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

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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 Toronto Maple Leafs for a Top-10 protected 2027 1st Round Pick and prospect Nikita Grebenkin.

At that same deadline, the Maple Leafs acquired defenseman Brandon Carlo from the Boston Bruins in exchange for the Leafs’ 2026 1st Round Pick, Top-5 protected, and prospect Fraser Minten.

Currently, the Maple Leafs have the 5th-best odds at the No. 1 overall pick in the draft, and the best odds at the 6th overall pick. If nobody behind them in the pre-lottery order jumps into the Top-5 and the Leafs land a top-5 pick, then they keep their draft pick.

If the Maple Leafs retain their 2026 pick, it creates an interesting scenario. PuckPedia does a great job explaining the very complicated language around the conditions. Essentially, if the Maple Leafs pick is protected in 2026, then their 2027 and 2028 1st Round Picks are unprotected, going to the Flyers and Bruins.

Here is where things get interesting.

In the event that the 2026 pick is protected, the Flyers would still get the 2027 pick if it falls outside of the top-10. Now, if the 2026 pick is protected, and the 2027 pick falls inside the top-10, then the Maple Leafs would have to choose who gets it, the Flyers or the Bruins.

So, with all of that said, the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery still very much matters to the Flyers.

Read More: 2026 NHL Draft Rankings 1.0: As of Now, Who is in the Flyers Range?

The post It’s 2026 NHL Draft Lottery Day; Why it Still Matters to the Flyers appeared first on Philly Hockey Now.

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