There was no drama at the top of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft at the KeyBank Center in Buffalo as the Toronto Maple Leafs selected Penn State foward Gavin McKenna with the first overall pick with top European prospect Ivar Stenberg going to the San Jose Sharks in the second slot.
After trading two first-rounders to Ottawa for Brady Tkachuk, the Florida Panthers took the night off as its first-round pick (9th overall) was used by the San Jose, who took defenseman Keaton Verhoeff from the University of North Dakota, and the 25th overall pick, which Florida briefly held by dealing Mackie Samoskevich to Seattle, was made by the Senators, who selected Swedish forward Jonas Lagerberg Hoen.
Here’s how the trade-filled first round went down:
- Gavin McKenna (Toronto Maple Leafs)
- Ivar Stenberg (San Jose Sharks)
- Caleb Malhotra (Vancouver Canucks)
- Daxon Rudolph (Buffalo Sabres)
- Alberts Smits (New York Rangers)
- Carson Carels (Calgary Flames)
- Chase Reid (Seattle Kraken)
- Viggo Bjorck (Winnipeg Jets)
- Keaton Verhoeff (San Jose Sharks)
- Wyatt Cullen (Nashville Predators)
- Tynan Lawrence (St. Louis Blues)
- Alexander Command (New Jersey Devils)
- Malte Gustafsson (New York Islanders)
- Oscar Hemming (Columbus Blue Jackets)
- Nikita Klepov (Anaheim Ducks)
- Maddox Dagenais (St. Louis Blues)
- Ethan Belchetz (Utah Mammoth)
- Oliver Suvanto (Washington Captials)
- Elton Hermansson (Los Angeles Kings)
- Ilia Morozov (Buffalo Sabres)
- Ryan Lin (San Jose Sharks)
- Liam Ruck (Pittsburgh Penguins)
- JP Hurlbert (Detroit Red Wings)
- Adam Novotny (Vancouver Canucks)
- Jonas Lagerberg Hoen (Ottawa Senators)
- Gleb Pugachyov (Montreal Canadiens)
- Maksim Sokolovskii (Philadelphia Flyers)
- Marcus Nordmark (Anaheim Ducks)
- Juho Piiparinen (Vegas Golden Knights)
- Jack Hextall (Calgary Flames)
- Tommy Bleyl (Nashville Predators)
- Jaxon Cover (Ottawa Senators)
General manager Bill Zito and crew will get down to brass tacks today as the Cats are armed with a total of six second-day picks.
After opening with its own pick (40th overall), the Panthers will make their next selection (48th overall) rather quickly in the second round, using the pick they received from the Washington Capitals for Justin Sourdif.
The Cats won’t step to podium again until early in the fourth round when they make the 98th overall pick, which they got from the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the Seth Jones/Spencer Knight trade.
Florida next two selections will come in the sixth round (168th overall and 181st overall). The first pick is their own while the second pick was originally Philadelphia’s and acquired in Thursday’s trade for Garnet Hathaway.
The Panthers will close out the draft by making a seventh-round pick (217th overall), thanks to the trade that sent defenseman Jeff Petry to the Minnesota Wild on March 5.
NHL Draft Day 2
- Coverage starts at 11 a.m. on NHL Network
Florida’s picks
- Simas Ignatavicius F (40th overall)
- Ryder Cali F (48th overall)
- Jonas Kemps D (98th overall)
- Vilho Vanhatalo F (168th overall)
- Cole Zurawski F (181st overall)
- Louis-Antoine Denault G (217th overall)