4 Teams That Should Deal Their 1st-Round Pick at 2026 NHL Trade Deadline Amid Rumors

The 2026 NHL trade deadline is less than two months away, and significant moves are already being made. When it comes to assets that get moved around this time of year, draft picks are popular currency. Especially first-round draft picks.

During the 2024-25 season, there were 12 first-round picks (over multiple years) exchanged between the end of January and the trade deadline. Some of those picks were conditional, some were for future seasons, and one first-round pick (the 2025 New York Rangers pick) was traded by two different teams (from New York to the Vancouver Canucks, then to the Pittsburgh Penguins).

Already this season, we have seen two teams deal first-round picks, with the Minnesota Wild trading their 2026 pick to the Vancouver Canucks as part of the Quinn Hughes trade, and the Vegas Golden Knights trading a 2027 first-round pick to the Calgary Flames for defenseman Rasmus Andersson.

They will not be the only first-round picks to change hands over the next few weeks.

So let's take a look at a handful of teams that should be willing to dangle their first-round pick as trade bait this season.

Carolina Hurricanes

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Technically speaking, the Hurricanes already traded away their own 2026 first-round pick when they sent it to the New York Rangers as part of the K'Andre Miller move before the season began.

However, they still have a first-round pick in 2026, one in 2027, and two in 2028. Their surplus of first-round picks comes from the Mikko Rantanen trade with the Dallas Stars at last year's deadline, and they should not be afraid to dip into that collection of picks.

Carolina is one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference (again), has serious Stanley Cup expectations (again), and has more than $7 million in salary-cap space to work with before the deadline.

As good as the Hurricanes are, they should not be content with standing pat at the deadline, especially when so many of their recent playoff exits have been because of a lack of goal-scoring and impact players against the top competition in the league.

If they can flip one of those first-round picks, and especially their 2026 pick, for a potential impact player (maybe going back to the New York Rangers and getting Artemi Panarin?), they should be more than willing to do it.

That Dallas pick is likely to be at the end of the first round, and for a contending team like Carolina, that pick probably has more value as a trade chip right now than it does as a draft pick asset. Go for the Stanley Cup. Banners hang forever.

Detroit Red Wings

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The Detroit Red Wings look like a playoff team for the first time in nearly a decade, and there is no reason they should not be looking to make aggressive buys before the trade deadline.

They not only have salary cap space to spend, but also roster needs to really help solidify themselves as a contender. It is a good team, but it is very top-heavy. They could use another top-four defenseman. They could use more scoring depth.

They have their full allotment of first-round draft picks in the coming seasons and should be safely out of this year's draft lottery. It is time to take this rebuild to another level and start acting like a playoff team. Be bold. Get some help. The team needs it, and the players on the roster deserve it.

Montreal Canadiens

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The Montreal Canadiens were ahead of expectations a year ago and made sure to keep adding talent this offseason so there would be no regression. They already showed they are willing to part with first-round picks, trading two of them to get defenseman Noah Dobson away from the New York Islanders over the summer.

They should not be afraid to deal their 2026 first-round pick, either.

Montreal should like its chances of making the playoffs. They have a great young core and successfully added to it over the summer. Now the focus should be on winning in the playoffs. They could still use a little additional help in doing that, especially in an Atlantic Division bracket that would force them to potentially go through Tampa Bay and Detroit.

New York Islanders

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The arrival of No. 1 overall pick Matthew Schaefer has helped transform everything about the New York Islanders' short-term and long-term outlook.

He has jumped right into the NHL and played like the Calder Trophy front-runner from the start of his time with the Isles.

The 18-year-old's presence is a big part of why New York is a potential playoff team.

It could also be a buyer, perhaps an aggressive one at the deadline, should the opportunity present itself.

While the Islanders are not quite a lock to make the playoffs, that should give them some hesitation when it comes to trading their own first-round pick.

The pick they should be looking to trade is the other first-round pick they have, which belongs to the Colorado Avalanche. That is almost certainly going to be a back-half-of-the-first-round pick, and could have some solid trade value.

They should not look to deal it for a pending free agent or rental, but if a player with term remaining on their contract is available, especially at forward, that could help them both now and in the future, they should be willing to deal it.

It might be one of their best trade assets they have to work with over the next few weeks.