NHL draft first-round order set after Stanley Cup Final: Who's picking where?

The end of the Stanley Cup Final means more than celebrations and a parade by the winning team.

It means the first round order of the NHL draft is finalized.

Traditionally, the Stanley Cup winner gets the No. 32 pick and the runner-up drafts No. 31, but that has changed this year because of an agreement between the NHL and the Ottawa Senators.

The Senators were originally stripped of a first-round pick, but the league restored it – details can be found here – and moved the pick to the end of the first round at No 32. The Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes will draft at No. 31 instead.

The San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres shook up the draft order with a trade on Wednesday, June 17.

Here is the order for the first round of the NHL draft, plus the date, time and TV information:

2026 NHL draft first-round order

1. Toronto Maple Leafs (won draft lottery)
2. San Jose Sharks (won second drawing)
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. New York Rangers
6. Calgary Flames
7. Seattle Kraken
8. Winnipeg Jets
9. Florida Panthers
10. Nashville Predators
11. St. Louis Blues
12. New Jersey Devils
13. New York Islanders
14. Columbus Blue Jackets
15. St. Louis Blues (from Detroit Red Wings in the Justin Faulk trade)
16. Washington Capitals
17. Los Angeles Kings
18. Washington Capitals (from Anaheim Ducks in the John Carlson trade)
19. Utah Mammoth
20. Buffalo Sabres (from Edmonton Oilers via San Jose Sharks. San Jose acquired the pick in the Jake Walman trade and swapped picks with the Sabres in the Michael Kesselring trade)
21. Philadelphia Flyers
22. Pittsburgh Penguins
23. Boston Bruins
24. Vancouver Canucks (from Minnesota Wild in the Quinn Hughes trade)
25. Seattle Kraken (from Tampa Bay Lightning in the Oliver Bjorkstrand/Yanni Gourde trade)
26. New York Rangers (from Dallas Stars via Carolina Hurricanes. Carolina got the pick from Dallas n the Mikko Rantanen trade and moved it to New York in the K'Andre Miller trade.)
27. San Jose Sharks (from Buffalo Sabres in Kesselring trade)
28. Montreal Canadiens
29. St. Louis Blues (from Colorado Avalanche via New York Islanders. New York got the pick from Colorado in the Brock Nelson trade and dealt it to St. Louis in the Brayden Schenn trade)
30. Calgary Flames (from Vegas Golden Knights in the Noah Hanifin trade)
31. Carolina Hurricanes
32. Ottawa Senators

NHL draft: How to watch, stream

• Dates: Friday, June 26 (first round) and Saturday, June 27 (round 2-7)
• Times: 7 p.m. ET on the first day and 11 a.m. ET on the second.
• Location: KeyBank Center (Buffalo, New York); Prospects will be there and general managers will work remotely)
• TV: ESPN on the first day and NHL Network on the second.
• Streaming: Fubo carries ESPN and NHL Network

Top NHL draft prospects

The top prospects as listed by NHL Central Scouting:

Top North American skaters

• LW Gavin McKenna, Penn State
• D Chase Reid, Sault Ste. Marie
• D Carson Carels, Prince George
• D Keaton Verhoeff, North Dakota
• D Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert

Top international skaters

• LW Ivar Stenberg, Sweden
• D Alberts Smits, Latvia
• C Oliver Suvanto, Finland
• C Viggo Bjorck, Sweden
• RW Elton Hermansson, Sweden

This story was updated to include a method to order a Carolina Hurricanes championship page print from USA TODAY Sports.