NHL entry draft
The NHL Entry Draft (Template:Lang-fr) is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available amateur ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirements (North American players 18–20 years old and Europeans of all ages entering the league for the first time, all others enter league as unrestricted free agents). The NHL Entry Draft is held once every year, generally within two to three months after the conclusion of the previous season. During the draft, teams take turns selecting amateur players from junior, collegiate, or European leagues.
The first draft was held in 1963, and has been held every year since. The NHL Entry Draft was known as the NHL Amateur Draft up until 1979. The entry draft has only been a public event since 1980, and a televised event since 1984.[1] Up to 1994, the order was solely determined by the standings at the end of the regular season. In 1995, the NHL Draft Lottery was introduced where only teams who had missed the playoffs could participate. The one lottery winner would move up the draft order a maximum of four places, meaning only the top five-placed teams could potentially pick first in the draft, and no team in the non-playoff group could move down more than one place. The chances of winning the lottery were weighted towards the teams at the bottom of the regular season standings. Beginning in 2013, the limit of moving up a maximum of four places in the draft order was eliminated, so the lottery winner would automatically receive the first overall pick, and any teams above it in the draft order would still move down one spot.
History
The first NHL Entry Draft (at that time known as the "NHL Amateur Draft") was held on June 5, 1963 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.[1] Any amateur player under the age of 20 was eligible to be drafted. In 1979, the rules were changed allowing players who had previously played professionally to be drafted. This rule change was made to facilitate the absorption of players from the defunct World Hockey Association. Consequently, the name of the draft was changed from "NHL Amateur Draft" to "NHL Entry Draft". Beginning in 1980, any player who is between the ages of 18 and 20 is eligible to be drafted. In addition, any non-North American player over the age of 20 can be selected. From 1987 through 1991, 18 and 19-year-old players could only be drafted in the first three rounds unless they met another criterion of experience which required them to have played in major junior, U.S. college and high school, or European hockey.[1][2]
In 1980, the Entry Draft became a public event, and was held at the Montreal Forum. Prior to that year the Entry Draft was conducted in Montreal hotels or league offices and was closed to the general public.[1] The first draft outside of Montreal was held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Ontario, in 1985.[3] Live television coverage of the draft began in 1984 when the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation covered the event in both English and French for Canadian audiences. The 1987 Entry Draft, held at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit, Michigan, was the first NHL Draft to be held in the United States. SportsChannel America began covering the event in the United States in 1989.[1]
Prior to the development of the Draft, NHL teams sponsored junior teams, and signed prospects in their teens to the junior teams. Players were signed to one of three forms: the "A" form, which committed a player to a tryout; a "B" form, which gave the team an option to sign a player in return for a bonus; and the "C" form, which committed a player's professional rights. The "C" form could only be signed by the player at age eighteen or by the player's parents, often in exchange for some signing bonus.[4] The first drafts (up until the 1968 Amateur Draft) were held to assign players who had not signed with an NHL organization before the sponsorship of junior teams was discontinued after 1968.
Selection order and draft lottery
The selection order in the NHL Entry Draft is determined by a combination of lottery, regular season standing, and playoff results. While teams are permitted to trade draft picks both during the draft and prior to it (sometimes several years prior), in all cases, the selection order of the draft picks is based on the original holder of the pick, not a team which may have acquired the pick via a trade or other means.[5][6] The order of picks discussed in this section always references the original team.
The basic order of the NHL Entry Draft is determined based on the standings of the teams in the previous season. As with the other major sports leagues, the basic draft order is intended to favour the teams with the weakest performance who presumably need the most improvement in their roster to compete with the other teams. Subject to the results of the NHL Draft Lottery (discussed below), the teams pick in the same order each round, with each team getting one pick per round. The basic order of the picks is determined as follows:[7]
- The teams that did not qualify for the playoffs the previous season (picks 1–14)
- The teams that made the playoffs in the previous season but did not win either their division in the regular season or the Stanley Cup (picks 15–25 or 26)
- The teams that won their divisions in the previous season but did not win the Stanley Cup (picks 26 or 27–29)
- The team that won the Stanley Cup in the previous season (pick 30)
The number of teams in the second and third group depends on whether the Stanley Cup winner also won its division. The teams in each group (other than the Stanley Cup winner) are ordered within that group based on their point totals in the preceding regular season (with the lowest point total picking first). Tie-breakers are governed by the same rules used to determine ties in the regular season standings. The order of picks 1–14 may change during the first round of the draft based on the results of the NHL Draft lottery. In the subsequent rounds, the basic order based on point totals is used.[6]
When teams lose their rights to a first round draft choice, because that player was not signed to a contract and consequently re-entered the entry draft or became an unrestricted free agent, they are awarded a compensatory draft pick. This selection will be the same numerical choice as the first round draft pick who was not signed, but in the second round. For example, if a team cannot sign the seventh overall first round draft choice, it will receive the seventh pick in the second round of the next draft as compensation.[8]
Draft lottery
At the conclusion of the regular season, the 14 teams that did not qualify for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in the first round. The teams are seeded in the basic draft order based on their regular season point totals. The odds of winning the lottery are weighted on a descending scale that gives the greatest chance of winning to the team with the lowest point total (20%), and the worst chance to the team with the highest point total (1%).
