The NHL Entry Draft 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 the eligibility requirements to play professional hockey in the NHL. 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] The first pick of the draft goes to the team that wins the NHL Draft Lottery, held prior to the event. The draft lottery also places the order for picks two through fourteen. The remaining draft picks are ordered at the conclusion of the Stanley Cup playoffs.^[2][3]

Contents 1 History 2 Selection order and Draft lottery 3 List of NHL Entry Drafts 4 References 5 See also

[edit] History

The first NHL Entry Draft (then known as the "NHL Amateur Draft") was held on June 5, 1963 at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal, Quebec.^[1] Any amateur player that was 17 years of age and older, and was not already sponsored by an NHL club was eligible to be drafted. In 1969, the rules were changed so that any amateur player under the age of 20 was eligible to be drafted. In 1979, the rules were again changed, as they now allowed players who had previously played professionally to be drafted. This rule change was made to facilitate the absorption of players from the now 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 through 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 criteria of experience which required them to have played in major junior, U.S. college and high school, or European hockey.^[1][4]

In 1980, the Entry Draft became a public event, and was held at the Montreal Forum. Prior to this 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.^[5] 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. SportsChannel America began covering the event in the United States in 1989.^[1]

[edit] Selection order and Draft lottery

The selection order in the Entry Draft is determined by a combination of lottery, regular season standing, and playoff results. However, teams are permitted to trade draft picks. In all cases, the team considered is the original holder of the draft pick, not a team which may have acquired the pick via a trade or other means.^[2][3]

At the conclusion of the regular season, the 14 NHL teams not qualifying for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in each round, seeded according to regular season standing. The 30th-place team has a 25% chance of winning the lottery, with odds diminishing to a 0.5% chance for the 17th-place team. A single selection from the lottery pool is made, with the winning team eligible to improve its draft order by up to four places, and no team eligible to drop more than one place. Therefore, only the 26th through 30th place teams are eligible to receive the first draft pick.^[6][7] Consequently, the 30th place team's chance of retaining the first overall pick improves to 48.2%.^[2]

The remaining order is determined by the Stanley Cup playoff results.^[7] Whichever team wins the Stanley Cup is awarded the 30th and last pick, while the runner-up is given the 29th pick. The teams eliminated in the conference finals are awarded the 28th and 27th picks, with the 28th pick going to the team with the better regular season record. Remaining division winners, then wildcard teams are ranked next, filling in the 26th through 15th picks. In both cases, better records result in later picks. The Draft Lottery also determines the teams that will pick in spots three through fourteen.^[3]

