The 2026 NHL Draft Lottery is next week on Tuesday May 5th. The lottery gives the sixteen teams that failed to make the playoffs a chance at winning the first or second overall selections in the NHL Draft on June 26th-27th. The Washington Capitals have two first rounders this year, the No. 16 pick and the first rounder that came from Anaheim in the John Carlson trade. The Capitals will take part in the lottery for only the third time since 2008.
The NHL draft lottery rules can be found here. Basically, the lottery is composed of two drawings to determine who wins the first and second overall selections. Teams are only allowed to move up a maximum of ten spots, which means the best the Caps can do is move up to the sixth or seventh pick if they win. If they don’t win either drawing, they will receive the No. 16 pick.
The other first rounder could be the No. 18 pick, unless Anaheim advances to the Western Conference Finals. In that case, the pick will fall to somewhere between picks 29-32. Armed with two picks in the middle of the first round, the Capitals are in a good position to improve their roster either through the draft, via trade, or perhaps both ways.
The Caps could keep draft two players in the first round. They don’t have a stud defenseman or creative pass-first centerman in their system. While players like Caleb Malhotra and Keaton Verhoeff will likely not be around when they pick at No. 16, there are a number of intriguing young players who will be available.
The Caps could trade one for more picks. They only have five picks this year: two in the first round, and one in the fourth, one in the fifth, and one in the seventh. Accumulating draft capital gives them a better chance to strike gold in the later rounds, like they did with Braden Holtby, Aliaksei Protas, and Beck Malenstyn. However, with Alex Ovechkin’s retirement looming, it is most likely that the Caps package these picks and go out and get a real stud to play in the top six.
The Caps have been talking about their desire to add to their top six for the past couple of seasons. Depending on who is available and what the asking price is, Caps general manager Chris Patrick has the ammo to add an elite forward. Maybe with some savvy dealing, he can hang onto one of those picks and still draft a promising prospect this season. That would be the best of both worlds.
Whatever they decide to do, the Capitals are well positioned this summer to improve their squad for next season.
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