Maple Leafs win No. 1 pick in NHL draft lottery

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.

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).

Both the Maple Leafs and Sharks passed the Canucks, owners of a league-low record (25-49-8, 58 points) 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