2026 NHL Draft Early Trends: High Trades Prices, Prospect on Rise & Potential Draft Chaos

What a Tuesday it was in the NHL, right? It’s been a long time since there was that kind of trade action leaguewide both in size and in quantity in a single day.

And yet, that may prove to only be the appetizer for what’s to come.

We are approximately 48 hours from the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft as of this writing. It’s time to get an early sense of what could be trending as the clock ticks down to the Toronto Maple Leafs being on the clock.

Obviously, there is a lot going on league wide. Rumors are flying around everywhere. Some of it is smoke. Some of it is real. We will soon start learning what’s true and what isn’t.

We begin our THW coverage of the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo with a look at three early trends that we are watching. You did notice the price the Chicago Blackhawks paid to get Bowen Byram, right?

“Astronomical” Trade Prices

The Buffalo Sabres reportedly had multiple teams in on Byram. Outside of the Blackhawks, the San Jose Sharks and New York Rangers were named as teams interested in acquiring the talented defenseman.

That partially explains why the Blackhawks paid a premium in order to get him.

The Rangers own the fifth-overall pick while the San Jose Sharks have both the second and ninth picks. One would suspect the second pick wasn’t involved here, the ninth pick very definitely could have been involved.

GM Jarmo Kekalainen and the Sabres were in a good position to take advantage of the situation by choosing the deal that came with the highest bid. The Blackhawks essentially had to include the fourth pick in order to get Byram.

Why were the Sabres in that position? That’s because with an extremely thin free-agent market made even thinner with the sign-and-trade of Alex Tuch, sellers were in position to charge much higher prices on the trade market since the demand exceeded the supply.

The Sabres took advantage and can now use the fourth pick in order to make a selection or flip it for other now help. But this trade shows us all an important lesson.

The prices on the current trade market, at least for now, are astronomically high. Consider it took the ninth-overall pick for the Ottawa Senators to acquire William Eklund.

In talking to multiple people in Buffalo, they agreed with that position. Everyone is looking for upgrades. With few pure sellers and most everyone else wanting to add, it adds up to it being a massive seller’s market.

Think about the Carolina Hurricanes reportedly gauging interest on Alexander Nikishin. If Byram got the fourth-overall pick, why shouldn’t the Hurricanes explore the market and see if something similar could happen?

There hasn’t been as much action on Wednesday in part because the current prices are very high. Teams are hoping that as it gets closer to the draft, those high prices start to dwindle down.

It is still expected that a lot of things will happen leaguewide in the coming days and weeks. But since we are dealing with a seller’s market at this early stage, teams are going to have to pay a high premium if they want to make an impact move. Let the game of chicken begin.

Bjorck Generating Draft Buzz

In asking around which prospect could potentially crash the party at the top of the draft, one name stood out. Viggo Bjorck.

It is easy to see why. Bjorck may only be 5-foot-10, but what he’s done in both international competitions and at the NHL Combine have impressed teams. He’s the owner of a World Juniors’ gold medal and was named one of Sweden’s best players there. He also scored the most points at the World Championships of any U18 player.

Bjorck knows his stock has been on the rise. He’s getting more attention but is only focused on one thing at this stage.

“You try to focus on your game and just try to improve,” Bjorck told us at the NHL Combine. “I think there’s still a lot of things that I want to improve in my game and you always try to get better. It’s always nice when things go well. But even though things don’t go well, you need to keep the same progress.”

In year’s past, Bjorck would have been the kind of prospect that may have fallen due to his size. He’s done enough with his game since the beginning of the season where that is not as much of a concern.

Speaking of potential top of the draft chaos…

Top of the Draft Chaos?

Bjorck has the kind of profile that could entice someone to take him in the top-five. If that were to happen, that would open the door for some chaos at the top of the draft.

As of this writing, we expect Gavin McKenna to go first to the Maple Leafs. And despite Mike Grier trying to say right-handed offensive defenseman don’t grow on trees, many expect the Sharks to target Ivar Stenberg at two.

Here’s where it gets interesting. We are not alone in saying this. Some believe that the Vancouver Canucks may not be looking at Caleb Malhotra. This is one of the spots in which the draft really starts. Take the coach’s son or look another direction?

If the Canucks go away from Malhotra, they have their pick of the top defensemen. They could also taking the rising prospect in Bjorck.

Nothing definitive as of yet. But if there is a prospect that could crash the top of the draft like Beckett Sennecke did, it’s Bjorck. If not the Canucks, there’s a good chance he goes soon after.

Bjorck has been the prospect we’ve heard the most in the early going of this week. He and other top prospects will speak to the media Thursday morning in Buffalo. It will be interesting to see what they have to say just days away from achieving their dream of being drafted to the NHL.