The 2026 NHL entry draft was the 64th draft for the National Hockey League. The draft was held on June 26–27, 2026, at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York. The first three selections were Gavin McKenna by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Ivar Stenberg by the San Jose Sharks, and Caleb Malhotra by the Vancouver Canucks.
A notable late-round pick was the Sharks' seventh-round pick, Alexander Karmanov. At , he was the tallest player ever drafted, and was the first Moldovan-born player ever drafted.
Eligibility Ice hockey players born between January 1, 2006, and September 15, 2008, were eligible for selection in the 2026 NHL entry draft. Additionally, undrafted, non-North American players born in 2005 were eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2024 NHL entry draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 2006, were also eligible to re-enter the draft.
Draft lottery
Since the 2012–13 NHL season all teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. Beginning with the 2014–15 NHL season the NHL changed the weighting system that was used in previous years. Under the new system the odds of winning the draft lottery for the four lowest finishing teams in the league decreased, while the odds for the other non-playoff teams increased. As the league reduced the number of lottery drawings before the 2021–22 season, this resulted in two lotteries being held instead of three and since the 2022 draft lottery, the teams winning one of the two drawings are allowed to move up a maximum of ten spots in the draft order and a team is only allowed to win the lottery by moving up the order twice in a five-year period.
The Toronto Maple Leafs and San Jose Sharks won the two lotteries that were held on May 5, 2026. Seattle, Winnipeg, and Florida each dropped one spot, while Vancouver, Chicago, the New York Rangers and Calgary each dropped two spots. Vancouver, who finished last in the league, are the first team to fall the maximum number of spots in the draft while holding the best lottery odds since the Detroit Red Wings in 2020. Toronto notably won the first lottery with an 8.5% probability; heading into the draft lottery, they had a 56.2% chance of being advanced by one or more teams above them in the standings without winning either lottery, in which case they would have conditionally granted their top-five-protected pick to the Boston Bruins to fulfill a trade made in March 2025 that also sent Fraser Minten and a fourth-round pick in 2025 to Boston in exchange for Brandon Carlo. Instead, they will grant their first-round pick in 2027 or 2028 to Boston, with the other being granted to the Philadelphia Flyers.
Indicates team won first lotteryIndicates team won second lottery Indicates teams that did not win a lottery
{| class="wikitable" |+ Complete draft position odds ! Team ! 1st ! 2nd ! 3rd ! 4th ! 5th ! 6th ! 7th ! 8th ! 9th ! 10th ! 11th ! 12th ! 13th ! 14th ! 15th ! 16th |- ! Vancouver | 25.5% || 18.8% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|55.7% || || || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! Chicago | 13.5% || 14.1% || 30.7% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|41.7% || || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! NY Rangers | 11.5% || 11.2% || 7.8% || 39.7% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|29.8% || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! Calgary | 9.5% || 9.5% || 0.3% || 15.4% || 44.6% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|20.8% || || || || || || || || || || |- ! Toronto |style="background:#A9D0F5;"| 8.5% || 8.6% || 0.3% || || 24.5% || 44.0% || 14.2% || || || || || || || || || |- ! Seattle | 7.5% || 7.7% || 0.2% || || || 34.1% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|41.4% || 9.1% || || || || || || || || |- ! Winnipeg | 6.5% || 6.7% || 0.2% || || || || 44.4% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|36.5% || 5.6% || || || || || || || |- ! Florida | 6.0% || 6.2% || 0.2% || || || || || 54.4% || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|30.0% || 3.2% || || || || || || |- ! San Jose | 5.0% ||style="background:#F5A9BC;"| 5.2% || 0.2% || || || || || || 64.4% || 23.5% || 1.7% || || || || || |- ! Nashville | 3.5% || 3.7% || 0.1% || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|73.3% || 18.4% || 0.9% || || || || |- ! St. Louis | 3.0% || 3.2% || 0.1% || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|79.9% || 13.4% || 0.5% || || || |- ! New Jersey | || 5.3% || || || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|85.7% || 8.9% || 0.2% || || |- ! NY Islanders | || || 4.3% || || || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|90.7% || 5.1% || >0.0% || |- ! Columbus | || || || 3.1% || || || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|94.7% || 2.1% || >0.0% |- ! Detroit | || || || || 1.1% || || || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|97.9% ||1.1% |- ! Washington | || || || || || 1.0% || || || || || || || || || || style="background:#DDDDDD;"|98.9%
Top prospects Source: NHL Central Scouting (April 16, 2026) ranking.
