NHL Draft preview: What we know about the draft order shakeup

The 2026 NHL Draft is just two days away, but the action started early with a flurry of picks and players traded over the last few days. Today, the Prospect Series crew breaks down the deals for Bowen Byram, Jordan Kyrou, William Eklund, and Simon Nemec, the total shakeup to the draft order, and last minute intel ahead of Friday night. Plus, quick thoughts on highly-touted 2027 prospect Landon DuPont reportedly going to Michigan next season. This episode was recorded live at 12:00pm ET on June 24, 2026. Join us for The Athletic Hockey Show x FloHockey NHL Draft Live on YouTube for the entire first round of the NHL Draft on Friday, June 26 at 7:00pm ET and a full draft recap after the last pick is made on Saturday, June 27. 0:00:29: Intro 0:01:19: Breaking down yesterday’s trade explosion 0:21:15: Is this a new era of NHL trades because free agency is lacking? 0:26:53: How did the wild day of trades impact the NHL Draft order? 0:31:56: Could the first four picks in the NHL Draft all be forwards? 0:34:31: What will the San Jose Sharks do at No. 9? 0:37:11: Who are the slide and rise candidates at the NHL Draft? 0:40:28: Corey’s takeaways from Dan Milstein’s Gold Star pre-draft camp 0:43:27: Top 2027 NHL Draft prospect Landon DuPont is headed to Michigan For more Athletic Hockey Show content: Join The Athletic Hockey Show Discord Server: / discord Follow The Athletic Hockey Show wherever you listen to podcasts: https://podfollow.com/the-athletic-ho... Follow our hosts on Bluesky: Max Bultman: https://bsky.app/profile/mbultman.bsk... Mark Lazerus: https://bsky.app/profile/marklazerus.... Jesse Granger: https://bsky.app/profile/jessegranger... Sean Gentille: https://bsky.app/profile/seangentille... Sean McIndoe: https://bsky.app/profile/downgoesbrow... Hailey Salvian: https://bsky.app/profile/haileysalvia... Scott Wheeler: https://bsky.app/profile/scottcwheele... Chris Peters: https://bsky.app/profile/chrismpeters... Follow our hosts on X: Max Bultman: https://x.com/m_bultman Mark Lazerus: https://x.com/MarkLazerus Jesse Granger: https://x.com/JesseGranger_ Sean Gentille: https://x.com/seangentille Sean McIndoe: https://x.com/DownGoesBrown Frank Corrado: https://x.com/frankcorrado22 Hailey Salvian: https://x.com/hailey_salvian Corey Pronman: https://x.com/coreypronman Chris Peters: https://x.com/chrismpeters Scott Wheeler: https://x.com/scottcwheeler Subscribe to The Athletic: https://theathletic.com/hockeyshow Photo credits: Johan NILSSON / TT News Agency / AFP) / Sweden OUT / Barry Reeger-Imagn Images