Ice Hockey
NHL Mock Draft 2026: Predicting All 32 First Round Picks
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The 2026 NHL Draft is a week away, and there are a lot of rumors about what teams are looking to do when the event kicks off in Buffalo on June 26.
Things look to get interesting ahead of an offseason where the NHL’s salary cap jumps from $95.5 million to $104 million. Will San Jose keep the second overall pick, or make a big splash? What was Buffalo thinking when they moved up from 27th to 20th?
The Sharks, Seattle Kraken, St. Louis Blues, Washington Capitals, Vancouver Canucks, New York Rangers, and Calgary Flames all have multiple first-round picks. In fact, the Blues have three picks after their various trades last season.
But it all starts with the Toronto Maple Leafs, who are expected to take Gavin McKenna with the first pick. After that, however, it’s anyone’s guess in a draft that has the potential to be remembered as one of the best of the last 25 years.
It’s time for the latest official NHL mock draft from DAZN. Below you’ll find every pick for the first round, and tune in to the 2026 from Buffalo on June 26-27.
2026 NHL Mock Draft
| PICK | TEAM | PLAYER | FORMER TEAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs | Gavin McKenna, LW | Penn State (NCAA) |
| 2 | San Jose Sharks | Ivar Stenberg, W | Frölunda (SHL) |
| 3 | Vancouver Canucks | Caleb Malhotra, C | Brantford (OHL) |
| 4 | Chicago Blackhawks | Chase Reid, D | Sault Ste. Marie (OHL) |
| 5 | New York Rangers | Carson Carels, D | Prince George (WHL) |
| 6 | Calgary Flames | Alberts Šmits, D | EHC München (DEL) |
| 7 | Seattle Kraken | Keaton Verhoeff, D | North Dakota (NCAA) |
| 8 | Winnipeg Jets | Viggo Björck, C | Djurgårdens (SHL) |
| 9 | Florida Panthers | Malte Gustafsson, D | HV71 (Sweden) |
| 10 | Nashville Predators | Tynan Lawrence, C | Boston (NCAA) |
| 11 | St. Louis Blues | Oscar Hemming, LW | Boston College (NCAA) |
| 12 | New Jersey Devils | Daxon Rudolph, D | Prince Albert (WHL) |
| 13 | New York Islanders | Ethan Belchetz, LW | Windsor (OHL) |
| 14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | Wyatt Cullen, LW | USNTDP |
| 15 | St. Louis Blues | Ryan Lin, D | Vancouver (WHL) |
| 16 | Washington Capitals | Maddox Dagenais, C | Quebec (QMJHL) |
| 17 | Los Angeles Kings | Oliver Suvanto, C | Tappara (Liiga) |
| 18 | Washington Capitals | Nikita Klepov, RW | Saginaw (OHL) |
| 19 | Utah Mammoth | Alexander Command, C | Örebro (Sweden) |
| 20 | Buffalo Sabres | Ilya Morozov, C | Miami, OH (NCAA) |
| 21 | Philadelphia Flyers | Adam Novotný, W | Peterborough (OHL) |
| 22 | Pittsburgh Penguins | Jack Hextall, C | Youngstown (USHL) |
| 23 | Boston Bruins | JP Hurlbert, LW | Kamloops (WHL) |
| 24 | Vancouver Canucks | William Håkansson, D | Luleå (Sweden) |
| 25 | Seattle Kraken | Liam Ruck, RW | Medicine Hat (WHL) |
| 26 | New York Rangers | Mathis Preston, RW | Vancouver (WHL) |
| 27 | San Jose Sharks | Tommy Bleyl, D | Moncton (QMJHL) |
| 28 | Montreal Canadiens | Måns Gudmundsson, D | Färjestad (SHL) |
| 29 | St. Louis Blues | Jakub Vaněček, D | Tri-City (WHL) |
| 30 | Calgary Flames | Gleb Pugachyov, RW | Nizhny Novgorod (MHL) |
| 31 | Carolina Hurricanes | Elton Hermansson, RW | MoDo (Sweden) |
| 32 | Ottawa Senators | Nikita Scherbakov, D | Tolpar Ufa (MHL) |
