Draft day is here! The 2026 NHL Entry Draft is slated to begin Friday night. The New Jersey Devils, who made a big move on Tuesday, are slated to make the 12th-overall selection and have three total picks in the top-44 selections of the draft. Here is what you can expect beginning Friday night.
The Draft
The 2026 edition of the NHL Draft is set to take place in Buffalo, New York at the KeyBank Center. The event will span two days, June 26-27. Round 1 will take place beginning Friday at 7:00 pm ET and will be televised on ESPN and streamed on ESPN+. Meanwhile, Round 2-7 will begin at 11:00 am ET on Saturday and be televised on NHL Network and once again streamed on ESPN+.
Draft Order
The Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery and moved up four spots to the first-overall pick. San Jose was the other team to win the lottery and will select second overall.
The rest of the first-round draft order is below:
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- San Jose Sharks
- Vancouver Canucks
- Buffalo Sabres (via Chicago)
- New York Rangers
- Calgary Flames
- Seattle Kraken
- Winnipeg Jets
- San Jose Sharks (via Florida)
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- St. Louis Blues (via Detroit)
- St. Louis Blues (via Washington)
- Los Angeles Kings
- Washington Capitals (via Anaheim)
- Utah Mammoth
- Buffalo Sabres (via Edmonton)
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Boston Bruins
- Vancouver Canucks (via Minnesota)
- Ottawa Senators (via Tampa Bay)
- New York Rangers (via Dallas)
- San Jose Sharks (via Buffalo)
- Montreal Canadiens
- St. Louis Blues (via Colorado)
- Calgary Flames (via Vegas)
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Ottawa Senators
Draft Trends
A staggering seven teams have multiple first round picks. The St. Louis Blues lead the way with four first-round selections (No. 11, 15, 16, 29). The Sharks are the lone team with three picks in the first round (No. 2, 9, 27). Lastly, seven teams have two first-round picks: Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, Calgary Flames, Washington Capitals, Ottawa Senators, and Buffalo Sabres.
As for the draft as a whole, here are the teams who lead the way in total picks and PuckPedia‘s total pick value:
Total Picks:
- 13 picks: St. Louis Blues
- 11 picks: New York Rangers, Nashville Predators,
- 10 picks: Vancouver Canucks, Calgary Flames, Colorado Avalanche
- Nine picks: Los Angeles Kings
- Eight picks: San Jose Sharks, Ottawa Senators
Total Pick Value (per PuckPedia):
- San Jose Sharks (127.8)
- Toronto Maple Leafs (109.7)
- St. Louis Blues (102.6)
- Vancouver Canucks (99.3)
- Calgary Flames (83.2)
- Buffalo Sabres (81.4)
- New York Rangers (77.1)
- Seattle Kraken (53.5)
- Nashville Predators (51.4)
- New Jersey Devils (47.2)
Devils Assets
The Devils added to their moderate stockpile of picks on Tuesday when they acquired a second-round selection in the deal that sent Simon Nemec to Calgary. With that, the Devils now own the following selections in this year’s draft:
- Round 1: No. 12
- Round 2: No. 35 (via New York Rangers), No. 44
- Round 3:
- Round 4: No. 108
- Round 5:
- Round 6: No. 172
- Round 7:
The Devils shipped their third-round pick to the Islanders in the deal that shed the full contract of Ondrej Palat before the trade deadline this past season. The team recently moved their fifth-round pick in a deal for young Detroit Red Wings forward Amadeus Lombardi. Lastly, their seventh-round pick was traded for forward Daniel Sprong from Seattle in March of 2025.
With five picks, there are only five teams with fewer selections than the Devils this year. Those teams are the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Vegas Golden Knights, and Washington Capitals. As far as PuckPedia‘s total pick value, the Devils sit at 46.2. This figure ranks 10th in the league, largely propelled by having three sections with the draft’s top-44 selections.
Potential Targets
Leading up to the draft this week, we published three different articles analyzing some potential options for the Devils at 12th overall. Those articles, and players, are listed below by category.
There are three categories: realistic options, sleeper options, and who they should actually target options:
- Realistic: F Wyatt Cullen, F Ethan Belchetz, F Tynan Lawrence, F Oscar Hemming, D Daxon Rudolph, D Ryan Lin, D Matle Gustafsson
- Sleeper: F Nikita Klepov, F Adam Novotný, F J.P. Hurlbert, F Liam Ruck, D Tommy Bleyl
- Should Target: F Wyatt Cullen, F Ethan Belchetz, F Tynan Lawrence
Note, the links of each of those articles are included in the name of each bullet point.
What The Mocks Are Saying
Mock drafts are always a fascinating part of the process. They are not perfect, but do give a good idea of who may target which prospects where. Below are some mock drafts and the prospect they say the Devils are going to select:
- Tankathon: F Ethan Belchetz
- Adam Kimelman (NHL.com): F Ethan Belchetz
- Mike Morreale (NHL.com): F Ethan Belchetz
- Steven Ellis (Daily Faceoff): F Ethan Belchetz
- Scott Wheeler (the Athletic): F Wyatt Cullen
- Will Scouch (Scouching): F Wyatt Cullen
Final Thoughts
The NHL Draft is always an exciting time of the offseason. It is even more intriguing this year for the New Jersey Devils given they now employ a first-time general manager. The way Sunny Mehta drafts in his first season at the helm should tell you a lot about his philosophy and type of player he covets. Not to mention, the team currently holds three picks within the top-44 of the draft.
We will have all coverage of the draft across our social media pages this weekend and beyond.