Canucks History of Selecting 24th Overall in the NHL Draft

Over the last month or so, we have been going through 2026 Draft targets for the Vancouver Canucks at 3rd and 24th overall. They have a nice history of selecting third, as they secured future captain and all-time leading scorer Henrik Sedin there in 1999, who is now leading the front office alongside second-overall pick and brother Daniel.

Unfortunately, 24th-overall hasn’t been as kind. In fact, none of them ever made a significant impact on the team – well, one could have if they hadn’t traded him away – culminating in only 143 games as Canucks. Let’s dive into that trio as we continue to prepare for the latest 24th selection in June, hoping they end up being more than just a footnote in the franchise’s draft history.

Rob Murphy, 1987 NHL Draft

The 24th selection hasn’t always been a first-round pick. In 1987, it was a second-rounder, and the Canucks opted to go for centre Rob Murphy out of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL). The rugged pivot was coming off a solid draft year where he scored 35 goals and 89 points for the Laval Titan, alongside 86 penalty minutes. General manager Pat Quinn joked afterward that he picked him “because he was an Irishman,” later saying, “We need a big, strong centre to be competitive in our division.”

Murphy made the team out of training camp in 1988-89 alongside fellow rookies Trevor Linden and Todd Harkins, but only suited up for five games. He was sent back to the QMJHL after the 1989 World Juniors and played the rest of the campaign for the Drummondville Voltigeurs where he had 13 goals and 38 points in 26 games.

Over the next few seasons, Murphy spent most of his time in the International Hockey League (IHL) playing for the Canucks minor league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals. He had a breakout season in 1989-90 with 24 goals and 71 points and another solid campaign in 1991-92 with 26 goals and 64 points, but never really found a foothold with the Canucks.

Murphy’s best season in Vancouver came in 1990-91 when he played 42 games and scored five goals. There were always questions about his development and whether he could succeed as a centre, culminating in him being left unprotected in the 1992 NHL Expansion Draft. The Ottawa Senators selected him, and he played 44 games for the new franchise in 1992-93, before they offered him a termination contract in July 1993.

Murphy signed with the Los Angeles Kings shortly after, but only played eight games for them, which ended up being his final games in the NHL. He continued his career in the IHL for two seasons before finishing overseas in the DEL and retiring with the St. Jean Mission in the Quebec Senior Major Hockey League (QSMHL) in 2003. He is now a scout with the Washington Capitals.

Hunter Shinkaruk, 2013 NHL Draft

Hunter Shinkaruk was a highly-touted prospect heading into the 2013 NHL Draft in New Jersey. In fact, a lot of rankings had him in the top 10-15, with The Hockey Writers ranking him as high as ninth. He, of course, fell to 24th, and a lot of people thought the Canucks were getting a steal. He was coming off two monster seasons in the Western Hockey League (WHL), where he had a combined 86 goals and 177 points in 130 games. He was also named captain of the Medicine Hat Tigers for his final two seasons before turning pro in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Described by The Hockey Writers’ Christopher Ralph as a “cerebral, relentless goal-scorer with top notch hockey sense” and “an explosive, dynamic offensive forward with game-breaking ability,” all signs pointed to Shinkaruk being a top-six winger that could score 30 or more goals. Ralph compared him to a hybrid of Jeff Skinner, Patrick Kane and Taylor Hall, three players who have all had very successful and productive careers in the NHL. Basically, the selection was deemed a hit.

Unfortunately, the seasons to come weren’t kind to Shinkaruk or the Canucks’ aspirations of him becoming what scouts projected. While he had a solid first two pro campaigns in the AHL with the Utica Comets, where he had a career-high 21 goals and 39 points in 2015-16, he only saw one game with the Canucks before he was shipped off to the Calgary Flames for Markus Granlund. After that, he played the majority of his North American career in the AHL with the Stockton Heat, Laval Rocket and Charlotte Checkers, seeing only 14 more games in the NHL, all with the Flames. He finished his NHL career with two goals and four points in 15 games.

After his final season with the Checkers, Shinkaruk took his talents overseas, where he bounced around the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), HockeyAllsvenskan, DEL, and finally the Elite Hockey League (EIHL). He last played with the Cardiff Devils in 2024-25, notching two assists in four games.

Jared McCann, 2014 NHL Draft

If the Canucks hadn’t traded Jared McCann early in his career (or simply practiced the virtue of patience), he likely would have been the most successful 24th overall pick in franchise history. Now a veteran of 720 games and approaching 500 points, he has become a bona fide top-six forward in the NHL. It took him a while to get there, though. While he made the Canucks out of training camp as a 19-year-old in 2015-16, scoring nine goals and 18 points in 69 games, the organization didn’t handle his development properly.

McCann himself admitted in 2023 that he was rushed into the NHL, saying, “I personally think that I could have used a year in the AHL. I really do. Mentally, I think it would have helped me. Physically, it would have helped me. I was 172 pounds playing in the NHL as a 19-year-old. You get tossed around.”

Not to mention, McCann was misunderstood, with rumours of a bad attitude and coming off as what former Canuck Andrey Pedan called a “lonely star” circulating through the media during his time in Vancouver. In that same 2023 interview, McCann said, “When I was in Vancouver, like I said before, I was 19 years old and just scared. Didn’t want to step on toes, didn’t want to talk to anybody because I was nervous. It’s not that I’m trying to make myself better than anybody else. I don’t have anything to say. If you want to come up and talk to me, we can have a conversation for sure. As a young player, I’m still trying to get to know everybody and figure out where my place is. That’s how it was.”

McCann was eventually traded to the Florida Panthers for Erik Gudbranson – still one of the Canucks’ worst trades of all time – and he slowly started to become a regular NHLer. But it wasn’t until he was selected by the Seattle Kraken in the 2021 Expansion Draft that he truly hit his stride. While he had flashes with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2019-20 and 2020-21, it was in the Emerald City where he became what the Canucks envisioned when they drafted him.

Since pulling on the Kraken jersey, McCann has had five 20-goal seasons, with the pinnacle coming in 2022-23 when he scored 40 and hit the 70-point mark. His wicked wrist shot, which had fans salivating in Vancouver during his rookie season, has been on full display these past five seasons, including against the team that drafted him. To date, he has been a Canuck Killer, scoring seven goals and 25 points in 26 games. Suffice it to say, the Canucks let one get away when they traded him far too soon in his development.

Lots of Talent Available at 24th Overall in 2026

The Canucks will have a lot to choose from when they are up at 24th overall on June 26. Here are a few we have profiled over the last month or so:

• Nikita Klepov
• J.P. Hurlbert
• Mathis Preston
• Alexander Command

Those are just a few options. They could also go for someone like Liam Ruck, who I selected during THW’s annual mock draft, a dynamic defenceman like Tommy Bleyl and much more. Hopefully, they can hit on a player like McCann again – and actually keep him this time – making the history of the 24th pick look just a little bit better.