Ranking North American skaters European skaters 1 Gavin McKenna (LW) Ivar Stenberg (LW) 2 Chase Reid (D) Alberts Smits (D) 3 Carson Carels (D) Oliver Suvanto (C) 4 Keaton Verhoeff (D) Viggo Bjorck (C) 5 Daxon Rudolph (D) Elton Hermansson (RW) 6 Caleb Malhotra (C) Juho Piiparinen (D) 7 Tynan Lawrence (C) Marcus Nordmark (LW) 8 Nikita Klepov (RW) Malte Gustafsson (D) 9 Ethan Belchetz (LW) Gleb Pugachyov (RW) 10 Ilia Morozov (C) Simas Ignatavicius (RW) Ranking North American goalies European goalies 1 Brady Knowling Dmitri Borichev 2 Michal Orsulak Yegor Rybkin 3 Tobias Trejbal David Vermirovsky
Selections by round The order of the 2026 entry draft was finalized upon the conclusion of the 2025–26 NHL season, based on the draft lottery, final standings and playoff success. The Ottawa Senators chose last in the first round by order of the NHL, and resumed their regular placement in subsequent rounds.
Round one
# Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 1 Gavin McKenna (LW) Canada Toronto Maple Leafs Penn State Nittany Lions (B1G) 2 Ivar Stenberg (LW) Sweden San Jose Sharks Frölunda HC (SHL) 3 Caleb Malhotra (C) Canada Vancouver Canucks Brantford Bulldogs (OHL) 4 Daxon Rudolph (D) Canada Buffalo Sabres (from Chicago1) Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) 5 Alberts Smits (D) Latvia New York Rangers EHC Red Bull Munchen (DEL) 6 Carson Carels (D) Canada Calgary Flames Prince George Cougars (WHL) 7 Chase Reid (D) United States Seattle Kraken Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) 8 Viggo Bjorck (C) Sweden Winnipeg Jets Djurgårdens IF (SHL) 9 Keaton Verhoeff (D) Canada San Jose Sharks (from Florida via Ottawa2) North Dakota Fighting Hawks (NCHC) 10 Wyatt Cullen (LW) United States Nashville Predators U.S. NTDP (USHL) 11 Tynan Lawrence (C) Canada St. Louis Blues Boston University Terriers (ECAC) 12 Alexander Command (C) Sweden New Jersey Devils Orebro HK (SHL) 13 Malte Gustafsson (D) Sweden New York Islanders HV71 (SHL) 14 Oscar Hemming (LW) Finland Columbus Blue Jackets Boston College Eagles (ECAC) 15 Nikita Klepov (RW) United States Anaheim Ducks (from Detroit via St. Louis3) Saginaw Spirit (OHL) 16 Maddox Dagenais (C) Canada St. Louis Blues (from Washington4) Quebec Remparts (QMJHL) 17 Ethan Belchetz (LW) Canada Utah Mammoth (from Los Angeles5) Windsor Spitfires (OHL) 18 Oliver Suvanto (C) Finland Washington Capitals (from Anaheim6) Tappara (Liiga) 19 Elton Hermansson (RW) Sweden Los Angeles Kings (from Utah7) Modo Hockey (HockeyAllsvenskan) 20 Ilia Morozov (C) Russia Buffalo Sabres (from Edmonton via San Jose8) Miami RedHawks (NCHC) 21 Ryan Lin (D) Canada San Jose Sharks (from Philadelphia9) Vancouver Giants (WHL) 22 Liam Ruck (RW) Canada Pittsburgh Penguins Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) 23 JP Hurlbert (LW) United States Detroit Red Wings (from Boston via Utah10) Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 24 Adam Novotny (LW) Czech Republic Vancouver Canucks (from Minnesota11) Peterborough Petes (OHL) 25 Jonas Lagerberg Hoen (RW) Sweden Ottawa Senators (from Tampa Bay via Seattle and Florida12) Leksands IF (SHL) 26 Gleb Pugachyov (RW) Russia Montreal Canadiens (from Dallas via Carolina, NY Rangers and Vegas13) Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod (KHL) 27 Maksim Sokolovskii (D) Russia Philadelphia Flyers (from Buffalo via San Jose14) London Knights (OHL) 28 Marcus Nordmark (LW) Sweden Anaheim Ducks (via Montreal and Vegas15) Djurgårdens IF (SHL) 29 Juho Piiparinen (D) Finland Vegas Golden