The Canucks have made up their mind on the No. 3 overall pick

The Vancouver Canucks finished dead last in the NHL this season, and Frank Seravalli says people inside the organization are now pushing to use that high pick on a defenseman.

Seravalli, speaking on Blackhawks Breakaway on June 11, said there are voices in Vancouver's front office advocating for a blueliner at the 2026 NHL Draft.

It's a notable internal signal for a franchise still figuring out which direction to rebuild.

Frank Seravalli: Re NHL draft: I think there's people in Vancouver's front office that are pushing for a defenseman.

The numbers back up why the blue line is a conversation. The Canucks allowed 316 goals this season, 3.9 per game, and finished 32nd in the league with a goal differential of -100.

That's not a defense that just needs a tweak. That's a defense that needs surgery.

A blue-line corps that bled all season long

Filip Hronek led the back end with 49 points but went minus-23. He carries a $7.25 million cap hit.

Marcus Pettersson played all 82 games for 18 points, went minus-19, and costs $5.5 million against the cap.

That's over $12.7 million tied up in two defenders who both finished deep in the red this season.

The youth is there in pieces. Zeev Buium, 20, put up 26 points in 76 games but went minus-33. Tom Willander, 21, played 70 games for 21 points and also went minus-23.

Think of it like trying to paper over a cracked foundation. The young guys show promise, but the structure underneath them simply did not hold this year.

Vancouver's offense wasn't brilliant either, at 2.6 goals per game. But when you're leaking 3.9 at the other end, the floor collapses regardless of what you do up front.

The Canucks went 4-6-0 over their last 10 games and closed the year with a loss at Edmonton. There was no momentum coming out of this season.

Head coach Adam Foote inherited a team in disarray, and the defensive hole is arguably the most urgent structural problem he faces heading into next year.

The draft conversation matters because it signals where the front office believes the real damage is. Not up front. In the back.

Whether they act on it depends on who is available at the top of the board. But that internal push is real, and it tells you something about how this organization reads its own situation.