Maple Leafs win 2026 NHL Draft Lottery

Mats Sundin and John Chayka are officially on the clock.

On Tuesday night, the balls popped up in favor of a team that had a rough 2025-26 season, as the Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery and are awarded the No. 1 pick in this year’s draft.

This is just the second time the Leafs will be picking first in the Draft Lottery era. The first came exactly 10 years ago, when Toronto selected now-captain Auston Matthews.

Heading into the lottery, the Vancouver Canucks entered with the best odds to get the first-overall pick, as they finished last in the NHL with 58 points, matching the team’s lowly mark from the 1998-99 season, when they won a measly 23 games. However, they were jumped by the Leafs, who finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, and had a measly 8.5 percent chance of winning the No. 1 pick.

This is the second year in a row that the ping-pong balls were drawn live on national television, giving a sense of transparency and enhancing the drama of the event. It’s contrary to the olden days, when the order was decided behind closed doors and announced during the Draft Lottery event.

This year’s draft has several players who have the ability to be key pieces to a franchise’s success in the near future. However, the big kahuna heading into the summer is Gavin McKenna. A player widely regarded as the top prospect in the 2026 draft, dating back to his time with the Medicine Hat Tigers, McKenna possesses the skillset that can make him an impact player in the NHL immediately. Many expect the Penn State Nittany Lion to be taken with the first-overall pick.

Along with McKenna, there are exceptional prospects in Ivar Stenberg, Chase Reid, Keaton Verheoff, Carson Carels and Caleb Malhotra, each of which is expected to be taken in the top 10 of this year’s draft.

The rest of the order will be determined as teams are eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The 2026 NHL Draft will once again be a decentralized event, as it was last in Los Angeles. The draft this year returns to the KeyBank Center, the home of the Buffalo Sabres, for the first time since 2016, the year Matthews was taken first overall. The first round is scheduled for June 26, with the remaining six rounds being held on June 27.