The order for the top selections in the 2026 NHL Draft will begin to take shape on Tuesday, May 5, when the league stages its annual draft lottery at NHL Network’s studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. The live event starts at 7 p.m. ET and will air nationally on ESPN, with streaming available via the ESPN app and services such as fubo.
The lottery determines the top picks among the league’s non-playoff clubs (and any teams that hold those picks via trade) and will set the first 16 selections in the opening round of the 2026 draft. The broadcast will feature a traditional live drawing of numbered lottery balls, allowing viewers to follow each reveal in real time. The league will conduct two separate drawings: one to award the No. 1 overall pick and a second to determine the No. 2 pick.
The Vancouver Canucks enter the drawing with the best mathematical chance to win the first draw, listed at 18.5 percent. Because of the NHL’s rule that a lottery winner can move up no more than 10 slots, Vancouver’s effective chance of landing the No. 1 overall pick rises to 25.5 percent. Only the top 11 teams in the lottery order are eligible to claim the top pick under that 10-spot move-up limit. The Chicago Blackhawks are next in line with 13.5 percent odds for the first draw, followed by the New York Rangers at 11.5 percent. Also near the top of the order are the Calgary Flames, a conditional pick belonging to the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Seattle Kraken, Winnipeg Jets and Florida Panthers.
The lottery will play out in the middle of the Stanley Cup Playoffs: the NHL’s postseason is ongoing through May and into June, so the drawing offers non-playoff teams and their fans a high-stakes moment while the Cup chase continues. The lottery has been a franchise-altering event in recent seasons; in 2025 the New York Islanders won the top selection and used it to take defenseman Matthew Schaefer with the No. 1 overall pick.
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League officials have said the televised format will allow viewers to see teams eliminated as combinations are pulled and odds recalculated, a process that can produce dramatic swings in probabilities as the drawing proceeds. In addition to the live ball draw, broadcast analysis will break down what a top pick could mean for the franchises involved and how movement in the lottery could affect the draft landscape.
After the lottery concludes, the results will lock in the top portion of the draft order and give teams clarity heading into draft planning, scouting and potential trade conversations. The 2026 lottery follows the league’s standard procedures for the first-round order; teams outside the lottery positions cannot jump into the top 11, though they remain eligible to win a drawing and move up a limited number of spots.
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Fans who do not have cable can stream the event through the ESPN app or through streaming services carrying ESPN channels. The live drawing is expected to occupy roughly the same primetime window as past lotteries and should provide the first definitive look at where the most-coveted 2026 prospects might land.
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