NHL DRAFT LOTTERY
The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will be held tonight (May 5) at 7p ET (ESPN). All three local teams will participate, but only the New York Rangers have a chance at securing the first overall draft pick — but they can’t drop outside of the Top 5.
# | TEAM | ODDS | #1 PICK |
1 | Vancouver Canucks | 18.5% | 25.5% |
2 | Chicago Blackhawks | 13.5% | 13.5% |
3 | New York Rangers | 11.5% | 11.5% |
4 | Calgary Flames | 9.5% | 9.5% |
5 | Toronto Maple Leafs* | 8.5% | 8.5% |
6 | Seattle Kraken | 7.5% | 7.5% |
7 | Winnipeg Jets | 6.5% | 6.5% |
8 | Florida Panthers | 6.0% | 6.0% |
9 | San Jose Sharks | 5.0% | 5.0% |
10 | Nashville Predators | 3.5% | 3.5% |
11 | St. Louis Blues | 3.0% | 3.0% |
12 | New Jersey Devils | 2.5% | 0.0% |
13 | New York Islanders | 2.0% | 0.0% |
14 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 1.5% | 0.0% |
15 | St. Louis Blues | 0.5% | 0.0% |
16 | Washington Capitals | 0.5% | 0.0% |
*If Toronto stays in the Top 5 — they retain the pick. If they drop out, the pick conveys to the Boston Bruins as part of the Brandon Carlo trade.
SRNY TOP 5 PROSPECTS
A year ago, the lottery was being billed the “Gavin McKenna Sweepstakes”. While the 18-year-old Canadian is still the likely #1 pick, it’s not as clear cut as originally thought.
- LW Gavin McKenna — he’s an elite skate with great vision. In the past year he became the highest profile Canadian junior hockey player to take advantage of the new rules by playing in the NCAA — where he put up 51 points (15 goals, 36 assists) in 35 games during his freshmen year at Penn State. To add to his resume, he scored 14 points (4 goals, 10 assists) for Team USA in 7 games during the World Junior U20 Championships.The common knock against McKenna is that many say he is not very interested in the defensive end of the ice at this stage of his career. And unlike the two players he’s often been compared to — Connor Bedard and Macklin Celebrini — he doesn’t play center and is not considered an elite goal scorer. For Rangers fans, think Artemi Panarin.
- LW Ivar Stenberg — he has high-upside as a defensive forward with potentially elite playmaking ability. He played last season in the top men’s league in Sweden, scoring 33 points (11 goals, 22 assists) in 43 games for Henrik Lundqvist’s former team Frolunda HC. He added 10 points (4 goals, 6 assists) for Team Sweden in 7 games at the world juniors.
- C Caleb Malhotra — he’s a 200-foot center who plays with speed, bite and late blooming offensive ability. As a 17-year-old playing for the Brantford Bulldogs in the OHL he scored 84 regular season points (29 goals, 55 assists). However, he is currently on a heater in the playoffs with 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in just 15 games. Like his father — Manny Malhotra, selected #7 overall by the Rangers in the 1998 draft — he is considered to have outstanding leadership skills.
- D Chase Reid — in a draft that features seven defenseman vying for a Top 10 selection, the right-handed shot Reid stands out with his combination of size and offensive ability. Listed at 6’3”, 195, Reid put up 48 points (18 goals, 30 assists) for the Soo Greyhounds in the OHL. He added 4 points (2 goals, 2 assists) for Team USA at the world juniors.
- D Keaton Verhoeff — another right-handed shot, he stands even taller at 6’4”, 212. He participated in the NCAA’s Frozen Four Tournament last month for North Dakota where he tallied 20 points (6 goals, 14 assists) in 36 games during his freshmen season. He added 4 points (all assists) for Team Canada at the world juniors.
ALL THE RANGERS DRAFT PICKS
The Rangers will have 11 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, to be held on Friday, June 26 (round 1) and Saturday, June 27 (rounds 2-7) at KeyBank Center in Buffalo.
- Round 1 (#3 pending lottery)
- Round 1 (#27 from Carolina)
- Round 2 (#63 from Carolina)
- Round 3 (#67)
- Round 3 (#77 from the New York Islanders)
- Round 3 (#81 from Los Angeles)*
- Round 3 (#94 from Buffalo Sabres)
- Round 5 (#131)
- Round 6 (#162 from Chicago)
- Round 6 (#163)
- Round 7 (#193 from Vancouver)
*The Rangers had received two conditional draft picks from the Los Angeles Kings in the Artemi Panarin deal that were based on the Kings advancing in the playoffs. Since they were swept out in the first round, the final returns is RW Liam Greentree and pick #81 in this year’s draft.
QUACK-QUACK
I count myself as one of the many nostalgic Rangers fans who are keeping a close eye on the Anaheim Ducks during their playoff run — featuring the Blueshirts former captain and one of their most beloved all-time players.
Now, rather than rehashing my thoughts on GM Chris Drury’s decision to unload the two players on Ducks’ GM Pat Verbeek, I figured I’d share 8 facts. One for each playoff game the Ducks have played so far.
- The Ducks are one of 8 teams still competing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
- Jacob Trouba plays first-pair defensemen minutes alongside Jackson LaCombe.
- Trouba also plays on the team’s top penalty kill unit.
- Chris Kreider plays top 6 minutes for the Ducks, primarily on the top line alongside Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry.
- Kreider, who remains tied for second behind his buddy Mika Zibanejad on the all-time Rangers’ power-play goal list, is on the Ducks’ top power play unit.
- When Trouba was traded to the Ducks, the Rangers received D Urho Vaakanainen and a 2024 fourth-round pick that was returned to the Ducks in the Kreider trade.
- When Kreider was traded to the Ducks along with the aforementioned fourth-round draft pick, the Rangers received C Casey Terrance, and a 2025 third-round draft pick that turned into D Artyom Gonchar.
- The cumulative return for Trouba/Kreider was Vaakanainen, Terrance, and Gonchar.*
*Which by comparison makes the Panarin deal look like a steal.
ICYMI “4 Things Rangers: Closing Thoughts on the 2025-26 Season”