The prize for winning the draft lottery is to be upgraded to pick first in the first round of the draft, with each team that preceded the winner in the basic draft order bumped one pick lower. For example, if the team with the 5th worst point total wins the lottery, it would pick first, and the teams with the worst through 4th-worst records would pick second through fifth. The remaining teams would be unaffected. The teams would return to the basic order for the second and all subsequent rounds.
From its inception until 2015, there was one winner for the lottery, who would win the first pick in the draft. Beginning with the 2016 draft, three winners are picked in the lottery. These teams win the first three picks in the lottery, with the remaining teams dropping as many as three places from their spot in the basic order.[9]
The NHL Draft Lottery takes place during the Stanley Cup playoffs and is hosted at Sportsnet's studios in Toronto from 2015 onwards. From 2006 to 2014, the draft lottery took place at TSN's studios in Toronto.
Eligible players
All players who will be 18 years old on or before September 15 and not older than 20 years old before December 31 of the draft year are eligible for selection for that year's NHL Entry Draft. In addition, non-North American players over the age of 20 are eligible.[10]
List of NHL Entry Drafts
Draft | Location | City | Date | Total drafted | #1 pick |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1963 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 5, 1963 | 21 | Garry Monahan (Montreal Canadiens) |
1964 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 11, 1964 | 24 | Claude Gauthier (Detroit Red Wings) |
1965 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | April 27, 1965 | 11 | Andre Veilleux (New York Rangers) |
1966 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | April 25, 1966 | 24 | Barry Gibbs (Boston Bruins) |
1967 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | July 7, 1967 | 18 | Rick Pagnutti (Los Angeles Kings) |
1968 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 13, 1968 | 24 | Michel Plasse (Montreal Canadiens) |
1969 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 11, 1969 | 84 | Rejean Houle (Montreal Canadiens) |
1970 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 11, 1970 | 115 | Gilbert Perreault (Buffalo Sabres) |
1971 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 10, 1971 | 117 | Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens) |
1972 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 8, 1972 | 152 | Billy Harris (New York Islanders) |
1973 | Mount Royal Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | May 15, 1973 | 168 | Denis Potvin (New York Islanders) |
1974 | NHL Montreal Office | Montreal, Quebec | May 28, 1974 | 247 | Greg Joly (Washington Capitals) |
1975 | NHL Montreal Office | Montreal, Quebec | June 3, 1975 | 217 | Mel Bridgman (Philadelphia Flyers) |
1976 | NHL Montreal Office | Montreal, Quebec | June 1, 1976 | 135 | Rick Green (Washington Capitals) |
1977 | NHL Montreal Office | Montreal, Quebec | June 14, 1977 | 185 | Dale McCourt (Detroit Red Wings) |
1978 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | June 15, 1978 | 234 | Bobby Smith (Minnesota North Stars) |
1979 | Queen Elizabeth Hotel | Montreal, Quebec | August 9, 1979 | 126 | Rob Ramage (Colorado Rockies) |
1980 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 11, 1980 | 210 | Doug Wickenheiser (Montreal Canadiens) |
1981 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 10, 1981 | 211 | Dale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg Jets) |
1982 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 9, 1982 | 252 | Gord Kluzak (Boston Bruins) |
1983 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 8, 1983 | 242 | Brian Lawton (Minnesota North Stars) |
1984 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 9, 1984 | 250 | Mario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
1985 | Toronto Convention Centre | Toronto, Ontario | June 15, 1985 | 252 | Wendel Clark (Toronto Maple Leafs) |
1986 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 21, 1986 | 252 | Joe Murphy (Detroit Red Wings) |
1987 | Joe Louis Arena | Detroit, Michigan | June 13, 1987 | 252 | Pierre Turgeon (Buffalo Sabres) |
1988 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 11, 1988 | 252 | Mike Modano (Minnesota North Stars) |
1989 | Met Center | Bloomington, Minnesota | June 17, 1989 | 252 | Mats Sundin (Quebec Nordiques) |
1990 | BC Place | Vancouver, British Columbia | June 16, 1990 | 250 | Owen Nolan (Quebec Nordiques) |
1991 | Buffalo Memorial Auditorium | Buffalo, New York | June 22, 1991 | 264 | Eric Lindros (Quebec Nordiques) |
1992 | Montreal Forum | Montreal, Quebec | June 20, 1992 | 264 | Roman Hamrlik (Tampa Bay Lightning) |
