Keaton Verhoeff is projected to be selected early on in the 2026 NHL Draft; could he end up on the Canucks?
While things currently look very bleak for the Vancouver Canucks, with a strong 2026 NHL Draft on the horizon in which they’re expected to pick very high, that may not be the case in the future.
This year’s NHL draft class features an array of talented players, though the top-three have fluctuated very frequently. At the end of January, THN’s Ryan Kennedy ranked talented University of North Dakota defender Keaton Verhoeff no.1 overall. Other publications have continuously ranked Verhoeff within the top-three.
“While he was a depth defenseman for Canada at the world juniors, Verhoeff has proven himself far and away with North Dakota, where he has been on fire since returning from Minnesota. With size, skating, skill and swagger, he's got everything you would want in a top-pairing blueliner,” Kennedy said in his rankings.
There are a lot of factors that will go into who the Canucks pick when they eventually make their selections at the 2026 NHL Draft. First comes the actual pick itself, which many are hoping — and expecting — to be the first-overall selection. Then comes the thought process behind organizational need.
As it stands, Vancouver’s blueline looks to be loading up with promising youth. Zeev Buium, who just turned 20 in December, will likely lead the way as the team’s top defender in the future. Tom Willander, Elias Pettersson, and Victor Mancini are other defencemen who have made their presence on the organization’s blueline known, while up-and-comers Kirill Kudryavtsev and Sawyer Mynio could also push for spots in the future.
Vancouver’s future blueline has potential — as it stands — but that doesn’t mean they’re out of room for strong players like Verhoeff. Nor does it appear like they’ve closed the door on potentially drafting a defenceman early on this year.
Photo Credit: @UNDMHockey - Instagram On Thursday, Verhoeff took part in an interview with Donnie & Dhali of CHEK TV, during which insider Rick Dhaliwal noted that the defenceman had met with the Canucks recently. The defenceman was quick to praise the organization, explaining how much it would mean to him to play for the organization.
“It’s awesome. Meeting with them was really cool,” Verhoeff said. “It’s kind of a unique experience to go through this draft process and be in it, honestly, talking with Canadian teams and such a great organization like Vancouver was quite an honour and if it ends up happening that that’s the spot I go, I’d be really honoured to play there and kind of have that opportunity to be that next generation of Canucks that can really put together a solid team and be a competitive team year-in and year-out to really push for a championship.”
Despite being from Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta, and currently playing with the University of North Dakota, Verhoeff has plenty of ties to hockey in BC. The defenceman spent two seasons with RINK Hockey Academy in Kelowna, as well as a season-and-a-half with the Victoria Royals. He also played with Canucks prospect Braeden Cootes on Team Canada at the 2026 World Junior Championship.
When it comes to organizational needs, it’s not likely that Verhoeff is number-one on Vancouver’s list. The Canucks are in desperate need of some long-term centre depth as well as a crafty forward or two who can help create plays from a top-line role. Even so, a player like Verhoeff — a right-handed shot who can play a lot of minutes and put up points while being stable defensively — is extremely valuable and would automatically lift Vancouver’s D-core to near-perfection.
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