Biggest Takeaways From the First Night of the 2026 NHL Draft
If there was a word to describe the feeling headed into the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft, it was "intrigue," and by the end of the night, we had a lot of answers for the questions that swirled around the event going into it. We also had our share of surprises as well.
The trades that went down leading into the weekend, the rumors surrounding numerous players around the league, and a setting like the draft set the table for a lot of action. Fortunately for all of us, the talk wasn't just empty words, and some of it even created more drama to play out in the future.
Trades, picks, and scuttlebutt dominate the draft every year, and this year's event in Buffalo has already rewarded us with a lot to chew on. Here's what stuck out to us after the first round of the draft.
The Maple Leafs Have Their Next Star in Gavin McKenna
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When you have the top pick and get to take the consensus No. 1 player in the draft class, you're a winner even if you've been mired in losing. Gavin McKenna going to the Toronto Maple Leafs juices up the Leafs' offense in a big way. Putting McKenna on the wing with Auston Matthews potentially gives them the threat they lost when Mitch Marner went to Vegas a year ago.
McKenna's speed, skill and creativity with the puck made him a standout since he was 16 years old. Watching him at Penn State this season helped reaffirm what's made him a special player at his age. Now that he's off to Toronto to reinvigorate the Maple Leafs, his mettle will be tested by the bright lights and copious attention the franchise has heaped upon it.
Fortunately for McKenna, he'll have the most recent Maple Leafs player to be taken No. 1 as a mentor, alongside Matthews. Being able to lean on him for all the reasons young star players need is a huge bonus for Toronto. If they can bond, become a dynamic duo, and get the Leafs back to the playoffs, it'll make the miserable season they just suffered through worth it.
The Rangers Make the Biggest Trade Splash of the Night
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The New York Rangers have had trade speculation swirling around them, mostly because of rumored interest in Vincent Trocheck. Instead, the Rangers took things in a different direction and acquired a big-time scorer in Pavel Dorofeyev from the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Rangers traded two first-round picks (26th overall this year and a top-10 protected pick in 2028) and a third-round pick this year for Dorofeyev, a restricted free agent. Vegas was motivated to move Dorofeyev after back-to-back seasons with 35 and 37 goals and a hefty new contract on the way; they had no shot of getting under the cap.
New York came to the rescue, helping Vegas get more involved in the draft (they came into it with four picks) and making sure to lock up Dorofeyev to a reported seven-year, $77 million extension. After moving Artemi Panarin to Los Angeles last season, the Rangers reignited their attack with a new high-powered offensive threat from Russia to replace him.
Bruins Pay a Huge Premium on Peterka
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The Utah Mammoth's big play a year ago to add offense was to bring in JJ Peterka from Buffalo. While he was able to help lead them to the playoffs, his stay in the Rockies was a short one, and the Boston Bruins came calling with a hefty offer to acquire him.
The Bruins gave up the 23rd pick in the draft and a conditional first-round pick in 2028 for the speedy German winger who had 25 goals and 22 assists for Utah. Boston showed in their first-round loss to Buffalo that they needed speed and skill, and, coincidentally, it's a former Sabres player who will attempt to provide them.
Peterka will play for a fellow German, Marco Sturm, and having someone with that kind of connection can certainly help bridge the gap with a new team. Then again, getting to play with David Pastrňák will make a lot better.
That said, the price Boston paid as a team in need of help to build up their prospect base was a high one. What doesn't help is that Utah used the pick they got in the deal to acquire Sebastian Cossa from Detroit later in the evening, thus giving the Red Wings, a division rival, their pick.
Sharks Continue to Stockpile Young Talent
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San Jose came into the draft already looking like big winners after landing the No. 2 pick in the draft. They made life even better for themselves when they acquired the No. 9 pick from Ottawa for William Eklund ahead of the draft and swapped spots with Buffalo late in the first and added Michael Kesselring. Even though they were oh so close to making the postseason, they reaped the bounty of lottery luck and continued to stockpile outstanding young talent.
