2027 NHL Draft Guide: Date, Location, Top Prospects and Draft Order

2027 NHL Draft date and location: what is confirmed

The NHL had not announced the exact dates or host location for the 2027 NHL Draft as of August 27, 2026. NHL.com has already begun covering the eligible prospect class, but its official lookahead does not provide an event schedule or venue. An NHL.com Spanish-language edition of the same early outlook explicitly noted that the exact dates and official site had not yet been designated.

The responsible current answer is therefore “to be announced,” not a date copied from a prior draft or an arena selected by rumor. The event is expected during the summer of 2027, after the 2026-27 NHL season and Stanley Cup Playoffs, but the NHL must publish the exact day, format and location before fans should make travel plans.

What an official announcement should include

• The day or days of the draft and the start time for each round.
• The host city, venue and any public fan-event details.
• Broadcast and streaming information by country.
• Credential, ticket or attendance procedures if spectators are admitted.
• The final order or a link to the NHL's live draft tracker.

A legitimate confirmation should appear on NHL.com, the host club or venue's official site, or an official broadcast partner. Ticket marketplaces can create speculative listings before event details are final, so a sale page alone is not proof of a date or venue. Fans should also avoid booking nonrefundable travel around an unconfirmed weekend.

Why the draft is called the 2027 NHL Draft

The year refers to when selections are made, not the season in which early scouting starts. Evaluation is already under way during 2026, and the central scouting cycle will run through the 2026-27 hockey calendar. That overlap can produce confusing searches such as “2026-27 draft,” but the prospects discussed here are targeting the event held in 2027.

The league season itself provides the competitive context. Readers planning the full hockey year can use our guide to when the 2026-27 NHL season starts and ends. The draft comes after those games have determined records, playoff results and most of the order inputs.

How this guide will be updated

The first update trigger is a dated NHL event announcement. The next is an official host or venue confirmation, followed by broadcast and ticket details. Until those sources exist, this page will preserve TBD labels. Searchers asking when the announcement will arrive should apply the same standard: the NHL has not promised a specific release date merely because another year's schedule followed a familiar pattern.

That distinction mirrors schedule coverage. Our 2026-27 schedule release guide tracks league confirmation rather than guessing. The draft deserves the same source-first treatment.

Early top prospects for the 2027 NHL Draft

Landon DuPont is the early projected No. 1 pick in NHL.com's June 2026 lookahead. That label reflects an informed preseason view, not ownership of the selection. A full scouting year remains, and development, performance, health and team preferences can reorder the class.

Landon DuPont, defenseman

DuPont produced 73 points—18 goals and 55 assists—in 63 regular-season games for Everett in 2025-26. NHL.com reported that he will continue at the University of Michigan in 2026-27 after two WHL seasons. His profile combines elite skating, rapid processing and offense from the blue line, while scouts cited by NHL.com also noted growth in physical engagement and heavier assignments.

His exceptional-status background explains part of the attention. He was permitted to play a full WHL season at 15 and became the first defenseman to receive that status in the league. The next evaluation question is not whether he can score against junior competition; it is how quickly his complete game translates against older, faster NCAA opponents.

Alexis Joseph, center

Joseph offers a very different top-of-class case. NHL.com's lookahead lists him at 6-foot-4 and 207 pounds and reports 60 points in 54 games for Saint John in 2025-26. His attraction is the combination of size, skating, middle-lane drive and playmaking rather than size alone. An August NHL.com profile continued to identify him as a leading 2027 prospect.

For Joseph, watch how consistently he creates offense against top lines and how he handles center responsibilities in all three zones. Big young players can dominate lower levels physically, so scouts will want repeatable decisions, pace and detail when space disappears.

Dimian Zhilkin, right wing

Zhilkin recorded 75 points, including 36 goals, in 59 games for Saginaw, according to the official early lookahead. NHL Central Scouting comments highlighted his compete level, leadership, release and willingness to attack difficult areas. That mix gives him a plausible high-pick profile even if another player eventually produces more raw points.

His draft-year checkpoints include whether the shot remains dangerous against prepared opponents, whether playmaking grows alongside finishing and how much value he creates without the puck. International events can add context, but a short tournament should be weighed alongside the full club season.

International names on the early radar

NHL.com's first look also named Milan Sundstrom, Nazar Privalov and Max Calce. Sundstrom was described as a large, intelligent Swedish forward who can score or create. Privalov brought a 6-foot-4 frame and strong production across Russian youth and minor-league competition. Calce was already playing in Germany's top division and appeared at the under-18 world championship.

League strength, role and ice time differ, so their statistics should not be lined up as if they came from one competition. A prospect playing limited minutes against men may demonstrate progress differently from a junior star receiving first-unit power-play time. Scouting reports should ask what the player was trusted to do, not just how many points appeared in a box score.

How to read this early list

Use it as a watchlist. DuPont is the current headline, while Joseph and Zhilkin are prominent forward alternatives and the international group broadens the field. It is not a promised top six, and it is too early to assign NHL teams to these players. Rankings will become more useful when Central Scouting publishes formal lists and a larger body of 2026-27 games exists.

