For the 47th straight NHL draft, the Vancouver Canucks will not pick first.
The Canucks received the fifth overall pick in this June’s draft, sliding two spots down from their third-worst overall record this season.
Vancouver had a 11.5 per cent chance of picking first overall and a 34 per cent of drafting in the top three, where forwards Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine and Jesse Puljujarvi are expected to be selected.
But with the fifth pick, the player Vancouver selects — and whether they will choose a forward or defenceman — is very much up in the air.
The Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished with the worst regular season record, won the first overall pick — much to the disappointment of Vancouver fans who gathered in a downtown Boston Pizza to watch the proceedings.
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