The 2025 NHL Entry Draft takes place on June 27, and the Vancouver Canucks currently have one pick in each round. Barring any trades, the Canucks will be selecting 15th in the first round, with many suggestions for players to pick already being pitched. In preparation for this year’s draft, we’re taking a look at the past five NHL Entry Drafts that the Canucks have taken part in, as well as where each of their picks have ended up. Last week, we took a look at the Canucks 2022 Draft picks. This week, let’s look back at the 2023 NHL Draft.
Vancouver stocked their shelves with defensive prospects in 2023, as four of their seven picks were defencemen (as were their first three selections). Their selections were more concentrated towards the middle of the draft, as Vancouver had two third-round selections, three fourth-rounders, and one sixth-round pick. They landed their second third-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for Luke Schenn. They gave up their seventh-round selection of this draft in the Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Conor Garland trade from 2021.
At one point, the Canucks had two first-round draft picks in 2023 after they traded former captain Bo Horvat in January of the same year. However, they later flipped this pick at the Trade Deadline to acquire defenceman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings. As a result, they also gave up their 2023 second-round pick and acquired an additional fourth. Their third fourth-round pick came back in 2022 when they sent Tyler Motte to the New York Rangers. With their seven draft selections, Vancouver picked Tom Willander, Hunter Brzustewicz, Sawyer Mynio, Ty Mueller, Vilmer Alriksson, Matthew Perkins, and Aiden Celebrini.
Tom Willander, D
Since being drafted 11th overall in 2023, Willander has been regarded as the Canucks’ top prospect. He has spent the past two seasons with Boston University in the NCAA, putting up four goals and 21 assists in 38 games played in his first season with the Terriers. In this same season, he made his U20 World Junior Championship debut with Team Sweden, playing alongside fellow Canucks prospects Jonathan Lekkerimäki and Elias Pettersson (D). He put up a goal and two assists in seven games played, helping Sweden to a silver medal. The year after, 2025, he put up two goals and three assists in Sweden’s seven-game fourth-placed finish. In his second and final season with BU, he scored two goals and 22 assists. Contract talks between Willander and the Canucks were complicated, lasting from BU’s elimination from the Frozen Four Finals to when he was finally signed on May 14.
Hunter Brzustewicz, D
Vancouver’s next pick in the 2023 NHL Draft was Brzustewicz, who went 75th overall in the third round. The defenceman spent his draft year with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL, putting up six goals and 51 assists in 68 games played. In the season after, and his first as a Canucks prospect, Brzustewicz made a name for himself by tallying 13 goals and 79 assists in 67 games played. His successes with the Rangers made him a valuable trade piece, which he eventually became when he was traded to the Calgary Flames in exchange for Elias Lindholm back in January of 2024. Now, as a Flames prospect, Brzustewicz primarily plays with the Calgary Wranglers of the AHL, having spent 70 games with them and tallied five goals and 27 assists. He made his NHL debut on April 17, 2025 against the Los Angeles Kings.
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Sawyer Mynio, D
The third defenceman picked by the Canucks, selected 89th overall in the third round, Mynio signed his entry-level contract only a few months after being drafted. Mynio played with the Seattle Thunderbirds of the WHL from 2021 to 2025 and served as the team’s captain in the 2024–25 season. In his time with the Thunderbirds, he scored 30 goals and 84 assists in 196 games played. During December of 2024, he played three games for Team Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship, putting up one assist during the tournament. He was traded in the WHL in January of 2025, moving from the Thunderbirds to the Calgary Hitmen and tallying nine goals and 17 assists in 31 games played. He played one game with the Abbotsford Canucks in the 2023–24 season but has yet to make his 2024–25 AHL season debut.
Ty Mueller, F
Mueller has the most AHL experience of all prospects on this list, having played in 64 regular season games and 19 playoff games. The 105th pick of the draft, going to Vancouver in the fourth round, Mueller started his AHL campaign excellently. He scored 12 goals and 27 assists during his rookie season in 2024–25 and was even named to the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic in place of Elias Pettersson (D). He has three goals and six assists during the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. Since joining Abbotsford, he has gained the trust of head coach Manny Malhotra in all scenarios and has played himself into a stable position in the lineup.
Vilmer Alriksson, F
Alriksson was picked only two spots after Mueller, going 107th overall in the fourth round of the 2023 NHL Draft. The 6’6 forward followed up his draft year with time spent in the OHL, playing for the Guelph Storm and the Brampton Steelheads. He played 93 games with the Storm from 2023 to late 2024, putting up 28 goals and 28 assists in this span of time. In December of 2024, he was traded to Brampton, where he scored four goals and eight assists in 17 games. Alriksson was signed to his entry-level contract back in September of 2024 and was assigned to Abbotsford in April of 2025.
Matthew Perkins, F
Vancouver’s last fourth-round pick of the 2023 NHL Draft was Perkins, who was taken 119th overall. During his draft year, he played for the Youngstown Phantoms of the USHL, putting up 15 goals and 29 assists in 60 games. After, Perkins joined the NCAA and played at the University of Minnesota-Duluth for two seasons. After tallying a total of seven goals and 13 assists in 64 games, he made the decision to transfer to Northeastern University, where he will play for at least the 2025–26 season. He has yet to sign his entry-level contract with the Canucks and will remain within the system until August of 2027 if not signed by then.
Aiden Celebrini, D
Willander is not the only Canucks draft pick from 2023 who played for Boston University, as Celebrini has also been with the Terriers since 2023–24. The 171st pick of the draft, taken by Vancouver in the sixth round, is the older brother of San Jose Sharks prospect Macklin Celebrini. A more defensively-minded defenceman, Celebrini put up six points in 36 games in his first season with BU and increased this total to eight in his second year despite playing five less games. Back in March of 2025, it was reported that he would be returning to the NCAA for the 2025–26 season.
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