We saw all the hype surrounding the draft lottery this year (aka, the Auston Matthews sweepstakes), but the final order for the 2016 NHL Entry Draft wasn’t set until after the conclusion of the Stanley Cup Final. There’s been some movement of picks already, so what does the draft order look like now?
Here’s a quick primer on how the draft works: it consists of seven rounds with 30 picks each, and the order of picks is determined by a few simple rules.
- Picks 1-14 are the teams that did not qualify for the playoffs, in reverse standings order.
- Picks 15-22 are the teams that qualified for the playoffs but did not win their division nor advance to their Conference Final, in reverse standings order.
- Picks 23-26 are the Division winners, in reverse standings order. All four of these picks go to the Division winners this year because none of them advanced to their respective Conference Finals.
- Picks 27 and 28 are the Conference Final losing teams, in reverse standings order.
- Picks 29 and 30 are the Stanley Cup losing and winning teams, respectively./
For the first round only, the top three picks were determined by the Draft Lottery held on April 30.
This is how the first round shakes out:
| Pick | Team |
| 1 | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 2 | Winnipeg Jets |
| 3 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 4 | Edmonton Oilers |
| 5 | Vancouver Canucks |
| 6 | Calgary Flames |
| 7 | Arizona Coyotes |
| 8 | Buffalo Sabres |
| 9 | Montreal Canadiens |
| 10 | Colorado Avalanche |
| 11 | New Jersey Devils |
| 12 | Ottawa Senators |
| 13 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 14 | Boston Bruins |
| 15 | Minnesota Wild |
| 16 | Detroit Red Wings |
| 17 | Nashville Predators |
| 18 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 19 | New York Islanders |
| 20 | Arizona Coyotes (from NYR) |
| 21 | Carolina Hurricanes (from LAK) |
| 22 | Winnipeg Jets (from CHI) |
| 23 | Florida Panthers |
| 24 | Anaheim Ducks |
| 25 | Dallas Stars |
| 26 | Washington Capitals |
| 27 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 28 | St. Louis Blues |
| 29 | Boston Bruins (from SJS) |
| 30 | Anaheim Ducks (from PIT) |
The remaining six rounds are as follows:
| Round 2 | Team | Round 3 | Team |
| 31 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 62 | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 32 | Edmonton Oilers | 63 | Edmonton Oilers |
| 33 | Florida Panthers (from VAN) | 64 | Vancouver Canucks |
| 34 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 65 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 35 | Calgary Flames | 66 | Calgary Flames |
| 36 | Winnipeg Jets | 67 | Carolina Hurricanes (from WPG) |
| 37 | Arizona Coyotes | 68 | Arizona Coyotes |
| 38 | Buffalo Sabres | 69 | Buffalo Sabres |
| 39 | Montreal Canadiens | 70 | Montreal Canadiens |
| 40 | Colorado Avalanche | 71 | Colorado Avalanche |
| 41 | New Jersey Devils | 72 | Toronto Maple Leafs (from NJD) |
| 42 | Ottawa Senators | 73 | New Jersey Devils (from OTT) |
| 43 | Carolina Hurricanes | 74 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 44 | Tampa Bay Lightning (from BOS) | 75 | Carolina Hurricanes (from BOS) |
| 45 | Montreal Canadiens (from MIN) | 76 | Nashville Predators (from MIN) |
| 46 | Detroit Red Wings | 77 | New Jersey Devils (from DET) |
| 47 | Nashville Predators | 78 | Nashville Predators |
| 48 | Philadelphia Flyers | 79 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 49 | Boston Bruins (from NYI) | 80 | Ottawa Senators (from NYI) |
| 50 | Chicago Blackhawks (from NYR) | 81 | New York Rangers |
| 51 | Los Angeles Kings | 82 | Philadelphia Flyers (from LAK) |
| 52 | Philadelphia Flyers (from CHI) | 83 | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 53 | Arizona Coyotes (compensatory pick) | 84 | Edmonton Oilers (from FLA) |
| 54 | Calgary Flames (from FLA) | 85 | Anaheim Ducks |
| 55 | Pittsburgh Penguins (from ANA) | 86 | Buffalo Sabres (from DAL) |
| 56 | Calgary Flames (from DAL) | 87 | St. Louis Blues (from WSH) |
| 57 | Toronto Maple Leafs (from WSH) | 88 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 58 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 89 | Buffalo Sabres (from STL) |
| 59 | St. Louis Blues | 90 | Dallas Stars (from SJS) |
| 60 | San Jose Sharks | 91 | Edmonton Oilers (from PIT) |
