Prior to the start of the draft, many trades occurred involving draft picks in 2026 and beyond. That trend has continued during the draft. In addition to the numerous first-round choices changing hands yesterday, nine more trades have occurred today involving this year’s picks in rounds 2 through 7. Below is a synopsis of yesterday’s trades affecting Day One in Buffalo:
Mason McTavish: Acquired by the St. Louis Blues from Anaheim for the 15th and 29th overall picks. The Ducks then swapped pick #29 (and pick #117) to Vegas in exchange for pick #28. The Ducks used pick #15 to select Saginaw winger Nikita Klepov, who was the OHL’s leading scorer with 97 points (37G 60A). Anaheim then selected Swedish winger Marcus Nordmark with pick #28. Nordmark began this past season in Sweden’s U18 league, and by year’s end was suiting up for Djurgardens in its top pro league (SHL).
Pavel Dorofeyev: Traded to the New York Rangers by Vegas for two 2026 picks and a conditional 2028 first-rounder, including pick #26. Vegas swapped this pick to Montreal, which used it to select Russian power forward Gleb Pugachyov. Pugachyov suited up for 13 KHL games this season as a 17-year-old.
JJ Peterka: Moved to the Boston Bruins from Utah for pick #23 in 2026, and a 2028 first-rounder. Utah then sent the 2026 pick to Detroit in exchange for goaltender Sebastian Cossa. The Wings used this pick to select winger JP Hurlbert of Kamloops in the WHL. Hurlbert registered 97 points (42G 55A) in 68 regular season games in 2025-26.
Sebastian Cossa: Acquired by the Utah Mammoth from Detroit for a 2026 first-round pick. As detailed above in the discussion involving JJ Peterka, the Wings selected winger JP Hurlbert with this pick.