Flyers draft primer: Everything you need to know about the 2026 draft, from draft order to top prospects

The Flyers are nearly on the clock for the first round of the 2026 NHL draft.

The draft starts Friday night, and after Thursday’s trade, the Flyers will have four picks — one each in the first, second, fifth and seventh rounds. Here’s everything you need to know before the draft begins.

» READ MORE: Who will the Flyers draft? Will Danny Brière make a big trade? Is someone’s job at risk? Highlights from our Reddit AMA.

The 2026 NHL draft officially starts at 7 p.m., but the Flyers won’t be on the clock for a lottery pick. The first round of the draft will air live on ESPN. The second round begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the draft will end with the seventh round that same evening.

After winning a playoff series over Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2026 postseason, the team’s first since 2019-20, the Flyers will pick at No. 21 overall during Friday’s first round.

The Flyers will also have three picks on Saturday: in the second round (53rd overall), fifth round (136th overall) and seventh round (213th overall).

Flyers draft coverage

• Flyers Q&A: Danny Brière on the NHL draft
• 15 options for Flyers at No. 21
• Brent Flahr on the Flyers’ draft strategy with the 21st pick and more
• Jaxon Cover and Ryder Cali: From the Cayman Islands to the NHL
• Is 17-year-old Ilia Morozov the next center to join the organization?
• Alexander Command feels in sync with Philly. Will he be there at 21?
• Mock draft 3.0: Could another Hextall be in Philly soon?

The projected top two picks are Penn State center Gavin McKenna and Swedish winger Ivar Stenberg. The Toronto Maple Leafs won the draft lottery and the San Jose Sharks have the second overall pick. Other expected top picks include defensemen Chase Reid and Keaton Verhoeff, and center Caleb Malhotra.

McKenna finished with 36 assists (second-most in college hockey) and 51 points (tied for fourth-most) in 35 games.

“It was a good season, I think,” McKenna said at the Draft Combine. “In college, the guys are bigger and stronger and faster and stuff, and the game in itself, I think, is just a little different than junior. It’s more straightforward hockey.

“So found out early on that things [weren’t] just going to happen easy, and I think once I got to World Juniors, I kind of got my confidence back and kind of figured out the game a little bit more, and started working harder off the ice and on the ice and getting in the dirty areas a little bit more, and I think that’s why I started producing more.”

Now that the Flyers aren’t up near the top of the draft, there are a lot more variables impacting who they might select.

In Flyers beat writer Jackie Spiegel’s latest mock draft, she had the Flyers selecting center Jack Hextall, a distant relative of former Flyer and GM Ron Hextall.

“His bread and butter is how well-rounded he is,” The Athletic’s NHL draft and prospects reporter Scott Wheeler told The Inquirer. “The details off the puck, up and under sticks, retrievals, board battles, he’s got pro habits.

» READ MORE: Q&A: Draft analyst Chris Peters weighs Flyers’ options at No. 21, Alexander Command’s NHL comparison, and more

“If you talk to the guys in Youngstown, the first thing they say about him is that he’s a pro; this isn’t a junior hockey player, like a lot of these kids are. [He] does everything the right way, no selfishness to his game and he doesn’t cheat for offense.”

Winger Nikita Klepov and defenseman Tommy Bleyl are other players to keep an eye on.