Toronto Maple Leafs win 1st pick in 2026 NHL draft lottery

The Toronto Maple Leafs received a wonderful gift on Tuesday.

The Leafs won the NHL’s Draft Lottery, giving them the first-overall pick June 26 in Buffalo.

Toronto had the fifth-best odds to win, but also could have lost its first-round pick had it fallen out of the top five. In that case, the pick would have gone to the Boston Bruins as part of the Brandon Carlo deal at last year’s trade deadline.

The huge news comes one day after the Leafs unveiled John Chayka as their new GM and Mats Sundin as senior executive adviser of hockey operations.

“Just really excited for the organization, for the fanbase. I think it’s a meaningful step. Elated,” Chayka said in a media Zoom conference after the lottery.

“You need some luck and we got it tonight. Long road ahead, of course, lots of work to do still. But when you get a first-overall pick, it’s a monumental type of opportunity.”

Penn State winger Gavin McKenna has been the projected top pick in most recent mock drafts. He’s been in a season-long battle with Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg.

The San Jose Sharks won the second-overall pick after winning the second lottery.

The full draft order for the first round is as follows:

1. Toronto Maple Leafs
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Vancouver Canucks
4. Chicago Blackhawks
5. New York Rangers
6. Calgary Flames
7. Seattle Kraken
8. Winnipeg Jets
9. Florida Panthers 
10. Nashville Predators
11. St. Louis Blues
12. New Jersey Devils
13. New York Islanders
14. Columbus Blue Jackets
15. St. Louis Blues (via Detroit Red Wings
16. Washington Capitals

McKenna, from Whitehorse, had 15 goals and 36 assists in 35 games in his freshman season at Penn State. He was CHL player of the year the previous season, leading the Medicine Hat Tigers to the Memorial Cup final.

McKenna has played for Canada’s world junior team the past two years.

It marks the third time Toronto will have the first-overall pick in the draft.

In 1985, the Leafs took Wendel Clark and in 2016, Toronto grabbed current star Auston Matthews.

The Matthews-led 2016 draft also was in Buffalo.

“I don’t think it changes the vision or the strategy, but certainly when these things happen, it can change course and timelines, etcetera,” Chayka said.

“It’s a fortuitous bounce.”