2016 NHL Entry Draft: Complete draft order; Maple Leafs own top pick
Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine are the consensus top two picks this year
By
Chris Peters
•
4 min read
The highly anticipated 2016 NHL Entry Draft is almost upon us. All 30 NHL teams and the world's best draft-eligible prospects will be descending on Buffalo, N.Y., and First Niagara Center on June 24 and 25.
The first round will take place Friday night starting at 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Network in the U.S., with Rounds 2 through 7 running the following day starting at 10 a.m. ET on NHL Network.
The NHL just announced the complete 2016 NHL Entry Draft order for all rounds upon the conclusion of the 2016 Stanley Cup Playoffs and accounting for the trades that have already been completed. The rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs, who own the No. 1 overall pick, lead all teams with 12 selections over the two days.
This year, the top prospects for 2016 are widely considered to be Auston Matthews, the American sensation who tore up the Swiss pro ranks last season before starring for Team USA at the Men's World Championship, and Finnish scoring machine Patrik Laine, who was the MVP of both the Finnish league playoffs and the Worlds. Beyond those two, however, there is a lot of first-round caliber talent and there are sure to be some late-round gems that take a few years to materialize.
So here's how things will be going down, for now. As we saw already on Tuesday with the trade between the Chicago Blackhawks and Carolina Hurricanes, draft picks could be moving pretty quickly ahead of the big day in Buffalo. We'll be updating these tables frequently to reflect those trades.
Updated June 20, 5:43 p.m. ET
The first round is going to feature some incredible talent at the top. This was a particularly good year to be a lottery team. In addition to Matthews and Laine, Jesse Puljujarvi, Pierre-Luc Dubois and Matthew Tkachuk all look like major talents. The next tier, which features defensemen Olli Juolevi, Mikhail Sergachyov and Jakob Chychrun, has plenty of players with star potential as well. Meanwhile, there are as many as 12 American-born players widely projected to be first round picks. Should all 12 go in the first round, it would be an all-time record for U.S. players.
Here's a look at the first-round order, which was determined by draft lottery and finish in the playoffs:
1. Toronto
2. Winnipeg
3. Columbus
4. Edmonton
5. Vancouver
6. Calgary
7. Arizona
8. Buffalo
9. Montreal
10. Colorado
11. New Jersey
12. Ottawa
13. Carolina
14. Boston
15. Minnesota
16. Detroit
17. Nashville
18. Philadelphia
19. NY Islanders
20. Arizona (from NYR)
21. Carolina (from LAK)
22. Winnipeg (from CHI)
23. Florida
24. Anaheim
25. Dallas
26. Washington
27. Tampa Bay
28. St. Louis
29. Boston (from SJS)
30. Anaheim (from TOR via PIT)
Here's a look at Rounds 2-4, where there is still plenty of value to be had. Recent second-round draft picks that have gone on to notable NHL careers include Brandon Saad, Justin Faulk, Ryan O'Reilly, Nikita Kucherov and Brian Dumoulin, just to name a few. Most NHL teams should be expected to hit on their first-rounders, but getting value in this mid-round selections can make a huge difference in an organization's long-term success.
Also of note, the Arizona Coyotes have a compensatory pick (53rd overall) for choosing not to sign Conner Bleakley, who was initially selected by the Colorado Avalanche in the first round in 2014. Arizona acquired Bleakley in the Mikkel Boedker trade, but decided the compensatory pick would be more valuable than signing the prospect. Bleakley will go back into the draft pool as a result.
