Toronto Maple Leafs win the lottery for the No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft

Toronto had the fifth-highest odds of winning it at 8.5%. Vancouver had the highest at 18.5%, has never had the first pick and dropped to third. Chayka called moving up a fortuitous bounce.

“Long road ahead, of course: Lots of work to do still, but when you get a first overall pick, it’s a monumental type of opportunity,” Chayka said. “You don’t know what’s going to occur in these types of situations, but you do know you need some luck and it happened. I don’t think it changes the vision or the strategy, but certainly when these things happen it can change course and timelines, etc. But it’s not something that we’re going to change how we think about things.”

The Leafs get to keep the pick this year but lose their first-rounder in 2027 and '28 to Philadelphia and Boston. There is some uncertainty as to which order for the Flyers and Bruins, and deputy commissioner Bill Daly called it a complicated situation that would need to be worked out.

The San Jose Sharks won the lottery for the second pick. With yet another top-five pick, GM Mike Grier and his staff can augment a young group already led by Macklin Celebrini and including Will Smith and Michael Misa.

“There’s lots of options there,” Grier said. “There’s centers, there’s ‘D,’ there’s wingers, so to have the opportunity to add another very talented player to our young core is very exciting.”

Chicago has the No. 4 pick and the New York Rangers No. 5.

“We're going to get a great player,” Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson said. “It's all about accumulating talent.”

This was the second live draft conducted at the NHL Network studio, after the draw in previous years was conducted in a conference room and those inside were sequestered until the results aired on television. Commissioner Gary Bettman credited president of content and events Steve Mayer for the change.

“He goes, ‘This is an exciting moment,’ when we would do it in the room before Bill would do the reveal,” Bettman said. "He said, ‘Let’s do it live.’ And I gave him 10 reasons that we should be concerned, including, what if the machine breaks. And he said, ‘No, no we’re going to be fine.’ He’s the one who figured out how to make it an interesting and compelling show.”

After the first three numbers were drawn, the Canucks had a 27.3% chance of winning and the Rangers 18.2%, while the Leafs were among six teams with 9.1%. When the No. 12 ball popped out, completing the 7-2-11-12 sequence, Toronto won, changing the entire mood around the Original Six organization that has not hoisted the Stanley Cup since 1967.

“Just really excited for the organization, for the fan base," Chayka said. "I think it's a meaningful step and just elated.”