Chicago Steel land eight players in 2026 NHL Draft, extend pipeline

Eight current or former Chicago Steel players were selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, pushing the franchise to 70 all-time picks and giving another hard number to a reputation that keeps compounding. The draft ran June 26-27 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, and Chicago’s class accounted for a major slice of the United States Hockey League’s 43 total selections.

The first Steel player off the board was defenseman Jayden Kurtz, taken 45th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in the second round. That made Kurtz the first Chicago player selected in Round Two since Josh Doan went 37th overall to the Arizona Coyotes in 2021, a clean marker for how long it had been since the Steel had landed one that early. Former forward Ben Wilmott went 92nd to the Vegas Golden Knights, followed by Adam Valentini at 96th to the Utah Hockey Club and defenseman Jonas Kemps at 98th to the Florida Panthers, giving Chicago four names through the first three rounds.

The middle and late rounds kept the pace going. Cole Tuminaro went 140th to the Colorado Avalanche and Brian McFadden went 144th to the Washington Capitals in the fifth round. Former forward Will Tomko came off the board at 204th to the Seattle Kraken, and former goaltender Jack Parsons closed Chicago’s night at 220th overall to the Anaheim Ducks. The spread mattered as much as the total: Chicago sent defenders, forwards and a goalie into the draft, across current and former roster groups, not just one hot-age cohort.

That breadth is what makes the number jump out. The eight selections brought the Steel from 62 all-time NHL Draft picks after the 2025 draft to 70 in one year, and 42 of those picks have come in the last seven NHL Drafts. Chicago has also produced premium first-round names in Owen Power in 2021, Adam Fantilli in 2023 and Macklin Celebrini in 2024, the kind of top-end track record that keeps NHL scouts circling every spring. Buffalo added one more chapter to that run, and the Steel’s pipeline still looks like one of the USHL’s most efficient routes to the draft.