What It Was Like To Attend The Maple Leafs' Victory At The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery
The NHL's new live lottery format delivered its most dramatic moment yet, and the Toronto Maple Leafs — against all odds — were the ones left standing.
SECAUCUS, N. J. — I really didn't know what to expect.
With so much riding on the Toronto Maple Leafs and their 2026 first-round draft pick , The Hockey News sought permission for me to attend the NHL draft lottery. And I have to say, the NHL is onto something. You'd be forgiven if you didn't know the process going in.
Although the NHL has used a lottery of some kind for a couple of decades, the format has evolved over the years. Last year, the league decided to make a dramatic change. Rather than holding the lottery in a pre-recorded setting with a dramatic reveal to follow, they decided to conduct the draw live.
As each table tennis ball was drawn, Studio 21 at NHL Network displayed the live odds changing in real time. "The sequestered one (the old format), you're tense," said Steve Mayer, the NHL's president of content & events. "Just being in the room, there's that moment where you're waiting for that last ball — and just knowing and feeling that, that felt like it needed to be live.