Lightning, Maple Leafs have NHL's least draft capital

The arms race in the Atlantic Division has heated up this month, with the Boston Bruins, Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning all making moves to boost their playoff chances.

As a result, Toronto and Tampa Bay sit at the bottom of the league in draft capital, with just three total picks in the first three rounds of the next three NHL Drafts.

The Maple Leafs moved their first-round picks in both 2023 and 2025, along with four other selections, in their moves to add Ryan O'Reilly and Noel Acciari from the St. Louis Blues, as well as Jake McCabe and Sam Lafferty from the Chicago Blackhawks. 

The Lightning dipped heavily into their future draft capital at last year's deadline, moving their first-round picks in 2023 and 2024 to acquire Brandon Hagel from the Chicago Blackhawks. Tampa Bay emptied the cupboards further on Sunday, moving five draft picks - including their 2024 first-rounder to acquire Tanner Jeannot from the Nashville Predators. 

The Bruins, who acquired Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway in a deal that included their 2023 first-round pick, have a total four picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, including their first-rounders in both 2024 and 2025.

Currently sitting outside the playoff picture, the Florida Panthers have yet to make their mark in the trade market this season, but have just four total selections - and no first-round picks - in the next three drafts.

The Montreal Canadiens are the clear leaders in draft capital in the Atlantic Division, with five first-round picks among their 11 picks in the top 96 of the next three drafts. Elsewhere in the division, the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings have 10 picks in the first three rounds through 2025, while the Ottawa Senators have seven, with all three teams owning three first-rounders.
 

Plenty of draft capital left in the Metropolitan 

The Metropolitan Division has also seen its fair share of blockbuster deals this season, including the New York Islanders adding Bo Horvat, the New York Rangers trading for Vladimir Tarasenko and, most recently, the New Jersey Devils acquiring Timo Meier.

Those teams all, however, still have significant capital compared to the Maple Leafs and Lightning.

The Devils sit at the bottom of the division with six picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts, but still own two first-rounders. The Islanders also have two first-round selections and a total of seven picks in the top 96 through 2025.

The Rangers, who also owned the Dallas Stars' first-round pick as a result of the Nils Lundqvist trade, traded the lower of their two first-rounders in the deal for Tarasenko. The team still has the higher of the two selections this year and their first-round pick in each of the following two drafts, with a total of eight picks in the first three rounds overall. The Rangers could still part with more picks in the coming days as the team continues to be linked to a move for Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane.

As a result of moving Orlov and Hathaway, the Capitals are tied with the Flyers for the division lead with four first-round picks. Washington has 10 picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts overall, while the Flyers have nine.

Along with the Rangers, the Carolina Hurricanes, Columbus Blue Jackets and Pittsburgh Penguins also have three first-round picks in their cupboards. The Hurricanes and Penguins are expected to buyers ahead of Friday's deadline, while the lottery-bound Blue Jackets continue to explore trades for Trade Bait's No. 3 player, defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov. 
 

Central Division stacked with picks 

With the Arizona Coyotes, Chicago Blackhawks, Nashville Predators and St. Louis Blues leading the way. the Central Division teams will spend plenty of time on the clock in the next three drafts. 

The Blackhawks have an NHL-high six first-round picks in the next three drafts, while the Blues have five and the Predators have four.

The Coyotes have three first-round picks, but own a league-high 18 selections in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. The Blackhawks are second in that category with 17, followed by Nashville at 14.

The Stars, who have two, are the only team in the division with fewer than three first-round picks, while the Colorado Avalanche have the lowest three-round total with five picks in the top 96 through 2025.

The Winnipeg Jets have seven selections to their name in the first three rounds of the next three drafts after sending a second-round pick to Nashville over the weekend for Nino Niederreiter.
 

Pacific cupboards full ahead of deadline

The Pacific is the NHL's only division where every team owns at least three first-round picks in the next draft three drafts and at least seven in the first three rounds through 2025.

The Anaheim Ducks lead the list with the 14 overall selections in the top 96 of the next three drafts, followed by the Seattle Kraken with 12. The San Jose Sharks (10 in the top 96) and Vancouver Canucks (nine), however, each have an edge with four first-rounders in their possession. The Ducks and Sharks numbers are reflective of Tuesday's trade that sent Henry Thrun to San Jose from Anaheim for a 2024 third-round pick.

The Edmonton Oilers rank at the bottom of the division with seven picks in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. The team could be set to lower that number further, as TSN Hockey Insider Darren Dreger reported Monday the Oilers have held conversations with the Predators on Mattias Ekholm and with the Montreal Canadiens on Joel Edmundson.

The Calgary Flames have eight selections in the first three rounds of the next three drafts. Calgary enters play Tuesday sitting four points back of the Kraken for the final wild-card spot in the Western Conference with one more game played.
 

*Charts displayed include picks property of a team barring it landing in the top-10 or any other stipulations