The quest for the 2026 Stanley Cup begins Saturday, Aug. 18 with 16 teams taking part in eight first-round series.
For the other half of the NHL, teams will look forward to seeing where they will draft in June. The annual draft lottery is scheduled to be held after the first round of the playoffs and will determine the order of the non-playoff teams in the first round.
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The last-place Vancouver Canucks will have the best odds at 18.5% to win outright and 25.5% if a team in the 12 to 16 range wins and moves up the maximum 10 spots.
But last year, the New York Islanders won the lottery despite 3.5% odds and took Matthew Schaefer No. 1 overall. The Utah Mammoth won the second drawing and jumped to the fourth overall pick.
This year’s draft is deep with Penn State’s Gavin McKenna and Sweden’s Ivan Stenberg leading the way.
Here are the odds for the draft lottery, per Tankathon, based on their final finish in the 2025-26 standings:
NHL draft lottery odds
Teams in the 12 to the 16 range can’t win the No. 1 overall pick. They would move up 10 spots.
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1. Vancouver Canucks: 18.5% (25.5% overall)
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13. New York Islanders: 2.0%
Top North American skaters
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LW Gavin McKenna, Penn State
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D Reid Chase, Sault Ste. Marie
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D Carson Carels, Prince George
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D Keaton Verhoeff, North Dakota
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D Daxon Rudolph, Prince Albert
Top international skaters
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C Oliver Suvanto, Finland
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RW Elton Hermansson, Sweden
How does the draft lottery work?
There are two drawings, first for a chance at the top pick and then for a chance at the second pick. Winning teams can move up only 10 spots. The last-place team can draft no lower than third overall. Beginning with the 2022 lottery, a team cannot win more than twice in a five-year period. There are 14 ping-pong balls in the machine and each team is assigned a series of four numbers. The lower a team is in the standings, the more series of numbers it gets.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 2026 NHL draft lottery odds what teams have the best chance
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