Favorites
Customise ESPN
ESPN Apps
ESPN Sites
Every NHL team's biggest prospect pipeline need -- and the players who could fill them
Each club is in a different place in its contention cycle, but these are the positions each should target in the draft.
Sarah Stier/Getty Images
2026 draft order: Picks 1-224 including all 32 teams
Here's a list of the top picks in the NHL draft, which will take place in Buffalo on June 26 and 27.
TOP HEADLINES
HOORAY FOR THE HURRICANES
The jock, the nerd and the Stanley Cup championship
Illustration by ESPN
How Stanley Cup win for Hurricanes is special for Rod Brind'Amour
1:38
BETS FOR NEXT SEASON
Golden Knights
NHL
Wilbon baffled by Golden Knights promoting AHL coach Ryan Craig
1:58
Top Headlines
- Knights promote Craig from AHL to be new coach
- Leafs hire Hiller as HC amid front-office overhaul
- Sabres send Kesselring to Sharks, land 20th pick
- Predators hire Langenbrunner as GM assistant
- Goldeneyes draft Harvey first in PWHL entry draft
- NHL says '26 playoffs most-watched on record
- 📈 Way-too-early 2026-27 NHL Power Rankings
Customise ESPN
Trending Now
- Ben Ludeman/NHLI via Getty Images
NHL trade candidate rankings: Which players could be on the move?
Which difference-makers could be swapping franchises this summer?
- Brian Babineau/NHLI via Getty Images
NHL teams' offseason keys, including free agency, draft needs
We explore the next moves each team should make this summer and forecast expectations for 2026-27.
- Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images
NHL free agency rankings: Tiers of players available on July 1
From All-Stars and award winners down to diamonds in the rough, here's who will be available this summer.
- Josh Lavallee/NHLI via Getty Images
Why goalie tandems have taken over the NHL -- even in the playoffs
A variety of factors has resulted in the workhorse goaltender becoming an endangered species.
