Gavin McKenna goes first, but is overshadowed by trades, drama and surprises!

The NHL offseason officially shifted into overdrive Friday night with the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo. The Toronto Maple Leafs selected Gavin McKenna with the No. 1 pick at 2026 NHL draft Friday night. The pick was announced by Canadian pop icon and Maple Leafs fan Justin Bieber.

But it was not the biggest surprise of the night.

Several trades took place, notably with the Vegas Golden Knights shipping forward Pavel Dorofeyev to New York. The Rangers immediately signed him to a seven-year, $77 million contract.

Mason McTavish was also traded from the Anaheim Ducks to the St. Louis Blues in exchange for the No. 15 and No. 29 overall picks.

Many picks were also moved up and down on the board in different deals tonight. Nine trades took place tonight during the first round.

The San Jose Sharks took Ivar Stenberg with the second pick at KeyBank Center. The Vancouver Canucks grabbed Caleb Malhotra with the third selection, which got some backlash from fans, assuming the call was made by the team’ new head coach, and Caleb’s father, Manny Malhotra.

A huge surprise that created some drama online during the Draft is Chase Reid, who fell out of the Top 5 and was selected by Seattle Kraken. He stands six foot two, shoots right, and brings elite skating to go along with a well-rounded two-way game, and everyone expected him to be selected way sooner.

Below is the complete first-round order:

2026 NHL Draft – First Round Results

1. Toronto - Gavin McKenna, LW, Penn State (NCAA)

2. San Jose - Ivar Stenberg, LW/RW, Frolunda (SHL)

3. Vancouver - Caleb Malhotra, C, Brantford (OHL)

4. Buffalo - Daxon Rudolph, D, Prince Albert (WHL)

5. NY Rangers - Alberts Smits, D, Jukurit (Liiga)

6. Calgary - Carson Carels, D, Prince George (WHL)

7. Seattle - Chase Reid, D, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

8. Winnipeg - Viggo Bjorck, C/RW, Djurgardens IF (SHL)

9. San Jose (from FLA via OTT) - Keaton Verhoeff, D, North Dakota (NCAA)

10. Nashville - Wyatt Cullen, LW, USNTDP (USHL)

11. St. Louis - Tynan Lawrence, C, Boston University (NCAA)

12. New Jersey - Alexander Command, C, Orebro (U20 Nationell)

13. NY Islanders - Malte Gustafsson, D, HV71 (SHL)

14. Columbus - Oscar Hemming, LW, Boston College (NCAA)

15. TRADE - Anaheim (from St. Louis from DET in the Mason McTavish trade) - Nikita Klepov, RW, Saginaw (OHL)

16. St. Louis (from WSH) - Maddox Dagenais, C, Quebec (QMJHL)

17. TRADE - Utah (from Los Angeles ) - Ethan Belchetz, LW, Windsor (OHL)

18. Washington (from ANA) - Oliver Suvanto, C, Tappara (Liiga)

19. TRADE - Los Angeles (from Utah, along with pick 83) - Elton Hermansson, RW/LW, MoDo (HockeyAllsvenskan)

20. Buffalo (from EDM via SJS) - Ilia Morozov, C, Miami University (NCAA)

21. TRADE - San Jose ( from Philadelphia for picks 27-62-120) - Ryan Lin, D, Vancouver (WHL)

22. Pittsburgh - Liam Ruck, RW, Medicine Hat (WHL)

23. TRADE - Detroit (from Utah for goalie Sebastian Cossa, originally from BOS in the trade for JJ Peterka ) - JP Hurlbert, LW, Kamloops (WHL)

24. Vancouver (from MIN) - Adam Novotný, LW, Peterborough (OHL)

25. Ottawa (from TBL via SEA via FLA) - Jonas Lagerberg Hoen, RW, Leksands (IF)

26. TRADE - Montreal (from Vegas from NYR from DAL via CAR, from the trade for Pavel Dorofeyev) - Gleb Pugachyov, RW, Nizhny Novgorod (KHL)

27. TRADE - Philadelphia ( from SJ from BUF, along 62nd and 120th overall picks) - Maksim Sokolovskii, D, London (OHL)

28. TRADE - Anaheim (from Vegas, originally from Montreal, who also sends a third round pick in 2027. Golden Knights get 117 for the move) - Marcus Nordmark, LW, Djurgardens Jr. (U20 Nationell)

29. TRADE - Anaheim (from St. Louis from COL via NYI in Mason McTavish trade) - Juho Piiparien, D, Tappara (Liiga)

30. Calgary (from VGK) - Jack Hextall, C, Youngstown (USHL)

31. TRADE - Nashville (from Carolina for picks 42 and 57) - Tommy Bleyl, D, Moncton (QMJHL)

32. Ottawa - Jaxon Cover, RW, London (OHL)

That's a wrap on the NHL Draft's first round.