| 61 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Round 4 | Team | Round 5 | Team |
| 92 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 122 | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 93 | Anaheim Ducks (from EDM) | 123 | Edmonton Oilers |
| 94 | Florida Panthers (from VAN) | 124 | Montreal Canadiens (from VAN) |
| 95 | Chicago Blackhawks (from CBJ) | 125 | St. Louis Blues (from CBJ) |
| 96 | Calgary Flames | 126 | Calgary Flames |
| 97 | Winnipeg Jets | 127 | Winnipeg Jets |
| 98 | New York Rangers (from ARI) | 128 | Dallas Stars (from ARI) |
| 99 | Buffalo Sabres | 129 | Buffalo Sabres |
| 100 | Montreal Canadiens | 130 | Buffalo Sabres (from MTL) |
| 101 | Toronto Maple Leafs (from COL) | 131 | Colorado Avalanche |
| 102 | New Jersey Devils | 132 | New Jersey Devils |
| 103 | Ottawa Senators | 133 | Ottawa Senators |
| 104 | Carolina Hurricanes | 134 | Carolina Hurricanes |
| 105 | New Jersey Devils (from BOS) | 135 | Boston Bruins |
| 106 | Minnesota Wild | 136 | Boston Bruins (from MIN) |
| 107 | Detroit Red Wings | 137 | Detroit Red Wings |
| 108 | Nashville Predators | 138 | Nashville Predators |
| 109 | Philadelphia Flyers | 139 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 110 | New York Islanders | 140 | Vancouver Canucks (from NYI) |
| 111 | San Jose Sharks (from NYR) | 141 | New York Rangers |
| 112 | Los Angeles Kings | 142 | Los Angeles Kings |
| 113 | Chicago Blackhawks | 143 | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 114 | Florida Panthers | 144 | Chicago Blackhawks (from FLA) |
| 115 | Anaheim Ducks | 145 | Washington Capitals (from ANA) |
| 116 | Dallas Stars | 146 | Dallas Stars |
| 117 | Washington Capitals | 147 | Washington Capitals |
| 118 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 148 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 119 | St. Louis Blues | 149 | Edmonton Oilers (from STL) |
| 120 | Arizona Coyotes (from SJS) | 150 | San Jose Sharks |
| 121 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 151 | Pittsburgh Penguins |
| Round 6 | Team | Round 7 | Team |
| 152 | Toronto Maple Leafs | 182 | Toronto Maple Leafs |
| 153 | Edmonton Oilers | 183 | Edmonton Oilers |
| 154 | Vancouver Canucks/td> | 184 | Vancouver Canucks |
| 155 | Columbus Blue Jackets | 185 | Columbus Blue Jackets |
| 156 | Calgary Flames | 186 | Calgary Flames |
| 157 | Winnipeg Jets | 187 | Winnipeg Jets |
| 158 | Arizona Coyotes | 188 | Arizona Coyotess |
| 159 | Buffalo Sabres | 189 | Buffalo Sabres |
| 160 | Montreal Canadiens | 190 | Buffalo Sabres (from MTL) |
| 161 | Colorado Avalanche | 191 | Colorado Avalanche |
| 162 | New Jersey Devils | 192 | New Jersey Devils |
| 163 | Ottawa Senators | 193 | New York Islanders (from OTT) |
| 164 | Carolina Hurricanes | 194 | Vancouver Canucks (from CAR) |
| 165 | Boston Bruins | 195 | Boston Bruins |
| 166 | Calgary Flames (from MIN) | 196 | Minnesota Wild |
| 167 | Detroit Red Wings | 197 | Detroit Red Wings |
| 168 | Nashville Predators | 198 | Nashville Predators |
| 169 | Philadelphia Flyers | 199 | Philadelphia Flyers |
| 170 | New York Islanders | 200 | New York Islanders |
| 171 | New York Rangers | 201 | New York Rangers |
| 172 | Philadelphia Flyers (from LAK) | 202 | Los Angeles Kings |
| 173 | Chicago Blackhawks | 203 | Chicago Blackhawks |
| 174 | New York Rangers (from FLA) | 204 | Minnesota Wild (from FLA) |
| 175 | Florida Panthers (from ANA) | 205 | Anaheim Ducks |
| 176 | Dallas Stars | 206 | Tampa Bay Lightning (from DAL) |
| 177 | Washington Capitals | 207 | Washington Capitals |
| 178 | Tampa Bay Lightning | 208 | Tampa Bay Lightning |
| 179 | Toronto Maple Leafs (from STL) | 209 | St. Louis Blues |
| 180 | San Jose Sharks | 210 | San Jose Sharks |
| 181 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 211 | St. Louis Blues (from PIT) |
The Red Wings will have six picks in this draft: 16th, 46th, 107th, 137th, 167th, and 197th overall. Their third round pick is going to New Jersey as part of the Marek Zidlicky trade in 2015.
The teams with the most selections this year are Buffalo and Toronto with 11 draft picks each. That’s nearly three times as many as the two teams with the least – Los Angeles and Minnesota both have 4 picks, with the Kings not even having a first rounder in there.
A lot can change on the draft floor, so make sure to follow the draft coverage for more breaking news.