The Sharks took Swedish forward Ivar Stenberg with the second pick to potentially give Macklin Celebrini and Will Smith yet another star to join them up front. With the No. 9 pick, they took hulking defenseman Keaton Verhoeff to help strengthen their blue line. But they weren't done cooking as they traded up to 21 from 27 to select puck-moving defenseman Ryan Lin.
If there was a weakness among all the prospects the Sharks have, it was on defense, where Sam Dickinson was carrying the weight of expectations. Now with Verhoeff and Lin, they've massively upgraded the position. Adding Stenberg to the forward group, a player who could jump to the NHL immediately, San Jose got that much scarier for the years to come.
Putting the "Blue" in Blue Jackets
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You'll forgive us if we're not usually discussing what's going on with the Columbus Blue Jackets all that often, but after what was reported on Friday, they'd probably rather have the silence than be heard from at all.
There were already rumblings about Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Zach Werenski's lack of happiness, and those were exacerbated by rumors of teams calling about his availability. Those matters were made infinitely worse by news that the team was fielding calls for the blue liner.
The problem with taking calls is that the calls don't stop, and now they've got a mess on their hands.
As if it wasn't bad enough about Werenski, ESPN's Kevin Weekes reported that star forward Kirill Marchenko, whose contract is up after next season, also wants out.
The Blue Jackets have to be reeling from all this and it's made worse by the fact that GM Don Waddell found out about Marchenko's demand via Twitter.
The specter of having to deal with their best player, Werenski, is magnified by the prospect of potentially moving their most explosive scorer, Marchenko, into a gutshot to a franchise that's done its best over the year to improve. To see it unfold like this must be a blindside for the organization, and even though they'd be able to clean up in both trades, it can't be taken as anything other than a massive setback.
Young Players Find New Homes
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One of the stories we kept an eye on going into the offseason was whether we'd see a handful of young future stars find new homes for better opportunities. The Draft turned out to be just that moment for a few of them.
The Anaheim Ducks were busy on Friday, moving on from a pair of young players. Gritty forward Mason McTavish was sent to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the No. 15 pick, which they used to take forward Nikita Klepov, and the No. 29 pick, which they used to trade up to 28th with Vegas to select forward Marcus Nordmark.
McTavish had been heavily rumored to be on the move, and the Blues stepped up with an offer that was hard to pass up, with two picks in the first round. The Ducks also sent defenseman Olen Zellweger to the Buffalo Sabres for the 45th pick in the draft and forward prospect Anton Wahlberg earlier in the day as well.
Detroit came into the draft without a first-round pick, but ended the night with the 23rd pick after trading goalie prospect Sebastian Cossa to Utah. The Wings selected highly skilled forward JP Hurlbert, who's headed to the University of Michigan, with the pick. While everyone waits to see where Dylan Larkin may go, moving on from Cossa makes sense, especially with Michigan State goalie Trey Augustine on the way in the future.
Sabres Play It Straight Instead of Dealing Picks
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Even though the Toronto Maple Leafs had the No. 1 pick, the hosts of the draft, the Buffalo Sabres, made their splash this week to get to the front of the draft and become a bit of a wild card with what they would do.
The Sabres traded Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway to Chicago and landed the fourth overall pick in the draft in the deal. That came days after they traded Michael Kesselring and the 27th pick to San Jose for the 20th overall selection. With two picks in the top 20 and a team that just made a run to the second round of the playoffs and needs to address after moving Byram, as well as the sign-and-trade deal that sent Alex Tuch to Washington, the Sabres had a lot of ammunition to get aggressive with trades.
Instead, they held firm and surprised many by selecting defenseman Daxon Rudolph with the No. 4 pick and power forward Ilia Morozov with the 20th pick. Sabres GM Jarmo Kekäläinen said he didn't receive any significant offers for the fourth pick and decided to use it on a player they valued highly after first speaking with Rudolph on Friday morning.
Hey, maybe the Sabres really were a wild card all along.
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