| Second Round | Third Round | Fourth Round |
| 31. Toronto | 62. Toronto | 92. Toronto |
| 32. Edmonton | 63. Edmonton | 93. Anaheim (from EDM) |
| 33. Florida (from VAN) | 64. Vancouver | 94. Florida (from VAN) |
| 34. Columbus | 65. Columbus | 95. Chicago (from CBJ) |
| 35. Calgary | 66. Calgary | 96. Calgary |
| 36. Winnipeg | 67. Carolina (from WPG) | 97. Winnipeg |
| 37. Arizona | 68. Arizona | 98. NY Rangers (from ARI) |
| 38. Buffalo | 69. Buffalo | 99. Buffalo |
| 39. Montreal | 70. Montreal | 100. Montreal |
| 40. Colorado | 71. Colorado | 101. Toronto (from COL) |
| 41. New Jersey | 72. Toronto (from NJD via PIT) | 102. New Jersey |
| 42. Ottawa | 73. New Jersey (from OTT) | 103. Ottawa |
| 43. Carolina | 74. Carolina | 104. Carolina |
| 44. Tampa Bay (from BOS) | 75. Carolina (from BOS) | 105. New Jersey (from BOS) |
| 45. Montreal (from MIN via BUF) | 76. Nashville (from BUF via MIN) | 106. Minnesota |
| 46. Detroit | 77. New Jersey (DET) | 107. Detroit |
| 47. Nashville | 78. Nashville | 108. Nashville |
| 48. Philadelphia | 79. Philadelphia | 109. Philadelphia |
| 49. Boston (from NYI) | 80. Ottawa (from NYI) | 110. NY Islanders |
| 50. Chicago (from NYR via CAR) | 81. NY Rangers | 111. San Jose (from NYR) |
| 51. Los Angeles | 82. Philadelphia (from LAK) | 112. Los Angeles |
| 52. Philadelphia (from CHI) | 83. Chicago | 113. Chicago |
| 53. Arizona (compensatory) | 84. Edmonton (from FLA) | 114. Florida |
| 54. Calgary (from FLA) | 85. Anaheim | 115. Anaheim |
| 55. Pittsburgh (from ANA via VAN) | 86. Buffalo (from DAL) | 116. Dallas |
| 56. Calgary (from DAL) | 87. St. Louis (from WSH) | 117. Washington |
| 57. Toronto (from WSH) | 88. Tampa Bay | 118. Tampa Bay |
| 58. Tampa Bay | 89. Buffalo (from STL) | 119. St. Louis |
| 59. St. Louis | 90. Dallas (from SJS) | 120. Arizona (from SJS) |
| 60. San Jose | 91. Edmonton (from PIT) | 121. Pittsburgh |
| 61. Pittsburgh |
Lastly, here is how Rounds 5-7 will go. You never know what you might find at the latter stages at the draft, but the 2016 Stanley Cup Final showed that even guys who go in the seventh round can have a massive impact on their teams. Joe Pavelski and Justin Braun were each key players for the Sharks, while Patric Hornqvist, who scored a number of big goals for the champion Penguins, was the last player selected in his draft year in 2005.
| Fifth Round | Sixth Round | Seventh Round |
| 122. Toronto | 152. Toronto | 182. Toronto |
| 123. Edmonton | 153. Edmonton | 183. Edmonton |
| 124. Montreal (from VAN) | 154. Vancouver | 184. Vancouver |
| 125. St. Louis (from CBJ) | 155. Columbus | 185. Columbus |
| 126. Calgary | 156. Calgary | 186. Calgary |
| 127. Winnipeg | 157. Winnipeg | 187. Winnipeg |
| 128. Dallas (from ARI) | 158. Arizona | 188. Arizona |
| 129. Buffalo | 159. Buffalo | 189. Buffalo |
| 130. Buffalo (from MTL) | 160. Montreal | 190. Buffalo (from MTL) |
| 131. Colorado | 161. Colorado | 191. Colorado |
| 132. New Jersey | 162. New Jersey | 192. New Jersey |
| 133. Ottawa | 163. Ottawa | 193. NY Islanders (from OTT) |
| 134. Carolina | 164. Carolina | 194. Vancouver (from CAR) |
| 135. Boston | 165. Boston | 195. Boston |
| 136. Boston (from MIN) | 166. Calgary (from MIN) | 196. Minnesota |
| 137. Detroit | 167. Detroit | 197. Detroit |
| 138. Nashville | 168. Nashville | 198. Nashville |
| 139. Philadelphia | 169. Philadelphia | 199. Philadelphia |
| 140. Vancouver (from NYI via FLA) | 170. NY Islanders | 200. NY Islanders |
| 141. NY Rangers | 171. NY Rangers | 201. NY Rangers |
| 142. Los Angeles | 172. Philadelphia (from LAK) | 202. Los Angeles |
| 143. Chicago | 173. Chicago | 203. Chicago |
| 144. Chicago (from FLA) | 174. Florida | 204. Minnesota (from FLA) |
| 145. Washington (from ANA via TOR) | 175. Florida (from ANA) | 205. Anaheim |
| 146. Dallas | 176. Dallas | 206. Tampa Bay (from DAL) |
| 147. Washington | 177. Washington | 207. Washington |
| 148. Tampa Bay | 178. Tampa Bay | 208. Tampa Bay |
| 149. Edmonton (from STL) | 179. Toronto (from STL) | 209. St. Louis |
| 150. San Jose | 180. San Jose | 210. San Jose |
| 151. Pittsburgh | 181. Pittsburgh | 211. St. Louis (from PIT) |
