Whenever the Vancouver Canucks go to the draft podium for a goalie, there’s usually a pretty clear mold in mind, and 2026 third-rounder Dmitri Ivchenko fits it. He lands at No. 11 in our top 20 Canucks prospect rankings.
Ivchenko, a 6-foot-3, left-catching netminder from Omskie Yastreby, was selected 78th overall in 2026. He’s 18 years old, weighs 179 pounds, and entered the rankings with no mid-season placement listed.
His draft-year climb was notable. Ivchenko opened NHL Central Scouting’s midterm list as the eighth-ranked European goaltender, then jumped to fourth in the final rankings. In the MHL, he spent most of the season backing up Omskie Yastreby, but still put together an eye-catching 11-5-1 record and a .922 save percentage in 19 appearances.
The tape matches the numbers in the sense that Ivchenko looks controlled and deliberate in goal. As CanucksArmy’s Lachlan Irvine wrote after the pick, “The first thing you’ll notice about Ivchenko is his calm, collected movements. Like a car with great braking, Ivchenko seems to move into each save with smooth, solid fluidity… Ivchenko’s head follows the puck first, then his body follows with quiet feet and precision.”
An anonymous NHL goaltending scout offered a similarly glowing read: “Size, athleticism, superb reads, calm and in command, a great skater, positional consistency and efficiency, patient feet to drive his reactivity. He’s got strong balance across the inputs, elite character traits for the goalie position - responsible, work ethic, discipline, attention to detail, self-initiative, etc.”
That’s the appeal here. Ivchenko plays with a composed presence in the crease, uses his frame well, and keeps his feet quiet while challenging shooters right on the edge of the blue paint.
He’s also comfortable working in tight around the post, often dropping into the Reverse VH, which fits the way the Canucks like their goaltenders to operate. When the play gets messy, he can lean on his athleticism and second-effort compete to pull off some real highlight-reel stops.
The rough edges are there, too. Ivchenko can have trouble tracking pucks from distance when traffic gets heavy, and he can be late reacting to high passes after getting beat cleanly.
The other wrinkle is volume: because he was mostly a backup in the MHL, he hasn’t yet built a big sample against stronger international or pro competition. That’s the part worth monitoring, even if the upside is obvious.
The ceiling is a starting NHL goaltender. The floor is a KHL backup. And with the Canucks’ goalie pipeline already including Aleksei Medvedev, Ty Young, and Aku Koskenvuo, Ivchenko’s path is not going to be simple.
He still has two years of MHL eligibility left, and the expectation is that he returns to Russia, pushes for a bigger starter’s role, and eventually earns a shot at the KHL. If he does decide to make the jump and try his hand in Abbotsford, he’s probably two years away from that. From there, his NHL timeline will come down to how he performs in a crowded Canucks goaltending depth chart.
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