Winners, losers of the 2026 NHL draft: Rangers, Leafs, Blackhawks - ESPN

The 2026 NHL draft is complete, and 224 prospects officially have new homes.

However, it wasn't just about the players selected in Rounds 1-7, as a number of franchise-altering trades occurred during the past week.

With a busy week now in the rearview mirror, ESPN reporters Ryan S. Clark, Kristen Shilton and Greg Wyshynski identify the winners, losers and other surprises of the 2026 NHL draft.

You have to hand it to John Chayka, the Leafs' general manager certainly didn't let his years out of the game lead to any trepidation about jumping back in with both feet. He's been busy during the past week making moves to get Toronto back on track. The trade for Darren Raddysh (coupled with that eight-year, $68 million contract extension) was aggressive and, perhaps high-risk, but it also gives the Leafs a potential top-pairing, right-shot defenseman that is just stepping into the prime years of his career. That's a bet worth taking if you're the Leafs.

Now, Toronto got some help from the hockey gods by winning the draft lottery on May 5 and being able to select Gavin McKenna at No. 1 overall. This is massive for them in the short and long term. No, he won't be Mitch Marner as a rookie, but McKenna is creative and skilled, and Chayka was right to not go off-book and target someone else in that slot.

Moving on from Brandon Carlo in Saturday's trade with St. Louis was more smart business for Toronto, giving them a pair of third-round choices in Saturday's draft that Chayka used on a couple of 18-year-old prospects. And even their smaller transactions have solid upside. The Leafs shipped Joseph Woll to Philadelphia for Samuel Ersson's rights (and then sent him off to Ottawa for draft capital) and got 24-year-old defender Emil Andrae