Hockey futures will be decided on Friday at the NHL Draft in Buffalo, New York.
The NHL knows no rest. Less than two weeks after the Carolina Hurricanes won a second franchise Stanley Cup championship in six games over the Vegas Golden Knights, the league is spotlighting who many believe will be their future marquee skaters and goalies at the annual NHL Draft.
All 32 NHL teams will be participating in the entry draft at Buffalo’s KeyBank Center. Those eligible for selection by teams must turn 18 by Sept. 15. North American players are restricted from being older than 20 by Dec. 31, 2026. International players can be selected up to age 21. Players older than 21 enter Friday’s selection process as unrestricted free agents.
Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday—being aired on ESPN live, 7–10 p.m. EDT—is the first of seven rounds teams will select from. Rounds 2–7 will begin at 11 a.m. on Saturday, with the NHL Network and ESPN+ providing live coverage.
Whereas the Toronto Maple Leafs will select first on Friday, and draft host Buffalo Sabres will have the fourth pick of the night, one team that won’t be among the first to get to call a player’s name is the Florida Panthers. The Panthers, winners of back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2024 and 2025, relinquished their No. 9 and No. 25 picks earlier this week to the Ottawa Senators, as well as two future draft selections in 2027 and 2029, in a trade for forward Brady Tkachuk.
Leading up to Toronto’s likely picking top prospects Penn State forward Gavin McKenna, 18, or Sweden’s left wing Ivar Stenberg, also 18, with the first selection on Friday night, there might be several other possible headlines coming out of KeyBank Center. There are rumblings out of Winnipeg, Manitoba, that All-World goalie Connor Hellebuyck may want out of playing for the Jets after 11 seasons. Detroit Red Wings’ captain Dylan Larkin might be in the trade market. His destination could be chosen at the draft, as part of a blockbuster deal swung by Detroit’s general manager Steve Yzerman. Then there’s Buffalo’s top unrestricted free agent come July 1. Will the Sabres sign and trade Alex Tuch, or will the right wing from Syracuse, New York, continue skating in Western New York?
Among subplots gaining traction prior to NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman stepping up to the podium and opening the draft on Friday, Brady Tkachuk’s becoming a Panther on Sunday continues to grab hockey headlines. With Florida getting their first shot at prospects on Saturday with the 8th pick (40th overall) of the second round, Bill Lindsay, a longtime team broadcaster and former left wing for 13 NHL seasons including six seasons with the Panthers, is optimistic that the team will secure the best player available.
“[Panthers] will have options when they get their pick,” Lindsay told The Epoch Times on Tuesday. “[Panthers’ general manager] Bill Zito will probably pick a player that can advance through the Panthers’ system the quickest—a center or defenseman.”
Like most hockey fans on draft night, Lindsay will be taking in Friday’s selections at a watch party in South Florida. Along with his Panthers radio broadcast partner Doug Plagens, Lindsay will be co-hosting a live broadcast on 104.3 WQAM Miami, inside the Baptist Health IcePlex in Fort Lauderdale. A veteran of 777 NHL games, with his first coming with the Quebec Nordiques in 1991–92 and last game skated in 2004 with the Atlanta Thrashers, Lindsay has an inside feel on what those selected on Friday will be experiencing.
“When I was drafted back in 1991, it was nerve-racking. Today, you can follow the draft round by round on TV, radio, and other devices. I was trying out for the U.S. Olympic hockey team in late June in St. Cloud, Minnesota, on the day of the draft,” Lindsay said. “I was staying in a dorm, and thought I might go in the second round or early third round. There were no cell phones back then, so I gave my agent the number to a payphone in the dorm’s hall. I waited and waited by that phone until it finally rang. I ended up being drafted by the Nordiques.”
After going to the Stanley Cup Final for three consecutive years, the Panthers had a down year this past NHL season. Lindsay believes that leadership for the Panthers, finishing 14th of 16 teams in the NHL Eastern Conference, is looking to maintain that winning window with the players they have now to get back to the championship round in 2027.
Studying and forecasting how the draft will swing for Florida keeps Lindsay’s hockey juices flowing in the off-season.
“It’s an exciting time to be a hockey fan,” Lindsay said. “The draft is a kickoff to next season. I think we'll probably see a lot of trades. But, I’m used to that. I start thinking that there will be a lot of new kids, high draft picks, and what are they going to bring to their team? Carolina and Vegas are going to have sharp turnarounds. In the previous three seasons when we [Panthers] had shorter off-seasons, the summer months went by fast. You have free agency starting on July 1, then training camp in September.”
The unknown factors that surround player selections and teams’ management wheeling and dealing prior to and during the seven rounds of the draft make for a compelling two-day emotional swing that NHL fans plan for, with gusto, every year.
