It’s 2026 NHL Draft Lottery Day; Why it Still Matters to the Flyers

Dan Hamilton-Imagn ImagesDan Hamilton-Imagn Images

It’s 2026 NHL Draft Lottery day, and this year, the Flyers will not be putting their faith in a ping pong ball. No, this year, for the first time since 2020, the Flyers will not be tuning in to see where they will be drafting. This year, they made the playoffs.

The Flyers’ draft position will be determined by where they finish in the playoffs. If they are eliminated in the second round, the Flyers’ draft position will be determined by the points of the 12 teams eliminated in the first two rounds. If they are to be eliminated in the second round, the Flyers will be picking 21st overall.

In the event that they make it to the conference finals but lose, they’d pick 28th overall. If they make it all the way to the Stanley Cup, they’d pick 30th if they lose or 31st if they win it all.

The Ottawa Senators are locked into the 32nd overall pick after having their first-round pick returned, but are still being punished for not disclosing a no-trade list to the Vegas Golden Knights before trading Evgenii Dadonov. Vegas attempted to trade Dadonov to Anaheim, but it was botched because the Ducks were on Dadonov’s no-trade list.

So, that’s how the Flyers’ draft position will be determined this year. However, they’ll still want to keep an eye on the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery.

Why the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery still is important for the Flyers

At the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, Flyers’ GM Danny Briere traded forward Scott Laughton to the for a Top-10 protected 2027 1st Round Pick and prospect .