BUFFALO, N.Y. — The Buffalo Sabres will be hosting the 2026 NHL Draft.

NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the decision on Monday in a news conference alongside Sabres owner Terry Pegula. The NHL Draft is currently scheduled for June 26 and 27. KeyBank Center will serve as the host venue.

“This is a great sports town, a great hockey market,” Bettman said. “The reception we get here is always terrific. Fans are knowledgeable and passionate. They have a great organization with great ownership. All of the factors that you would take into account, the boxes were checked.”

Of note, there are some changes coming to the format compared to last year’s event in Los Angeles.

“Since it was the first time decentralizing, we wanted to try some things out that would be new and different than you see perhaps in other drafts,” Bettman said. “I think the first round might have been a little overproduced. We learned some things worked, and some things didn’t work. I think we’re going to look to streamline it.”

The Sabres last hosted the draft in 2016 when the Toronto Maple Leafs took Auston Matthews at No. 1. This version of the draft will look a bit different. Last year, the league moved to a decentralized format for the draft, which meant the team executives, coaches and scouts stayed in their home cities while the players and their families were in the host city and were greeted on stage by Bettman after getting picked.

This will be the fourth time the NHL Draft has been in Buffalo. In addition to 2016, the Sabres also hosted the draft in 1991 and 1998. Buffalo also serves as the host city for the NHL Scouting Combine, which takes place during the first week of June at the LECOM Harborcenter. This is part of an ongoing effort from Pegula and COO Pete Guelli to bring more events to Buffalo. After the Sabres fired general manager Kevyn Adams last month, Guelli told The Athletic, “We’re not going to rest until Buffalo is the center of the hockey universe again.”

Bettman has been similarly bullish on Buffalo as a market. He was in town for opening night and expressed optimism about the direction of the team. The Sabres have won 13 of their last 14 games heading into their game against the Florida Panthers on Monday. And they have had six sellouts this season, already exceeding their total from all of last season. Just as he did at the season opener, Bettman expressed his faith in Sabres ownership and the direction of the team.

“It’s great to see the fans engaged,” Bettman said. “It’s great to see a team that’s been through a rebuilding process have success.”