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 2020 Draft picks. This week, let’s look back at the 2021 NHL Draft.
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Vancouver made six selections in the 2021 NHL Draft, with most coming during the later round of the selection process. The Canucks only made one pick within the first four rounds, as they dealt their first, third, and fourth-round selections. They moved their 2021 first-round pick (ninth overall) to the Arizona Coyotes alongside Jay Beagle, Loui Eriksson, Antoine Roussel, a 2022 second-round pick, and a 2023 seventh-round pick in exchange for Conor Garland and Oliver Ekman-Larsson ($990,000 retained). They flipped their 2021 third-round pick for Jason Dickinson, and swapped their fourth-round pick for a fifth and defender Madison Bowey. Their remaining selections were used to pick Danila Klimovich, Aku Koskenvuo, Jonathan Myrenberg, Hugo Gabrielson, Connor Lockhart, and Lucas Forsell.
Danila Klimovich, F
Klimovich was the Canucks’ first selection in the 2021 Draft, going 41st overall in the second round. He signed his entry-level contract only a couple of days after being drafted. Because he has yet to play in his first NHL game, this contract has not expired yet. The forward began his quest for North American pro-hockey the season after he was drafted, scoring eight goals and 10 assists in 62 games played with the Abbotsford Canucks in 2021–22. Since then, he has shown significant progression by working on rounding out his game as a whole and staying consistent with point totals. In 2024–25, he scored a team-high 25 goals and added 13 assists in 65 games.
Aku Koskenvuo, G
Vancouver didn’t make their next pick in this draft until the fifth round, selecting Finnish goaltender Aku Koskenvuo 137th overall. Koskenvuo, who joined Finland at the World Juniors twice after being drafted by the Canucks, played 27 games with HIFK U20 in 2021–22. He joined Harvard University the season after, spending two full seasons with the school and posting a collective 39 games played. Koskenvuo had a particularly notable season this year, starting 20 games and putting up a 2.81 GAA. At the conclusion of Harvard’s 2024–25 season, the Canucks signed Koskenvuo to a two-year entry-level contract.
Jonathan Myrenberg, D
Myrenberg, a defender, was selected only three spots after Koskenvuo in the 2021 Draft, going 140th overall to the Canucks. He spent the season after his draft year with Linköping HC J20 in the J20 Nationell league as well as the SHL. Later, in October of 2022, he and fellow Canucks prospect Michael DiPietro were traded to the Boston Bruins for forward Jack Studnicka, who spent 52 games with Vancouver before also being traded. Myrenberg is still with Linköping HC and will play with them in the 2025–26 season.
Hugo Gabrielson, D
Vancouver’s first pick of the sixth round was Gabrielson, who they took 169th overall. After being drafted, he spent three seasons with Västerviks IK of HockeyAllsvenskan, tallying five goals and 19 assists in 122 games played with the club. This season was his first with Nybro Vikings IF, with whom he scored five goals and 21 assists in 44 games played. Gabrielson has not been signed by the Canucks yet and is soon approaching four years since being drafted.
Connor Lockhart, F
Lockhart was Vancouver’s second pick of the sixth round, going 178th overall. He spent his first post-draft season with the Erie Otters, putting up 23 goals and 25 assists in 64 games played. His hockey career then took him to the Peterborough Petes and the Oshawa Generals of the OHL. In the 2023–24 season, he was suspended for “violat[ing] the League’s Code of Conduct.” He signed a contract with the Bloomington Bison of the ECHL and played 68 games for them in 2024–25.
Lucas Forsell, F
Vancouver’s last pick in the 2021 Draft was Forsell, who went 201st overall in the seventh round. He has spent nearly his entire professional hockey career with Färjestad BK of the SHL. In 2022–23 he was loaned to BIK Karlskoga of HockeyAllsvenskan, putting up two goals and four assists in 17 games played. This season, he and Färjestad BK qualified for the 2025 Champions Hockey League Final, but ultimately lost 2–1 to the ZSC Lions. The six-foot forward recently announced that the Canucks would not be signing him, making him a free agent.
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