NHL entry draft facts for kids

The stage at the 2008 NHL entry draft in Ottawa, Ontario

The NHL Entry Draft is a special yearly event for the National Hockey League (NHL). During this event, each NHL team gets to pick young, talented ice hockey players. These players are usually from junior or college leagues, or professional leagues in Europe.

The draft helps teams get new players to make their rosters stronger. Players must be a certain age to be picked. For North American players, they are usually 18 to 20 years old. For European and international players, they can be 18 to 21 years old. If a player is older than these ages, they can join the league as a "free agent" instead of being drafted.

The first draft happened in 1963. Back then, it was called the "NHL Amateur Draft." The name changed to "NHL Entry Draft" in 1979. For many years, the draft was a private event. It only became public in 1980 and was first shown on TV in 1984.

Before 1995, the team with the worst record picked first. But in 1995, the NHL Draft Lottery was created. This lottery gives teams that didn't make the playoffs a chance to pick higher. The rules for the lottery have changed several times to make it fairer. Since 2022, the lottery winners can only move up a certain number of spots.

History of the Draft

The very first NHL draft was held on June 5, 1963, in Montreal, Quebec. It was a small event compared to today's drafts.

In 1967, big changes were made to how players were signed. Before this, NHL teams would "sponsor" junior teams and sign young players very early. This meant players often couldn't choose which team they wanted to play for. The new rules made it so junior players could become eligible for the draft when they finished junior hockey or turned 20. This helped make the playing field more even for all NHL teams.

The NHL briefly changed the drafting age to 18 in 1974. This was to compete with another league, the WHA, which was signing younger players. But the 20-year-old rule came back for the 1975 draft.

In 1979, the rules changed again. Players who had already played professionally could now be drafted. This helped bring players from the World Hockey Association into the NHL when that league closed down. This is also when the draft's name changed to "NHL Entry Draft." The age limit was also lowered to include 19-year-olds, and then to 18-year-olds in 1980.

The draft became a public event in 1980 at the Montreal Forum. Before that, it was held in private offices or hotels. The first draft held outside Montreal was in Toronto in 1985. Live TV coverage for Canadian fans started in 1984. The first NHL draft in the United States was in Detroit in 1987.

In October 2023, the NHL decided to change the draft format starting in 2025. It will become more "decentralized," like the NBA and NFL drafts. This means only the players being drafted and team representatives will be at the event. Teams will make their picks from their own offices.

How the Draft Order Works

The order in which teams pick players in the NHL Entry Draft is decided in a few ways. It depends on a special lottery, how teams finished in the previous season, and how they did in the playoffs. Teams can trade their draft picks, but the original team's standing still determines the pick's spot in the order.

The main idea behind the draft order is to help teams that didn't do so well. This gives them a better chance to pick top players and improve their team. Each team usually gets one pick per round.

Here's a simple breakdown of how the picks are generally ordered:

• Teams that did not make the playoffs pick first (picks 1–16).
• Teams that made the playoffs but didn't win their division or play in the Conference Finals pick next (picks 17–24, up to 28).
• Teams that won their divisions but didn't play in the Conference Finals (potentially picks 25–28).
• Teams that lost in the Conference Finals pick after that (picks 29 and 30).
• The team that lost in the Stanley Cup Finals picks second to last (pick 31).
• The team that won the Stanley Cup picks last (pick 32).

Within each group, teams pick based on how many points they earned in the regular season. The team with the fewest points picks first in that group. The order of the first 16 picks can change because of the NHL Draft Lottery.

The Draft Lottery

After the regular season ends, the 16 teams that didn't make the playoffs enter a special lottery. This lottery decides the very first picks in the draft. The team with the worst record has the best chance to win the lottery.

If a team wins the lottery, they get to move up to a higher pick in the first round. All the teams that were supposed to pick before them will move down one spot. For example, if the team with the 5th worst record wins the lottery, they would get the first pick. The teams that had the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th worst records would then pick 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th.

Over the years, the lottery rules have changed:

• From 1995 to 2012, only one team won the lottery, and they could only move up a maximum of four spots.
• From 2013 to 2015, the lottery winner automatically got the first overall pick.
• From 2016 to 2020, three teams could win the lottery, getting the top three picks.
• Starting in 2021, only two teams win the lottery, getting the top two picks.
• Since 2022, a team winning the lottery can only move up a maximum of ten spots. Also, a team can only win the lottery twice in a five-year period.

The NHL Draft Lottery usually happens during the Stanley Cup playoffs. It is broadcast from the NHL Network's studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.

Who Can Be Drafted

Players who will be 18 years old by September 15th of the draft year, and not older than 20 years old by December 31st of the draft year, can be picked in the NHL Entry Draft. Also, players from outside North America who are 21 years old are also eligible.

List of NHL Entry Drafts

Where to Watch the Draft

The NHL Draft is shown on TV for fans to watch. SportsChannel America was the first to show the draft in the United States, starting in 1989.

Today, you can watch the draft on ESPN, Sportsnet, and TVA Sports. The NHL Network also broadcasts parts of the draft. In the past, NBC Sports used to show the draft on NBCSN.

See also

• KHL Junior Draft
• List of first overall NHL draft picks
• List of undrafted NHL players with 100 games played
• Taro Tsujimoto