Draft Lottery Sees Jets Slide to Eighth Overall Selection at Upcoming 2026 NHL Draft

The Winnipeg Jets have fallen to the eighth overall selection at the upcoming 2026 NHL Draft thanks to the results of Tuesday night's NHL Draft Lottery.

The stars didn't quite align for the Jets on Tuesday - or more accurately, the ping pong balls didn't exactly bounce the right way.

Photo by James Carey Lauder

In a process dictated by lawyers, mathematicians, NHL executives, general managers, and both the NHL commissioner and deputy commissioner, Tuesday's pre-draft festivities provided an outcome only a true storyteller could write.

With the Jets finishing the 2025-26 season with the seventh-best odds to land the No. 1 overall selection in this June's draft, it was the rival Toronto Maple Leafs who moved up from the fifth-best odds to land the rights to select the presumed No. 1 pick Gavin McKenna first overall in less than two months' time.

Following the Leafs' jump up the order from fifth, the San Jose Sharks ended up earning the right to select second overall - coming all the way from outside the Top-5, meaning those below pick No. 2 all moved down in the order - including Winnipeg.

The Jets will now have the luxury of selecting eighth overall - the highest ranked selection since the team took Patrik Laine at the No. 2 spot back in 2016. Both Nikolaj Ehlers and Jacob Trouba were selected at No. 9 overall, while current Jets forward Cole Perfetti was selected 10th overall.

The 2026 NHL Draft will go from Buffalo on June 26th and 27th.