While the Carolina Hurricanes bask in the glory of their second Stanley Cup title, other teams are hoping a high draft pick helps pave their way to the promised land.
The 2025-26 NHL season is officially in the books, with the Carolina Hurricanes knocking off the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2026 Stanley Cup Final, rallying back from a 2-1 series deficit to win in six games.
The championship is the second in team history for Carolina, coming 20 years after their first win in a seven-game heartstopping series in 2006. This year’s title was the culmination of a long climb for Carolina, dating back to a surprise Eastern Conference Finals appearance in 2019. With the Florida Panthers finally out of their way, the Hurricanes cruised through much of the postseason en route to a title.
While the Hurricanes made their sustained rise in the NHL without the aid of a first-overall draft pick, many teams build their futures around a given year’s top selection, making single-season futility in any one given year feel like a distant memory if the draft pick is able to deliver.
Oftentimes in NHL history, that indeed has happened – with many of the sport’s greatest players of all-time entering the league as the top pick in the draft. Names such as Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin, Patrick Kane, Joe Thornton and Connor McDavid litter the list that almost feels prophetic when viewing the sheer amount of future Hall of Famers included.
Yet not every draft has guaranteed a bed of roses to the team that happens to pick first overall, with a good handful of busts and disappointments occurring over the years as well. Ottawa Senators fans would be eager to bring up Alexandre Daigle’s underwhelming career, while the expansion Atlanta Thrashers passed on both Sedin twins in 1999 to take Patrik Stefan as the top selection.
Typically, the team selecting first overall is coming off of a brutally bad season in which they were near the bottom of the league, although the league’s worst team is not guaranteed to pick first overall as they are in the National Football League – with a draft lottery aiming to dampen the allure of tanking for struggling teams.
In years such as 2005, 2015 and 2023, the draft lotteries effectively turn into “sweepstakes” for a top prospect that is overwhelmingly viewed as the No. 1 pick, with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks winning those sweepstakes and emerging with Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Connor Bedard, respectively.
As of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, the following teams have never had a No. 1 overall pick:
- Carolina Hurricanes
- Minnesota Wild
- Utah Mammoth
- Nashville Predators
- Vegas Golden Knights
- Seattle Kraken
- Anaheim Ducks
- Calgary Flames
- Vancouver Canucks
As for the league’s other 23 clubs, here’s a look at the last time each of them had the first overall selection to the NHL Entry Draft:
- Toronto Maple Leafs: 2026
- New York Islanders: 2025, Matthew Schaefer
- San Jose Sharks: 2024, Macklin Celebrini
- Chicago Blackhawks: 2023, Connor Bedard
- Montreal Canadiens: 2022, Juraf Slafkovsky
- Buffalo Sabres: 2021, Owen Power
- New York Rangers: 2020, Alexis Lafreniere
- New Jersey Devils: 2019, Jack Hughes
- Edmonton Oilers: 2015, Connor McDavid
- Florida Panthers: 2014, Aaron Ekblad
- Colorado Avalanche: 2013, Nathan MacKinnon
- Tampa Bay Lightning: 2008, Steven Stamkos
- St. Louis Blues: 2006, Erik Johnson
- Pittsburgh Penguins: 2005, Sidney Crosby
- Washington Capitals: 2004, Alex Ovechkin
- Columbus Blue Jackets: 2002, Rick Nash
- Winnipeg Jets: 2001, Ilya Kovalchuk*
- Boston Bruins: 1997, Joe Thornton
- Ottawa Senators: 1996, Chris Phillips
- Dallas Stars: 1988, Mike Modano**
- Detroit Red Wings: 1986, Joe Murphy
- Philadelphia Flyers: 1975, Mel Bridgman
- Los Angeles Kings: 1967, Rick Pagnutti
*denotes team was known as the Atlanta Thrashers at the time
**denotes team was known as the Minnesota North Stars at the time
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