The Top 10 College Hockey, US National Developmental Team Prospects for 2026 NHL Draft

There are14 balls bouncing around, creating 1,000 possible combinations. Tuesday evening, hockey fans around the world will be be watching to see how the final order will determine the future for so many players and teams with the 2026 Draft Lottery.

Gone are athe days in which the bottom teams in the standing automatically have the top selections, in an effort to add a little more drama to the process, but also to prevent teams from tanking if possible. Vancouver gave up on the season early, trading prize defenseman Quinn Hughes to the Minnesota Wild for three former first-round selections, and two more first round picks, but even the Canucks only have an 18.5 pecent chance to secure the first-overall spot.

Right behind the Canucks are two original-six teams, the Chicago Blackhawks and New York Rangers, followed by the Calgary Flames and the Toronto Maple Leafs ... we think. More on how Toronto, which hasn't had many first-round picks of late as they were traded away to bolster playoff chances, in a bit.

We'll start with the basics, what's going on and why:

How to Watch the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery

When: Tuesday, May 5, 2026. Time: 7 p.m. ET
TV: ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports
Where: NHL Network studio, Secaucus, N.J..
Who: The 16 teams that did not qualify for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs
Format: There are actually two draws to determine the first- and second- overall picks.

The draft lottery is live, each ball is selected using a lottery machine to make up a four-number series. Teams are assigned their numebrs beforehand so with each selection teams are eliminated. So viewing fans will know what number they need to come up next in order to remain in contention for the top pick.

The process is essentially repeated again for the second-overall selection. Teams can move up a maximum of 10 spots, meaning only the top 11 seeds can win the first-overall pick. Also, there are actually 1,001 combinations, but one is removed for an even number.

After the top two spots are secured, the 14 remaining non-playoff teams will then be assigned draft slots in inverse order of regular-season points. The playoff teams are subsequently added based on their finish. Per the NHL, the odds breakdown is as follows:

Top Draft Lottery Odds (First Pick)

NHL Teams, Odds (Percent), Combinations (out of 1,000)
Vancouver Canucks 18.5% 185
Chicago Blackhawks 13.5% 135
New York Rangers 11.5% 115
Calgary Flames 9.5% 95
Toronto Maple Leafs * 8.5% 85
Seattle Kraken 7.5% 75
Winnipeg Jets 6.5% 65
Florida Panthers 6.0% 60
San Jose Sharks 5.0% 50
Nashville Predators 3.5% 35
St. Louis Blues 3.0% 30
New Jersey Devils 2.5% 25
New York Islanders 2.0% 20
Columbus Blue Jackets 1.5% 15
St. Louis Blues (from Detroit) 0.5% 5
Washington Capitals 0.5% 5
* The pick is conditional

One of the biggest points of drama will be with Toronto's pick as the Maple Leafs traded it to Boston in a March 7, 2025 trade — forward Fraser Minten, the 2026 first-round draft pick (top five protected), and a 2025 fourth-round draft pick (from Philadelphia) in exchange for defenseman Brandon Carlo. If Toronto's first-round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft is a top-five selection, Maple Leafs will keep it and instead transfer either their 2027 or 2028 first-round pick to the Bruins. If it pick is not top five, the Bruins get it.

The selection in general is more than a point of angst for Maple Leafs fans, especially after failing to reach the Stanley Cup Playoffs this past season. In 55 games in 2025-26, Carlo had seven points, all assists, with 37 penalty minutes and was +4 in +/-. If just one team moves ahead of the Maple Leafs into the top five, the Bruins get the pick to complete the trade.

That happened last year, obviously, with two teams moving into the top five. The New York Islanders went from 10th to first, the odds of which were just 3.5 percent, and selected defenseman Matthew Schaefer. Utah climbed from 14th to No. 4, the maximum number of slots it could move up, and took center Caleb Desnoyers. Meanwhile, the Bruins went from fifth to seventh, and had Boston College standout James Hagens fall into their lap, the top collegiate player.

Four other established collegiate players went in the first round of the 2025 draft: Wisconsin D Logan Hensler to Ottawa at No. 23, Michigan F Will Horocff to Pittsburgh at No. 24; Boston University D Sascha Boumedienne to Winnipeg at No. 28; Arizona State center Cullen Potter (he's since transferred to Michigan State) to Calgary at No. 32 — although many others subsequently played for a college program like Peter Martone at Michigan State, the No.7 pick who is currently partipating in the Stanley Cup Finals with the Philadelphia Flyers.

For this draft, a good general rule is that each collegiate player will be selected about five picks apart in the early rounds. So the first player has a chance to go No. 1, the second player will probably be around No. 5, and so on ...

