NHL reveals draft lottery details
The NHL has announced full details on the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, here's all to know.
NHL reveals draft lottery details originally appeared on The Sporting News . Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . The National Hockey League has announced that the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery will officially be held on May 5.
The draft lottery will also take place at the NHL Network’s Secaucus, N. J. , studio, with the event broadcast live on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVA Sports at a time to be later announced.
The announcement surrounding the further details was made by the league on the early afternoon of April 18. For the uninformed reader, the NHL Draft Lottery will fittingly feature a live drawing of the lottery balls which will determine the selection order for the first 16 picks in the first round of the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft. Those participating will be all teams that did not qualify for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs (or the teams that have acquired the first-round drafting positions of those non-playoff teams).
The lottery is to be conducted in two phases, the first to determine the first overall pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft and the second to determine the second overall pick. Though, there is a limit on the total number of selections (10) a team participating in the Draft Lottery can “move up” in the event it wins one of the Lottery Draws. In a corresponding move, only the top 11 seeds will be eligible to receive the first overall Draft pick.