1993 | Colisee de Quebec | Quebec City, Quebec | June 26, 1993 and June 27, 1993 | 286 | Alexandre Daigle (Ottawa Senators) |
1994 | Hartford Civic Center | Hartford, Connecticut | June 28, 1994 | 286 | Ed Jovanovski (Florida Panthers) |
1995 | Edmonton Coliseum | Edmonton, Alberta | June 28, 1995 | 234 | Bryan Berard (Ottawa Senators) |
1996 | Kiel Center | St. Louis, Missouri | June 22, 1996 | 241 | Chris Phillips (Ottawa Senators) |
1997 | Civic Arena | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | June 21, 1997 | 246 | Joe Thornton (Boston Bruins) |
1998 | Marine Midland Arena | Buffalo, New York | June 27, 1998 | 258 | Vincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning) |
1999 | FleetCenter | Boston, Massachusetts | June 26, 1999 | 272 | Patrik Stefan (Atlanta Thrashers) |
2000 | Canadian Airlines Saddledome | Calgary, Alberta | June 24, 2000 and June 25, 2000 | 293 | Rick DiPietro (New York Islanders) |
2001 | National Car Rental Center | Sunrise, Florida | June 23, 2001 and June 24, 2001 | 289 | Ilya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers) |
2002 | Air Canada Centre | Toronto, Ontario | June 22, 2002 and June 23, 2002 | 290 | Rick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets) |
2003 | Gaylord Entertainment Center | Nashville, Tennessee | June 21, 2003 and June 22, 2003 | 292 | Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
2004 | RBC Center | Raleigh, North Carolina | June 26, 2004 and June 27, 2004 | 291 | Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals) |
2005 | Westin Hotel Ottawa | Ottawa, Ontario | July 30, 2005 | 230 | Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins) |
2006 | General Motors Place | Vancouver, British Columbia | June 24, 2006 | 213 | Erik Johnson (St. Louis Blues) |
2007 | Nationwide Arena | Columbus, Ohio | June 22, 2007 and June 23, 2007 | 211 | Patrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks) |
2008 | Scotiabank Place | Ottawa, Ontario | June 20, 2008 and June 21, 2008 | 211 | Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning) |
2009 | Bell Centre | Montreal, Quebec | June 26, 2009 and June 27, 2009 | 211 | John Tavares (New York Islanders) |
2010 | Staples Center | Los Angeles, California | June 25, 2010 and June 26, 2010 | 210 | Taylor Hall (Edmonton Oilers) |
2011 | Xcel Energy Center | St. Paul, Minnesota | June 24, 2011 and June 25, 2011 | 211 | Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton Oilers) |
2012 | Consol Energy Center | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania | June 22, 2012 and June 23, 2012 | 211 | Nail Yakupov (Edmonton Oilers) |
2013 | Prudential Center | Newark, New Jersey | June 28, 2013 and June 29, 2013
Revised to June 30, 2013 |
211 | Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche) |
2014 | Wells Fargo Center | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania | June 27, 2014 and June 28, 2014 | 210 | Aaron Ekblad (Florida Panthers) |
2015 | BB&T Center | Sunrise, Florida | June 26, 2015 and June 27, 2015 | 211 | Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers) |
2016 | First Niagara Center | Buffalo, New York | June 24, 2016 and June 25, 2016 | TBA | TBA |
2017 | United Center | Chicago, Illinois | June 23, 2017 and June 24, 2017 | TBA | TBA |
References
- General
- "NHL Draft – Historical Top Draft Picks". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- "NHL Draft Historic Locations". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-01.
- "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- Specific
- ^ a b c d e "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ Kimelman, Adam (2009-06-10). "Picking top 3 all-time draft classes easy as 1 2 3". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ Kreiser, John (2009-06-25). "Drafting by the Numbers". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ Brunt, Stephen (2006). Searching for Bobby Orr. p. 53. ISBN 978-0-676-97651-9.
- ^ "Islanders have best shot at top pick". National Hockey League. 2009-04-14. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ a b Kimelman, Adam (2009-06-13). "Final order for Entry Draft set". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2009-07-02.
- ^ "Hockey Operations Guidelines". National Hockey League. 2010-05-10. Retrieved 2016-04-18.
- ^ National Hockey League Collective Bargaining Agreement, Article 8: Entry Draft
- ^ "NHL announces changes to Draft Lottery format". NHL.com. August 20, 2014. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ "Entry Draft Eligibility". National Hockey League. Retrieved 2010-10-31.
See also
- KHL Junior Draft
- List of NHL first overall draft choices
- List of NHL players
- List of undrafted NHL players with 100 games played
- Taro Tsujimoto