The Capitals continued Washington, DC tradition and did not win the NHL’s draft lottery Tuesday night; the Toronto Maple Leafs did. The Leafs will get the chance to draft consensus number one pick Gavin McKenna, and the Caps will pick sixteenth. They have another first rounder that came from the Ducks in the John Carlson trade, but we will have to wait and see how far Anaheim advances in the playoffs before we know that. Cap fans should be routing for Vegas (yuck) to win that series so that pick ends up eighteenth. The Caps don’t have a second or third rounder this year due to the Justin Sourdif and Jakob Chychrun trades.
The last time the Caps had two picks this high in the first round they drafted Filip Forsberg at no. 11 (ouch!) and Tom Wilson at no. 16 back in 2012. Players like Glenn Anderson, Chychrun, and Sonny Milano were drafted sixteenth overall. Brooks Orpik and Eric Fehr were picked eighteenth in their respective draft years, as were Alex Tuch and Dawson Mercer. John Carlson and Rasmus Sandin were picked even lower in the first round in their respective draft years. So, there is plenty of potential to draft some future stars in the back half of the first round.
Washington could also package those picks to move up in the draft. While getting all the way up to No. 1 is cost prohibitive, a highly rated player the Caps like could entice them to make a deal. They could also trade one of them for more picks in the later rounds this year, since they don’t have a second, third or a sixth. It’s not going to happen since those first rounders have more value in a trade for an established young player. I think the Caps will ultimately take part in a blockbuster trade with a package of those picks and some players and/or prospects for a young forward to improve the top of their roster.
There are a lot of good, even great, players rumored to be on the trading block. If they truly want to trade for an impact forward, then they have the firepower to pull it off. With the two firsts in this year’s draft and one more next season, along with a full complement of draft picks in each draft from 2027 through 2029, the Capitals are poised to make a big move. I would love to see them find a way to keep one of those first rounders to draft a promising young player and still be able to land a premiere player in a trade, a best-of-both worlds scenario.
We will have to wait to find out. The 2026 NHL Draft will be on June 26-27th.
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