The first 16 selections were determined by the NHL Draft Lottery, which was held June 2. The Buffalo Sabres won the lottery and have the No. 1 pick, and the expansion Seattle Kraken, who begin play next season, won the No. 2 pick.
The 12 teams that lost in the first two rounds of the Stanley Cup Playoffs were slotted into picks 17-28. Teams that did not win their division were placed in inverse order of regular-season standings points, followed by the four division winners in inverse order of regular-season points.
The No. 29 pick will go to the team that loses in the Stanley Cup Semifinals with the fewest regular-season points, and No. 30 will go to the other semifinal losing team. The team that loses in the Stanley Cup Final will pick No. 31, and the Cup winner gets No. 32.
The New York Islanders (71 points) play the Tampa Bay Lightning (75) in one semifinal, and the Montreal Canadiens (59) play the Vegas Golden Knights (82) in the other semifinal.
The first round of the draft will be held July 23 and rounds 2-7 are July 24.
The Columbus Blue Jackets have three first-round picks, and the New Jersey Devils, Detroit Red Wings and Minnesota Wild each have two.
The Blue Jackets have the No. 5 pick and the No. 25 selection, which was acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the trade for forward Nick Foligno on April 11. Columbus also has Tampa Bay's first-round pick, which it acquired when it traded defenseman David Savard on April 10.
The Devils have the No. 4 pick and the Islanders' selection, which was acquired as part of the trade for forwards Kyle Palmieri and Travis Zajac on April 7.
The Red Wings have the No. 6 pick and the No. 23 selection, which they acquired from the Washington Capitals in the trade for forward Anthony Mantha on April 12.
The Wild have the No. 22 pick and the No. 26 selection, which was acquired from the Pittsburgh Penguins in the trade for forward Jason Zucker on Feb. 10, 2020.
The Arizona Coyotes, who are slotted at No. 11, forfeited their first-round pick for violating the NHL Combine Testing policy during the 2019-20 season.
The final order of the first round will be set after the Cup Final.
2021 NHL DRAFT ORDER
1. Buffalo Sabres
2. Seattle Kraken
3. Anaheim Ducks
4. New Jersey Devils
5. Columbus Blue Jackets
6. Detroit Red Wings
7. San Jose Sharks
8. Los Angeles Kings
9. Vancouver Canucks
10. Ottawa Senators
11. Arizona Coyotes
12. Chicago Blackhawks
13. Calgary Flames
14. Philadelphia Flyers
15. Dallas Stars
16. New York Rangers
17. St. Louis Blues
18. Winnipeg Jets
19. Nashville Predators
20. Edmonton Oilers
21. Boston Bruins
22. Minnesota Wild
23. Detroit Red Wings (from Washington Capitals)
24. Florida Panthers
25. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Toronto Maple Leafs)
26. Minnesota Wild (from Pittsburgh Penguins)
27. Carolina Hurricanes
28. Colorado Avalanche
29. Semifinal losing team with fewest points
30. Semifinal losing team with most points
31. Stanley Cup Final losing team
32. Stanley Cup winner
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