Knights (from Colorado via NY Islanders, St. Louis and Anaheim16) Tappara (Liiga) 30 Jack Hextall (C) United States Calgary Flames (from Vegas17) Youngstown Phantoms (USHL) 31 Tommy Bleyl (D) United States Nashville Predators (from Carolina18) Moncton Wildcats (QMJHL) 32 Jaxon Cover (LW) Cayman Islands Ottawa Senators19 London Knights (OHL) The Chicago Blackhawks' first-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on June 23, 2026, that sent Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway to Chicago in exchange for Louis Crevier, the New York Islanders second-round pick in 2026, and this pick. The Florida Panthers' first round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of a trade on June 23, 2026 that sent William Eklund, Kasper Halttunen, and Brandon Svoboda to Ottawa in exchange for this pick. Ottawa previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 21, 2026 that sent Brady Tkachuk to Florida in exchange for the Tampa Bay Lightning's first round pick in 2026, a conditional first-round pick in 2029, a second-round pick in 2027 and this pick. The Detroit Red Wings' first-round pick went to the Anaheim Ducks as the result of a trade on June 26, 2026 that sent Mason McTavish to St. Louis in exchange for a first-round pick in 2026 (29th overall) and this pick. St. Louis previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 6, 2026, that sent Justin Faulk to Detroit in exchange for Justin Holl, Dmitri Buchelnikov, a third-round pick in 2026 and this pick. The Washington Capitals' first-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 23, 2026, that sent Jordan Kyrou to Washington in exchange for Connor McMichael, Milton Gästrin and this pick. The Los Angeles Kings' first-round pick went to the Utah Mammoth as a result of a trade on June 26, 2026, that sent a first-round pick in 2026 (19th overall) and third-round pick in 2026 (83rd overall) to Los Angeles in exchange for this pick. The Anaheim Ducks' first-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on March 6, 2026, that sent John Carlson to Anaheim in exchange for a third-round pick in 2027 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Washington will receive Anaheim's first-round pick in 2026 if Anaheim qualifies for the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted on April 13, 2026. The Utah Mammoth's first-round pick went to the Los Angeles Kings as a result of a trade on June 26, 2026, that sent a first-round pick 2026 (17th overall) to Utah in exchange for a third-round pick in 2026 (83rd overall) and this pick. The Edmonton Oilers' first-round pick went to the Buffalo Sabres as the result of a trade on June 17, 2026, that sent Michael Kesselring and a first-round pick in 2026 (27th overall) to the San Jose Sharks in exchange for this pick. San Jose previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on March 6, 2025, that sent Jake Walman to Edmonton in exchange for Carl Berglund and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – San Jose will receive a first-round pick in 2026 if Edmonton does not possess their first-round pick in 2027 after the 2026 trade deadline – was converted when Edmonton traded their 2027 first-round pick on March 4, 2026. The Philadelphia Flyers' first-round pick went to the San Jose Sharks as the result of the trade on June 26, 2026 that sent a first-round pick in 2026 (27th overall), second-round pick in 2026 (62nd overall) and fourth-round pick in 2026 (120th overall) to Philadelphia in exchange for this pick.