How the 2027 NHL Draft order will be determined

No team owns a confirmed 2027 draft position yet. The order depends on the 2026-27 regular-season results, the official draft-lottery procedure, the Stanley Cup Playoffs and pick trades or conditions. A mock draft that assigns DuPont to a club today is a scenario, not a factual order.

Regular-season results establish the starting field

Teams must first complete the season. The non-playoff clubs form the lottery portion under the applicable NHL rules, while playoff results help settle later first-round positions. Because all those games are still ahead, even a reasonable preseason projection cannot determine which club will finish in a particular slot.

The most recent official guide, for the 2026 lottery, said the lottery would determine the first 16 first-round selections. That is useful precedent, but the NHL must publish the 2027 guide before its exact procedures should be treated as confirmed. Rules, eligibility details and odds belong to the new year's document.

The lottery can change selection position

The lottery exists to keep the draft order from being a straight reverse standings table at the top. Fans should wait for the official drawing and resulting order rather than equating “last place” with “guaranteed first pick.” The NHL's event coverage should provide the eligible teams, odds and movement rules when the 2027 process is announced.

This is also why “2027 draft order” and “2027 standings projection” are different content. One is an official list created after defined events; the other is a model or opinion that can be wrong. This guide will not convert projected standings into factual pick numbers.

Playoff results fill later positions

As the postseason progresses, more first-round slots become set. The official 2026 order report, for example, described the order as set only through a particular pick while later playoff outcomes were unresolved. The 2027 sequence will likewise become clearer in stages rather than appearing as one reliable final table months in advance.

Pick ownership may differ from slot origin

A team can trade a first-round choice, and conditions can decide whether or when a pick transfers. That means the club whose season produced a slot may not be the club that ultimately makes the selection. The official order and transaction record—not a team's current position—must be used to identify the owner.

Our NHL trade rumors by team guide can provide broader transaction context, but rumors never override completed and officially recorded pick trades. Draft-order tables should separate “original club” from “current owner” where necessary.

A reliable order timeline

1. Finish the 2026-27 regular season and identify playoff/non-playoff clubs.
2. Apply the officially announced 2027 lottery rules and hold the drawing.
3. Update later positions as playoff rounds end.
4. Resolve traded-pick conditions from official transactions.
5. Use the NHL's final order/tracker on draft day.

Until those steps occur, the honest labels are “projected,” “conditional” and “TBD.” They are not signs of incomplete reporting; they accurately describe information that the season has not yet produced.

What to watch during the 2026-27 scouting season

A draft year is a sequence of evidence, not one ranking reveal. The most useful approach is to track how a player responds when competition, role and pressure change. DuPont's move to Michigan is a clear example: NCAA games give scouts a new environment in which to evaluate his decisions and physical adaptation after WHL success.

Club-season performance

Start with role. Is the prospect playing top-line or top-pair minutes? Does he appear on special teams, protect a lead or face the opponent's strongest players? Production matters, but usage reveals what coaches trust. Track improvement over months rather than reacting to one hot week.

International tournaments

Events such as under-18 competition and the World Junior Championship place prospects in shorter, high-pressure settings with unfamiliar teammates. DuPont and Joseph were already part of Canada's Hlinka Gretzky Cup story in August. Future events can show adaptability, but small samples should complement—not replace—the club season.

Central Scouting updates

Preliminary watch lists, midseason rankings and final rankings turn a broad class into a more formal reference. Each edition answers a different question. Early lists identify players to monitor; midseason lists reflect partial draft-year evidence; final lists summarize the scouting season. None guarantees the selection order because NHL clubs maintain their own boards.

Interviews, measurements and the combine

When the NHL confirms combine details, teams can gather standardized measurements, testing and interview information. Those results add context but should not erase game performance. A strong test does not automatically make a player the best hockey decision, and a single interview report should not be inflated into a character verdict.

Event and order announcements

Separately monitor NHL announcements for date, location, lottery procedure and broadcast. Then watch standings and postseason results until the order is complete. The site's current NHL games page is useful for following the league action that ultimately shapes the order, without turning this evergreen guide into a stale score page.

2027 NHL Draft FAQ

Who is projected first? Landon DuPont is NHL.com's early projected No. 1 as of this update. Are the date and location confirmed? No; both remain TBD. Is the draft order available? No official final order can exist before season, lottery, playoff and transaction inputs are resolved. Can rankings change? Yes. The entire purpose of the draft year is to collect new evidence.

Readers should bookmark the NHL Draft topic hub and this guide, but always note the update date beside a ranking. The strongest current conclusion is narrow: DuPont leads the early public conversation, several forwards have credible top-of-class cases, and every logistical or order detail must wait for official confirmation.

When a new claim appears, record its source, publication date and the competition involved. Separate an official measurement from an estimate, a completed game from a highlight clip, and a scout's attributed evaluation from an anonymous social-media opinion. A ranking with transparent evidence is more useful than a longer list that hides uncertainty.

Also distinguish development news from draft news. A college commitment, injury return or lineup promotion can change the evidence available to scouts, but it does not confirm where a player will be selected. Update the prospect note first; update the projected order only when a credible new evaluation supports doing so.