If you thought that was fun, just wait, because you probably haven’t seen anything yet. 

Starting on Sunday, June 21, 2026, and going through Monday, June 29, 2026, a total of 54 trades were made by NHL teams. That’s in addition to 223 players being drafted during the seven-round annual NHL Entry Draft over the weekend. (It should have been 224 players, but the Vegas Golden Knights had to forfeit the 63rd overall selection (second rounder) as punishment for violating The NHL’s media policy during the playoffs). 

It all started with a curious little trade, when the Florida Panthers sent Mackie Samoskevich

to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for a 2026 first-round pick (formerly Tampa’s, No. 25) and a conditional 2027 second-round pick. Most assumed it was part of some larger machinations by Florida and they were proven right in short order. 

Mere hours after that trade, the Panthers flipped the No. 25 pick, plus their own 2026 first rounder (No. 9), a conditional 2029 first rounder and a 2027 second round pick to the Ottawa Senators to acquire Brady Tkachuk. 

From there, things around The League continued to get weird, wacky and wild. 

Among the more notable moves: 

1. The New Jersey Devils sent Simon Nemec to the Calgary Flames as part of a package that landed them two conditional first-round picks, plus a second-rounder and a mid-level prospect. 

2. Ottawa acquired William Eklund and two other players from the San Jose Sharks by forking over the ninth overall pick in the draft, the one they had gotten from Florida. 

3. The Washington Capitals acquired Jordan Kyrou from the St. Louis Blues for a good haul.

4. The Chicago Blackhawks made the head-scratching decision to send the fourth overall pick in the draft to the Buffalo Sabres as part of a deal for Bowen Byram.

5. The Capitals decided they weren’t content with just getting Kyrou, so they landed Alex Tuch in a sign-and-trade with Buffalo.

6. The Boston Bruins snared JJ Peterka from the Utah Mammoth.

7. The New York Rangers pried Pavel Dorofeyev from the Golden Knights.

8. The Blues acquired Mason McTavish from the Anaheim Ducks.

Did that satisfy your appetite for trades? If not, don’t worry, a plethora of draft picks were also traded as NHL GMs wheeled and dealed like drunken sailors on leave. 

As for the locals, the Devils just managed to edge out the Rangers and Islanders in terms of overall draft class strength. Yes, the Blueshirts got arguably the best individual prospect out of any of the three teams when they used the fifth overall pick to select defenseman Alberts Šmits out of Latvia. He’s a big defenseman who happens to also be quite mobile and has shown solid, but not spectacular, offensive touch. 

The Isles also used their first selection (13th overall) to take a big (6-5) defenseman, Malte Gustafsson, out of Sweden. Gustafsson is similar-ish to Šmits, but has decidedly less offensive instincts and projects to be more of a stay-at-home defender. 

On the other side, the Devils went with a center as their first choice (12th overall). They selected Alexander Command, also from Sweden. Command projects as a solid middle-six pivot who plays a strong 200-foot game. 

“Where he ends up is yet to be determined,” Mark Dennehy, the Devils’ Chief Amateur Scout, said after the draft. “But what we know about this young man is he’s got a lot of attributes, he can skate. He’s got a good head. Both with and without the puck, (he supports his defenseman in the D-zone on the breakout but is also gifted enough to find his wingers and put them in positions to score. (He) possesses a really heavy shot. Good on faceoffs. He’s also a ‘true center.’ 

“Then, there’s some of the intangibles. Highly intense. Highly competitive individual. Has been on championship teams. I use the term 200-foot player, and you hear that a lot. That is not a negative term. He is one of the best players all over the ice. At least, he’s been that way at the U-18 level. Because of his drive, because of his determination, because of what he’s already shown us, we only see him getting better.”

In the second round, the Devils took WHL forward Matias Vanhanen, 37th overall. This 5-11 forward may not have eye-popping size, but his skills sure do make up for that, having broken out with 87 points in 62 games this past season. 

When asked on a Zoom call with the media after his selection what he feels allowed him to break out, Vanhanen said, “Just play confident. I trust my game and try to improve my game every day.”

New Jersey used its fifth round selection on Russian goalie Daniil Rusakovich, who, Dennehy said, “We’ve got an unbelievable goalie department and the best goalie all-time in Martin Brodeur to handle that development project. But this is a young man that we think is a really good goalie, who can continue to develop and potentially be an NHL goalie, if not an NHL starter. We really like our goalie stable. We weren’t necessarily looking to add a goalie. This guy was too good to pass up.”

The Devils used their sixth and seventh round picks on two high-motor forwards, Luke Wilfley, from the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks and Quinn McKenzie, from the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds.

Wilfley described his game as similar to how Brady Tkachuk plays. When he was asked about who he has learned the most from in Portland, he pointed to Winterhawks’ President and GM, Mike Johnston, who he said, “He has one of the smartest hockey brains that there is. So, being able to kind of be a sponge around him and pick things up, he teaches a lot that it’s a long road and that you have to trust the process and you have to earn everything that’s given to you. He’s definitely a person I try to be around and just be a sponge around.”

As for McKenzie, he succinctly described his game as, “I would say I’m a quick 200-foot centerman and I like to be feisty and get in the other team’s face. I wanna make plays and make my linemates better.”

Overall, the Devils made seven total selections across the two days of the Draft and put together a solid class of prospects that could sprout one or two NHL regulars within the next couple of years. 

Next up is Free Agency, which begins on Wednesday and is shaping up to be a dud with many players having chosen to sign extensions with their current teams. However, that just means that whatever surprises we do get will be all the more interesting.