The following top-10 list is from the final rankings by NHL's Central Scouting Service, but the ranking is only of North American skaters. These are the top 10 top College and U.S. Developmental Program players in 2026 NHL Draft (June 26-27 in Buffalo, N.Y.):

Overall	Name	Ht	Wt	Pos.	School
1	Gavin McKenna	5-11	170	LW	Penn State
4	Keaton Verhoeff	6-3.5	208	D	North Dakota
7	Tynan Lawrence	6-0.5	185	C	Boston University
10	Ilya Morozov	6-3	200	C	Miami
11	Oscar Hemming	6-3.5	193	LW	Boston College
13	Wyatt Cullen	6-1	176	LW	USNDT
24	Casey Mutryn	6-3	200	RW	USNDT
42	Victor Plante	5-9,5	163	LW	USNDT
45	Luke Schairer	6-3	195	D	USNDT
55	Landon Nycz	6-02	201	D	Massachusetts

As for incoming commitments, No. 2 Chase Reid, D, is heading to Michigan State; No. 6 Caleb Malhotra, C, is committed to Boston University; No. 12 Jeffrey Hurlbert is set to join Michigan; No. 16 Ryan Lin, D, recently committed to Denver.

As for the USNDT players, Cullen is heading to Minnesota; Plante is set to play with his two brothers at Minnesota Duluth, Mutryn is committed to Boston College, and Schairer is going to Boston University,

One more player who needs to be mentioned is Brady Knowling, also of the U.S. Developmental Program, who is considered the top North American goaltender. The Boston University commitment is a third-round projection.

Puck Drop: Monday, May 4, 2026

In case you missed it ...

• Although team USA had a couple of monster wins, including 9-1 over Sweden and 11-2 over Germany, it was eliminated in the quarterfinals of the 2026 IIHF Ice Hockey U18 Men’s World Championship. 5-2 by Latvia. It had a 45-16 edge in shots on goal, but Patriks Plumins (who is eligible for the 2026 NHL Draft), led the upset.

• Sweden bounced back to win the tournament, defeating host Slovakia 4-2 in the title game. Wiggo Sorensson, Elton Hermansson, Adam Andersson and Ola Palme scored for Sweden. It was Slovakia's first appearance in the final since 2003. Slovakia's Timothy Kazda (Boston College (2027-28) was named MVP. Plumins was named best goaltender, Slovakia's Adam Goljer was best defender and Hermansson the best forward. Wyatt Cullen (Minnesota) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

• Lake Superior State announced renovations to Taff/y Abel Arena, including $6.3 million in donor-funded upgrades to the James C. Norris Center. The facility will have a new ice plant, boards and glass, benches, plus HVAC and roof work. ... Meanwhile, keep your eye on Michigan's Yost Ice Arena, which was recently damaged by a high-wind storm, causing damage to the roof. ... This recent damage comes amidst ongoing discussions about the long-term future of the 100-year-old building, which range from a $50 million renovation to the potential construction of a new $330 million arena

• Alaska-Anchorage named Eric Rud its new coach. Rud, a former Colorado College defenseman, had been an assistant at St. Cloud State the last two years and previously was the associate head coach at Miami (2019-22), and the head coach of the St. Cloud State women's hockey team (2014-19). Rud has worked extensively with the USA Hockey program.

• The PWHL announced it is planning a five-phase expansion process beginning May 28, running through June 13 to add four more teams to the league.

• Denver landed a big commitment from defenseman Blake Fiddler out of the Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL). Listed at 6-5, 212 pounds, Fiddler, a second-round selection in the 2025 NHL Draft, will turn 19 in July.

Other recent commitments:

C Owen Tylec, St. Lawrence, Des Moines (USHL)
F Colin Dustin, Niagara, Rochester Jr. (NAHL)
D Vann Williamson, Clarkson, Kingston (OHL)
D Austin Zamlak, Ferris State, Edmonton (WHL)
D Marco Senerchia, Brown, Chicago (USHL)
RW Conor Davis, North Dakota. Cedar Rapids (USHL)
C Daniel Walters, Cornell, Halifax (QMJHL)
F Matteo Danis, Brown, Princeton Vees (CHL)

Countdown to the 2026-27 Season

151 days (Oct. 2)

Hockey Quote of the Day

"The Hockey Gods have been in my corner many, many times. Tonight they were in the other corner."
Jon Cooper

We'll Leave You With This ...

Former Ohio State goaltender after Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning:

"People sometimes say that I get too emotional. But every game I play is like a Game 7."

Jakub Dobeš joins @sportsnetkyle after leading the Habs to the Second Round in the #StanleyCup Playoffs pic.twitter.com/E3R4XXnqxR
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) May 4, 2026

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