Two years on from the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, the Vancouver Canucks are still tracking four of their five picks from that class. The lone exception is third-rounder Melvin Fernström, who was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins in January of 2025. The rest of the group spent the 2025-26 season moving through very different stages of development, from junior hockey to the NCAA to the pro game in Switzerland.
Riley Patterson’s year was the busiest of the bunch. The 2024 fourth-rounder wrapped up his OHL run with the Niagara IceDogs before getting his first taste of the AHL with the Abbotsford Canucks.
Patterson made his Abbotsford debut on April 10 and ended up appearing in four regular-season games. On April 11 against the Calgary Wranglers, he picked up his first career AHL goal and assist in the same contest.
Before that call-up, Patterson put together a huge final junior season. He finished with 40 goals and 44 assists in 60 games for Niagara, good for 11th in OHL scoring and tied with fellow Canucks prospect Caleb Malhotra. His 40 goals were tied for third-most in the league, matching Winnipeg Jets prospect Kieron Walton and Kitchener Rangers forward Dylan Edwards.
Niagara’s playoff run ended in five games against the Barrie Colts, but Patterson was a force in the series. He piled up four goals and four assists, including a four-point night in Game 4. Patterson also made clear where his focus is headed next.
“I’m gonna go to main camp and try to make the NHL. Last year was a good year in junior, and it's my goal.
I want to stay up at the big club as long as I can and really open some eyes. I think there's a lot of opportunity.
It's a young team, so you’ve just got to go out and put your best foot forward every day.”
Anthony Romani’s first NCAA season with Michigan State gave the Canucks another encouraging look. After four years in the OHL with the North Bay Battalion and Barrie Colts, the 2024 sixth-rounder posted 14 goals and 14 assists in 37 games. That left him fifth on the Spartans in scoring, behind Philadelphia Flyers prospect Porter Martone, Minnesota Wild prospect Charlie Stramel, Daniel Russell, and Nashville Predators prospect Ryker Lee.
Michigan State finished 26-9-2 and earned a spot in the 2026 NCAA playoffs. The Spartans opened with a tight 2-1 win over the University of Conneticut before falling 4-3 to the University of Wisconsin in the next round.
Romani had one point in that loss. On the individual side, he was named the Hockey Commissioners Association’s rookie of the month in December and scored his first NCAA hat trick on January 30 in a 6-3 win over Penn State University.
He’s set to return to Michigan State for 2026-27 and still has not signed his entry-level contract with Vancouver.
Parker Alcos also closed out his CHL run in 2025-26 before heading to the NCAA. The 2024 sixth-round pick spent most of the season with the Edmonton Oil Kings, where he recorded two goals and 12 assists in 31 games, then was traded to the Kelowna Rockets. With Kelowna, the defenceman added 16 points in 32 games and finished tied for third among Rockets blueliners in scoring.
The Rockets swept the Kamloops Blazers in the first round of the WHL playoffs, then fell in the second round to the eventual WHL champion Everett Silvertips. Kelowna’s season wasn’t done there, either, because the club hosted the 2026 Memorial Cup.
The tournament didn’t produce a win for the Rockets, but Alcos still logged nine playoff games and four assists. He’s committed to Quinnipiac University and will continue there in 2026-27.
Basile Sansonnens rounded out Vancouver’s 2024 class. After spending 2024-25 on loan with the Rimouski Océanic of the QMJHL, the 2024 seventh-rounder returned to Lausanne HC and played his first full season in Switzerland’s National League. In 44 games, he had three assists and also appeared in seven playoff games.
Sansonnens also represented Switzerland at the U-20 World Junior Championship for the second time. This time, he got on the scoresheet for the first time at the tournament, finishing with a goal and an assist in Switzerland’s five games. He is expected back with Lausanne for 2026-27.
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Filip Hronek belongs in that same conversation for a different reason. His deal looks sensible in a market that keeps pushing defensemen higher and higher, and his importance to the Canucks has only increased as his responsibilities have expanded. With the club trying to keep its blue line steady and competitive, the bigger question is how long this kind of value can last before the next contract conversation changes the picture. [Read more 🡒]
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The Canucks Numbers Trivia That Will Have Fans Arguing Again
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The fun part for number nerds is the contrast between the familiar and the untouched. Some digits in Canucks history have been recycled often enough to feel tied to the teams past, while others have barely been seen at all, and a handful have never appeared on a Vancouver sweater. That mix of old references and fresh choices is exactly what keeps this sort of offseason housekeeping from feeling routine, especially when a few of the new arrivals are picking numbers that already carry some franchise baggage. [Read more 🡒]