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Vancouver Canucks should actually consider tanking for Gavin McKenna at this point in the season
Photo credit: Barry Reeger-Imagn Images
The Vancouver Canucks have had a horrid start to the 2025 NHL season, and while Patrick Allvin has refused a rebuild, they can still find themselves with the first overall pick to get Gavin McKenna at next year's draft.
The Canucks have a lot of company at the bottom of the NHL standings, and with three quarters of the season left to go it's anyones guess who will get the first overall pick, even if they don't get first overall, there are still many great options.
"Lawrence isn't just good defensively he drives the play, and extremely creative off the rush. Something the Canucks desperately need, as they were 31st in rush offence and 31st in zone entries last season. And that area wasn't addressed at all heading into this season."-Jaxon
How can the Vancouver Canucks get Gavin McKenna?
Harman Dayal of the Athletic reported on the possibility of the Canucks drafting McKenna. While there are several teams below them in the standings, if the Canucks end up trading their veterans they could easily fall even lower.
"There are still two-thirds of the season left to be played, so the Canucks aren't technically out of the playoff race yet. Last year, the Canadiens got off to an identical 10-14-3 start and still made the postseason. Let's be realistic, though; it would take a miracle for this Canucks team to replicate that kind of against-all-odds rise back up the standings."-Dayal
One thing that could help the Canucks, is the lack of truly bad teams, on average teams are more competitive this year. Meaning it would be easier for a team to finish last than in previous years, where there was a much larger gap between good and poor teams. Even when looking at the Eastern Conference the best and worse teams are separated by only 9 points.
"However, this year, the barrier to entry for a bottom-three or bottom-five finish could be significantly easier. Only three teams besides the Canucks have a points percentage below .500 so far. That's a significant drop-off compared to this time last year, when 11 teams had a sub-.500 points percentage. Many clubs that were expected to be contenders for a bottom-five finish before the season began are off to better-than-expected starts."-Dayal
While even the Canucks head office doesn't want to admit that they are a bad team, they are, there isn't a way around it. And drafting a player like McKenna is way more valuable than pushing for a playoff spot, only to get swept in the first round, if by some miracle they make it. It's time they come to grips with their situation and evaluate their best way forward.
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