NHL commissioner Gary Bettman looks on as Jaxon Cover of the United States is drafted by the Ottawa Senators with the 32nd overall pick during day one of the 2026 NHL Draft on June 26, 2026 in Buffalo, N.Y. Photo by Bruce Bennett /Getty Images

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From the Cayman Islands to Canada’s capital — Jaxon Cover is the newest Ottawa Senator.

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The Senators selected the speedy, skilled forward with the final pick of Round 1 of the 2026 NHL Draft.

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“I told myself I wouldn’t cry, but I saw my mom and then the emotions started going,” Cover said. “A couple tears came down. It was just awesome to just spend that time with my family and friends. It meant the world to me.”

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Cover is by far the coolest story to come out of the draft. He grew up in the Western Caribbean territory where the one rink in the area was dedicated purely to roller hockey — it had no ice. Cover was a roller hockey phenom for nearly a decade before moving to Canada and falling in love with ice hockey just before high school.

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“I’m just most proud of how hard I’ve worked,” Cover said. “Just the progression I made in such a short span of time.”

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Cover didn’t play ice hockey, didn’t even know all the rules, until his U14 year. A few seasons later, playing AAA for the first time, he was selected by the London Knights in the fourth round of the Ontario Hockey League draft.

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“If I didn’t hear my name called tonight I would’ve been completely fine with that,” Cover said. “Because if you told me I would be in this situation even at the start of the year I wouldn’t believe you.”

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Sens head scout Don Boyd spoke eagerly about the “untapped potential” Cover has.

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“It’s a great story, but we drafted him because we believe that he’s got ability; we believe that he’s got skill,” Boyd said. “We believe he’s going to have a chance to be an offensive guy.

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“He plays in a good program. We know he’s going to get good coaching. We know he’s going to be managed well.”

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After the rules around NCAA eligibility were re-written, the Penn State University commit joined the Knights for his 17-year-old rookie season and racked up 52 points (20 goals, 32 assists) in 67 games. He wears No. 87 for his idol, Sidney Crosby.

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“I feel that if you really, truly do love something, you don’t need to play it your whole life or need to grow up playing it,” Cover said. “I want to teach kids from unconventional places that even though you’re from an unconventional place, you can still play a sport that you love, or you can find a passion that you love.”

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General manager Steve Staios had been shopping the club’s assets around all week, but this was the one pick that Ottawa actually wasn’t allowed to deal.

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The Senators were originally penalized with the forfeiture of a first-round draft choice in either 2024, 2025 or 2026 for botching a trade with the Vegas Golden Knights in 2021, failing to communicate the player’s proper no-trade list.

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The Sens opted not to forfeit the 2024 or 2025 selection, hoping for a lesser penalty down the road. Owner Michael Andlauer’s hard work advocating behind the scenes ultimately paid off, as commissioner Gary Bettman decided in mid-March that Ottawa would receive the final pick of the first round in 2026, non-tradable, regardless of where the team finished in the standings.

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The Senators addressed a dire need for more forward prospects in the system Friday night; outside of wingers Kasper Halttunen and Blake Montgomery, the cupboards were rather bare up front.

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Barring any trades, the Sens make three selections in the third round (72nd, 87th, 91st), one in the fourth (110th), one in the fifth (151st) and one in the sixth (183rd).

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