top end help they have coming is Sam Dickinson and even then, he’s not your number one guy.  

They desperately need an elite game-changing defenseman. And this is why the Sharks might end up picking a guy like Chase Reed or Carson carols at second overall. This would leave the Canucks not being able to scamper up to the podium fast enough to draft Stenberg.