The Flyers are nearly on the clock for the first round of the 2026 NHL draft.
The draft starts Friday night and the Flyers will have four picks — one each in the first, second, fifth, and seventh rounds. Here’s everything you need to know before the draft begins.
What time does the NHL draft begin?
The 2026 NHL draft officially starts at 7 p.m., but the Flyers won’t be on the clock for a lottery pick. The first round of the draft will air live on ESPN. The second round begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the draft will end with the seventh round that same evening.
When do the Flyers pick?
After winning a playoff series overthe Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2026 postseason, the team’s first since 2019-20, the Flyers will pick at No. 21 overall during Friday’s first round.
The Flyers will also have three picks on Saturday: in the second round (53rd overall), fifth round (136th overall), and seventh round (213th overall). The fifth-rounder was obtained as part of the package in Thursday’s Garnet Hathaway trade, essentially replacing a sixth-rounder that was sent to the Florida Panthers in the deal.
Who are the top players?
The projected top two picks are Penn State winger Gavin McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery and the San Jose Sharks have the second overall pick. Other expected top picks include defensemen Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff, and center Caleb Malhotra.
McKenna finished with 36 assists (second-most in college hockey) and 51 points (tied for fourth-most) in 35 games.
“It was a good season, I think,” McKenna said at the NHL scouting combine. “In college, the guys are bigger and stronger and faster and stuff, and the game in itself, I think, is just a little different than junior. It’s more straightforward hockey.
“So found out early on that things [weren’t] just going to happen easy, and I think once I got to World Juniors, I kind of got my confidence back and kind of figured out the game a little bit more, and started working harder off the ice and on the ice and getting in the dirty areas a little bit more, and I think that’s why I started producing more.”
Who will the Flyers pick at No. 21?
Now that the Flyers aren’t up near the top of the draft, there are a lot more variables impacting who they might select.
In Flyers beat writer Jackie Spiegel’s latest mock draft, she had the Flyers selecting center Jack Hextall, a distant relative of former Flyers goalie and GM Ron Hextall. The younger Hextall scored 20 goals and had 38 assists for the Youngstown Phantoms of the United States Hockey League last season.
“His bread and butter is how well-rounded he is,” The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer. “The details off the puck, up and under sticks, retrievals, board battles, he’s got pro habits.
“If you talk to the guys in Youngstown, the first thing they say about him is that he’s a pro; this isn’t a junior hockey player, like a lot of these kids are. [He] does everything the right way, no selfishness to his game, and he doesn’t cheat for offense.”
Winger Nikita Klepov and defenseman Tommy Bleyl are other players to keep an eye on.
Recent Flyers first-round picks
- 2025: Porter Martone (No. 6)
- 2025: Jack Nesbitt (No. 12)
- 2024: Jett Luchanko (No. 13)
- 2023: Matvei Michkov (No. 7)
- 2023: Oliver Bonk (No. 22)
- 2022: Cutter Gauthier (No. 5)
- 2020: Tyson Foerster (No. 23)
- 2019: Cam York (No. 14)
- 2018: Joel Farabee (No. 14)
- 2018: Jay O’Brien (No. 19)
2026 first round NHL Draft order
- Toronto Maple Leafs
- San Jose Sharks
- Vancouver Canucks
- Buffalo Sabres
- New York Rangers
- Calgary Flames
- Seattle Kraken
- Winnipeg Jets
- San Jose Sharks
- Nashville Predators
- St. Louis Blues
- New Jersey Devils
- New York Islanders
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- St. Louis Blues
- St. Louis Blues
- Los Angeles Kings
- Washington Capitals
- Utah Mammoth
- Buffalo Sabres
- Flyers
- Pittsburgh Penguins
- Boston Bruins
- Vancouver Canucks
- Ottawa Senators
- New York Rangers
- San Jose Sharks
- Montreal Canadiens
- St. Louis Blues
- Calgary Flames
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Ottawa Senators
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