The 2025 draft looks to be incredibly weak. If there was a year to trade the 1st to strengthen the roster this is it. The primary focus of management should be strengthening the roster to give the team the best chance of winning while we have Hughes on an undervalued contract.
A mid-to-late 1st in a weak draft is very unlikely to make a difference in the competitiveness of the roster during our window with Hughes.
It doesn't appear to me that the Canucks brass shares your pessimism about the 2025 draft. Last year, the Canucks dumped a lot of draft picks in deadline deals, and didn't have a pick until the third round.
According to Puckpedia, the Canucks have traded three picks in the 2025 draft--but two of those were 'extra picks' acquired via trades.
They picked up Ottawa's fourth rounder via the Oilers in the Podkolzin trade, and immediately flipped it to Colorado to acquire Brannstrom and rid themselves of the Tucker Poolman contract. And of course they traded the extra first round pick they got from the Rangers to Pittsburgh to acquire Marcus Pettersson.
Puckpedia also lists the Canucks as having previously traded their third rounder. That might have been the deal that brought Zadorov over from Calgary. And of course the Rangers first rounder they sent to Pittsburgh is top-13 lottery protected, so it could still slide to 2026.
So heading into the 2025 draft, the Canucks have picks in every round with exception of the third. As things stand right now, the Canucks are hovering around the last wildcard in the West, with roughly the same number of points as the wildcard team in the East.
So if the standings remained unchanged, the Canucks first rounder would be in the 15th or 16th range. It's interesting to note that they snagged Jonathan Lekkerimaki at 15th overall back in 2022.
I suppose if they flipped their 2025 first for a useful player with term left on their contract it might make some sense. But if they were to blow it on a pure rental like Lindholm or Zadorov, it would be a huge mistake imo.
