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As the league revealed its draft order on April 30, the Canucks had such high hopes of moving up to land one of the prize prospects available in a top-heavy draft. While dropping down always loomed as a possibility, the Canucks believed they’d had their share of losses during the second half of the 2015-16 season and didn’t want to consider the idea that they’d suffer another setback as the ping-pong balls revealed the draft order. Holding the third-best odds in the lottery after an agonizing 75-point season, landing any one of the top three spots would have represented a victory for the hockey club and nabbing either of the top two picks would likely have been franchise-altering.

Instead, the fickle hand of fate delivered a crushing blow to the Canucks, leaving the organization and its fan base reeling. Not only did they not maintain their spot in the standing, they dropped two places and, amid such lofty expectations, were left with the underwhelming fifth overall pick in June’s annual cattle call of the next wave of NHL talent.

Photo by Jack Boland / PNG

While it’ll be years before any sort of verdict can be rendered on the selection of defenceman Olli Juolevi — who may very well turn out to be a fixture on the Canucks’ blueline for a decade — it’s damn near impossible to watch the highlights on a nightly basis and not see what might have been. The top two selections, Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Winnipeg’s Patrik Laine, are absolutely crushing it in the NHL already, while Juolevi may be ready to make the jump next season, but is years away from being any kind of impact player.