The first 16 selections were determined by the NHL Draft Lottery, which was held May 5. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the lottery and have the No. 1 pick. The San Jose Sharks won the second drawing and have the No. 2 selection.
The draft will be held at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. The first round is June 26 (7 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS), with rounds 2-7 on June 27 (11 a.m. ET; NHLN, ESPN+, SN).
The 12 teams that lost in the first two rounds of the playoffs were slotted into picks 17-27. Teams that did not win their division were placed in inverse order of regular-season points, followed by the Buffalo Sabres, the only division winner to be eliminated.
The No. 28 selection went to the Montreal Canadiens, the team that lost in the conference finals with the fewest regular-season points.
The Colorado Avalanche, who lost in the Western Conference Final, traded their pick, No. 29, to the New York Islanders as part of the Brock Nelson deal on March 6, 2025. The Islanders then traded that selection to the St. Louis Blues as part of the Brayden Schenn deal on March 6, 2026.
The Sharks have three picks in the first round. In addition to No. 2, they acquired the No. 9 pick from the Ottawa Senators on June 23 for forward William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen and Brandon Svoboda. They also have No. 27, acquired from the Buffalo Sabres along with defenseman Michael Kesselring on June 17, for the No. 20 selection, which San Jose had acquired from the Edmonton Oilers as part of the trade for defenseman Jake Walman on March 7, 2025.
The Blues, meanwhile, have four picks in the first round. In addition to the Avalanche's selection, they have the No. 11 choice, the No. 15 pick, acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for defenseman Justin Faulk on March 6, and the No. 16 pick, which they acquired from the Washington Capitals on Tuesday in the Jordan Kyrou trade.
The Flames are one of six teams with two picks in the first round.
The Sabres have the No. 20 pick and the No. 4 pick, acquired June 23 when they traded defenseman Bowen Byram and forward Jordan Greenwayto the Chicago Blackhawks. Buffalo also received defenseman Louis Crevier and a second-round pick in the 2026 draft (No. 45) in the deal.
The Senators have the No. 32 pick as part of a modified penalty imposed for the 2021 trade of forward Evgenii Dadonov. They had acquired the No. 9 and No. 25 picks, as well as future draft choices, on June 21 when they traded Brady Tkachuk to the Florida Panthers, but Ottawa then moved No. 9 to San Jose in the Eklund trade.
The Vancouver Canucks have the No. 3 pick and the No. 24 pick, acquired from the Minnesota Wild as part of the trade of defenseman Quinn Hughes on Dec. 12.
