The Toronto Maple Leafs own the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL Draft following the draft lottery on Tuesday.
The Leafs will hold the first overall pick for the third time in franchise history after they chose Auston Matthews in 2016 and Wendel Clark in 1985.
The San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers round out the top five picks.
Toronto entered the lottery with the fifth-best odds of moving into the No. 1 pick, after the Maple Leafs finished 2025-26 with the fifth-worst record (32-36-14, 78 points).
After that disappointing finish, the Maple Leafs are moving forward with a remodeled front office led by general manager John Chayka and franchise legend Mats Sundin in a senior advisory role. Chayka and Sundin were introduced earlier this week.
“I’m extremely happy for the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base, of course,” Sundin told ESPN. “It’s great to get the first pick. Great night, great lottery.”
Their first decision, as it pertains to the draft, is whether to select Penn State forward Gavin McKenna or Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg first overall. Those two are viewed as far and away the best prospects in the class.
The Sharks, who narrowly missed the playoffs after showing great improvement in 2025-26, won the second ping-pong ball and shot up from ninth to second overall. The Sharks picked first overall in 2024 (Macklin Celebrini) and second overall last year (Michael Misa).
“The scouts, I’m sure they’ve been doing their work, they’ve been on the road,” Sharks general manager Mike Grier said in an interview with Sportsnet. “We’re excited. Like you said, there’s lots of options there. There’s centers, there’s D, there’s wingers. So to have the opportunity to add another very talented player to our young core is very exciting.”
Both the Maple Leafs and Sharks passed the Canucks, owners of a league-low record (25-49-8, 58 points) that was 14 points worse than any other team. Vancouver slipped to third.
The draft order from Nos. 1-16 overall (non-playoff teams):
1. Toronto
2. San Jose
3. Vancouver
4. Chicago
5. N.Y. Rangers
6. Calgary
7. Seattle
8. Winnipeg
9. Florida
10. Nashville
11. St. Louis
12. New Jersey
13. N.Y. Islanders
14. Columbus
15. St. Louis (from Detroit)
16. Washington
–Field Level Media
