The Vancouver Canucks officially hit rock bottom on Thursday night, clinching 32nd place in the NHL standings and securing the best possible odds for the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery,
#Canucks have clinched 32nd place and will have the best odds in the 2026 #NHLDraft Lottery.
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) April 3, 2026
25.5% chance at No. 1 overall.
Vancouver has never selected first.
The Canucks are 22-45-8 with 52 points, last in the Pacific Division, Western Conference and the entire NHL. After Thursday’s slate of games, the Canucks are 16 points back of the second-worst team in the NHL standings, the Chicago Blackhawks.
This marks the first time since their second season in the league (1971–72) that the Canucks have finished as the worst team in the NHL. The team set a franchise record in January with an 11-game losing streak and struggled with a league-worst -91 goal differential.
Elias Pettersson leads the team in points, scoring 15 goals and recording 33 assists. Filip Hronek has a team-leading 36 assists, while Brock Boeser has 21 goals. Goaltender Kevin Lankinen is 9-26-5 with an .875 save percentage (SV%) and a minus-17.2 goals saved above expected (GSAx). Nikita Tolopilo is 5-8-2 with an .887 SV% and minus-4.5 GSAx. Thatcher Demko finished the season 8-10-1 with an .897 SV% and 2.0 GSAx.
The NHL Draft Lottery is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, May 5, 2026, where the Canucks will hope the ping-pong balls finally go their way.