North American journalist Corey Pronman has released a mock draft for the first 32 picks of the 2026 NHL Draft on The Athletic. The projections are based on where Pronman estimates players will be ranked on draft day. Currently, only the first 16 teams in the first round are locked in for selections. According to the forecast, the Toronto Maple Leafs will choose forward Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 overall pick.
The full mock draft order is as follows (team expected to pick in parentheses):
- 1. Gavin McKenna (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- 2. Chase Reid (San Jose Sharks)
- 3. Caleb Malhotra (Vancouver Canucks)
- 4. Ivar Stenberg (Chicago Blackhawks)
- 5. Carson Carels (New York Rangers)
- 6. Keaton Verhoeff (Calgary Flames)
- 7. Albert Schmitz (Seattle Kraken)
- 8. Malte Gustafsson (Winnipeg Jets)
- 9. Daxon Rudolph (Florida Panthers)
- 10. Wyatt Cullen (Nashville Predators)
- 11. Oscar Hemming (St. Louis Blues)
- 12. Viggo Björk (New Jersey Devils)
- 13. Tynan Lawrence (New York Islanders)
- 14. Ethan Belchetz (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- 15. Oliver Suvanto (St. Louis Blues)
- 16. Alexander Command (Washington Capitals)
- 17. Elton Hermansson (Los Angeles Kings)
- 18. JP Hurlbert (Washington Capitals)
- 19. Maddox Dagenais (Utah Mammoth)
- 20. Gleb Pugachyov (San Jose Sharks)
- 21. Casey Matrin (Philadelphia Flyers)
- 22. Ryan Lin (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- 23. Adam Golier (Boston Bruins)
- 24. Adam Novotny (Vancouver Canucks)
- 25. Liam Rak (Montreal Canadiens)
- 26. Ilya Morozov (Seattle Kraken)
- 27. Brooks Rogowski (New York Rangers)
- 28. Jack Hextall (Calgary Flames)
- 29. William Hokansson (Buffalo Sabres)
- 30. Nikita Klepov (Carolina Hurricanes)
- 31. Marcus Nordmark (St. Louis Blues)
- 32. Juho Piiparinen (Ottawa Senators)
The 64th NHL Draft will take place at Buffalo’s home arena on June 26–27.
