Maple Leafs win Draft Lottery

[mikecole141]

Full article at NHL.com Maple Leafs win Draft Lottery, will have choice of McKenna or Stenberg at No. 1 | NHL.com

Maple Leafs win Draft Lottery, will have choice of McKenna or Stenberg at No. 1

Forwards from Penn State, Frolunda among options

SECAUCUS, N.J. -- The Toronto Maple Leafs have the No. 1 pick in the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft after winning the NHL Draft Lottery on Tuesday.

The San Jose Sharks won the No. 2 pick, and the Vancouver Canucks have the No. 3 selection.

The Maple Leafs, who at 8.5 percent had the fifth-best chance of winning the lottery, would pick No. 1 for the third time. They chose forward Auston Matthews No. 1 in the 2016 NHL Draft and forward Wendel Clark in the 1985 NHL Draft.

The Maple Leafs landed the No. 1 pick two days after hiring Mats Sundin as senior executive adviser, hockey operations, and John Chayka as general manager.

“I’m extremely happy for the Toronto Maple Leafs fan base, of course,” Sundin, a Hockey Hall of Fame forward who played 13 seasons for Toronto, told ESPN. “It’s great to get the first pick. Great night, great lottery.”

Maybe, just maybe the dumpster fire is being put out now.

[mikecole141]

Maple Leafs win NHL Draft Lottery, hold No. 1 pick and opportunity to add top prospect McKenna

Maple Leafs win NHL Draft Lottery, hold No. 1 pick and opportunity to add top prospect McKenna

ByThe Canadian Press Published: May 05, 2026 at 7:19PM EDT

The Toronto Maple Leafs have won the lottery for the first pick in next month’s NHL draft.

The victory comes at a critical time for Toronto in the aftermath of hiring John Chayka as general manager and bringing back franchise legend Mats Sundin to serve as a hockey operations adviser.

Here’s how the remainder of the lottery played out:

1 - Toronto Maple Leafs
2 - San Jose Sharks
3 - Vancouver Canucks
4 - Chicago Blackhawks
5- New York Rangers
6 - Calgary Flames
7 - Seattle Kraken
8 - Winnipeg Jets
9 - Florida Panthers
10 - Nashville Predators
11 - St. Louis Blues
12 - New Jersey Devils
13 - New York Islanders
14 - Columbus Blue Jackets

[cjb]

Rigged

[creasecollector]

We didn't deserve it, but I'm happy.

Go Leafs Go

[pwaldo]

Rigged

More rigged the NBA lottery or the NHL one?

[Cunnuc]

Didn't the New York Islanders have a very slim chance? And then Dallas Mavericks with an even less chance of like 1.1% after the stupid Luka trade. And then Maple Leafs this year with 8.8%. Wonder what's coming up next in NBA...

[pwaldo]

Didn't the New York Islanders have a very slim chance? And then Dallas Mavericks with an even less chance of like 1.1% after the stupid Luka trade. And then Maple Leafs this year with 8.8%. Wonder what's coming up next in NBA...

The NBA already had theirs and the Washington Wizards won the #1 pick

And yes that trade was the biggest red flag with the whole ordeal. You had the most sought after young NBA player and instead of opening up the bidding to get a bunch of draft picks and good players you instead just go to the most marketable team in the NBA that desperately need somebody to pair with Lebron James and you trade Luka for essentially a big guy who always gets hurt with a bad contract that they move for peanuts almost a year later. One of the most suspicious sports trades of all time and probably the sketchiest one in my time.

[mikecole141]

The NBA already had theirs and the Washington Wizards won the #1 pick

And yes that trade was the biggest red flag with the whole ordeal. You had the most sought after young NBA player and instead of opening up the bidding to get a bunch of draft picks and good players you instead just go to the most marketable team in the NBA that desperately need somebody to pair with Lebron James and you trade Luka for essentially a big guy who always gets hurt with a bad contract that they move for peanuts almost a year later. One of the most suspicious sports trades of all time and probably the sketchiest one in my time.

This being the hockey page, I won't delve too much into the NBA, but you are right. I agree that whole thing with Luka Dončić smells to high heaven. I am thinking when the NBA expands the next franchise is Vegas bound and shenanigans will have Miriam Adelson end up with the ownership of the expansion franchise, and a new group in charge in Dallas with a high possibility of Lebron as head of an ownership group of the Mavs.

League gets Luka into LA
Adelson gets the Vegas expansion
Lebron gets the Mavs, probably with Cuban and others.

[pwaldo]

This being the hockey page, I won't delve too much into the NBA, but you are right. I agree that whole thing with Luka Dončić smells to high heaven. I am thinking when the NBA expands the next franchise is Vegas bound and shenanigans will have Miriam Adelson end up with the ownership of the expansion franchise, and a new group in charge in Dallas with a high possibility of Lebron as head of an ownership group of the Mavs.

League gets Luka into LA
Adelson gets the Vegas expansion
Lebron gets the Mavs, probably with Cuban and others.

Could happen but isn't Adelson like 100?

[creasecollector]

Another factor is the big boost to the hobby it will also give to the hobby with 2026-27 products. The McKenna hype would have been crazy, but him wearing a Leafs jersey would kick things up to a different level of crazy.

Good thing I don't buy boxes, lol.