[edit] List of NHL Entry Drafts

Draft	Arena	City	Date	Total drafted	#1 pick
1963	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01963-06-05 June 5, 1963	21	Monahan, GarryGarry Monahan (Montreal Canadiens)
1964	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01964-06-11 June 11, 1964	24	Gauthier, ClaudeClaude Gauthier (Detroit Red Wings)
1965	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01965-04-27 April 27, 1965	11	Veilleux, AndreAndre Veilleux (New York Rangers)
1966	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01966-04-25 April 25, 1966	24	Gibbs, BarryBarry Gibbs (Boston Bruins)
1967	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01967-07-07 July 7, 1967	18	Pagnutti, RickRick Pagnutti (Los Angeles Kings)
1968	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01968-06-13 June 13, 1968	24	Plasse, MichelMichel Plasse (Montreal Canadiens)
1969	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01969-06-12 June 12, 1969	84	Houle, RejeanRejean Houle (Montreal Canadiens)
1970	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01970-06-11 June 11, 1970	115	Perreault, GilbertGilbert Perreault (Buffalo Sabres)
1971	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01971-06-10 June 10, 1971	117	Lafleur, GuyGuy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens)
1972	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01972-06-08 June 8, 1972	152	Harris, BillyBilly Harris (New York Islanders)
1973	Mount Royal Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01973-05-15 May 15, 1973	168	Potvin, DenisDenis Potvin (New York Islanders)
1974	NHL Montreal Office	Montreal, Quebec	01974-05-28 May 28, 1974	247	Joly, GregGreg Joly (Washington Capitals)
1975	NHL Montreal Office	Montreal, Quebec	01975-06-03 June 3, 1975	217	Bridgman, MelMel Bridgman (Philadelphia Flyers)
1976	NHL Montreal Office	Montreal, Quebec	01976-06-01 June 1, 1976	135	Green, RickRick Green (Washington Capitals)
1977	NHL Montreal Office	Montreal, Quebec	01977-06-14 June 14, 1977	185	McCourt, DaleDale McCourt (Detroit Red Wings)
1978	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01978-06-15 June 15, 1978	234	Smith, BobbyBobby Smith (Minnesota North Stars)
1979	Queen Elizabeth Hotel	Montreal, Quebec	01979-08-09 August 9, 1979	126	Ramage, RobRob Ramage (Colorado Rockies)
1980	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01980-06-11 June 11, 1980	210	Wickenheiser, DougDoug Wickenheiser (Montreal Canadiens)
1981	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01981-06-10 June 10, 1981	211	Hawerchuk, DaleDale Hawerchuk (Winnipeg Jets)
1982	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01982-06-09 June 9, 1982	252	Kluzak, GordGord Kluzak (Boston Bruins)
1983	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01983-06-08 June 8, 1983	242	Lawton, BrianBrian Lawton (Minnesota North Stars)
1984	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01984-06-09 June 9, 1984	250	Lemieux, MarioMario Lemieux (Pittsburgh Penguins)
1985	Toronto Convention Centre	Toronto, Ontario	01985-06-15 June 15, 1985	252	Clark, WendelWendel Clark (Toronto Maple Leafs)
1986	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01986-06-21 June 21, 1986	252	Murphy, JoeJoe Murphy (Detroit Red Wings)
1987	Joe Louis Arena	Detroit, Michigan	01987-06-13 June 13, 1987	252	Turgeon, PierrePierre Turgeon (Buffalo Sabres)
1988	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01988-06-11 June 11, 1988	252	Modano, MikeMike Modano (Minnesota North Stars)
1989	Metropolitan Sports Center	Bloomington, Minnesota	01989-06-17 June 17, 1989	252	Sundin, MatsMats Sundin (Quebec Nordiques)
1990	B.C. Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	01990-06-16 June 16, 1990	250	Nolan, OwenOwen Nolan (Quebec Nordiques)
1991	Buffalo Memorial Auditorium	Buffalo, New York	01991-06-22 June 22, 1991	264	Lindros, EricEric Lindros (Quebec Nordiques)
1992	Montreal Forum	Montreal, Quebec	01992-06-20 June 20, 1992	264	Hamrlik, RomanRoman Hamrlik (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1993	Colisee de Quebec	Quebec City, Quebec	01993-06-26 June 26, 1993 and 01993-06-27 June 27, 1993	286	Daigle, AlexandreAlexandre Daigle (Ottawa Senators)
1994	Hartford Civic Center	Hartford, Connecticut	01994-06-28 June 28, 1994	286	Jovanovski, EdEd Jovanovski (Florida Panthers)
1995	Edmonton Coliseum	Edmonton, Alberta	01995-06-28 June 28, 1995	234	Berard, BryanBryan Berard (Ottawa Senators)
1996	Kiel Center	St. Louis, Missouri	01996-06-22 June 22, 1996	241	Phillips, ChrisChris Phillips (Ottawa Senators)
1997	Civic Arena	Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania	01997-06-21 June 21, 1997	246	Thornton, JoeJoe Thornton (Boston Bruins)
1998	Marine Midland Arena	Buffalo, New York	01998-06-27 June 27, 1998	258	Lecavalier, VincentVincent Lecavalier (Tampa Bay Lightning)
1999	FleetCenter	Boston, Massachusetts	01999-06-26 June 26, 1999	272	Stefan, PatrikPatrik Stefan (Atlanta Thrashers)
2000	Canadian Airlines Saddledome	Calgary, Alberta	02000-06-24 June 24, 2000 and 02000-06-25 June 25, 2000	293	DiPietro, RickRick DiPietro (New York Islanders)
2001	National Car Rental Center	Sunrise, Florida	02001-06-23 June 23, 2001 and 02001-06-24 June 24, 2001	289	Kovalchuk, IlyaIlya Kovalchuk (Atlanta Thrashers)
2002	Air Canada Centre	Toronto, Ontario	02002-06-22 June 22, 2002 and 02002-06-23 June 23, 2002	290	Nash, RickRick Nash (Columbus Blue Jackets)
2003	Gaylord Entertainment Center	Nashville, Tennessee	02003-06-21 June 21, 2003 and 02003-06-22 June 22, 2003	292	Fleury, Marc-AndreMarc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2004	RBC Center	North Carolina	02004-06-26 June 26, 2004 and 02004-06-27 June 27, 2004	291	Ovechkin, AlexAlex Ovechkin (Washington Capitals)
2005	Sheraton Hotel and Towers	Ottawa, Ontario	02005-07-30 July 30, 2005	230	Crosby, SidneySidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins)
2006	General Motors Place	Vancouver, British Columbia	02006-06-24 June 24, 2006	213	Johnson, ErikErik Johnson (St. Louis Blues)
2007	Nationwide Arena	Columbus, Ohio	02007-06-22 June 22, 2007 and 02007-06-23 June 23, 2007	211	Kane, PatrickPatrick Kane (Chicago Blackhawks)
2008	Scotiabank Place	Ottawa, Ontario	02008-06-20 June 20, 2008 and 02008-06-21 June 21, 2008	211	Stamkos, StevenSteven Stamkos (Tampa Bay Lightning)
2009	Bell Centre	Montreal, Quebec	02009-06-26 June 26, 2009 and 02009-06-27 June 27, 2009	211	Tavares, JohnJohn Tavares (New York Islanders)

[edit] References

General

• "Entry Draft Historic First selections". National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=31886. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 

• "Entry Draft Historic Locations". National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/ice/page.htm?id=31885. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 

• "2009 Drafted Players". National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/ice/draftsearch.htm?year=2009. Retrieved 2009-07-01. 

• "NHL Draft History". National Hockey League. http://www.nhl.com/futures/drafthistory.html. Retrieved 2009-07-02. 

Specific

[edit] See also

• List of NHL first overall draft choices
• List of NHL players
• List of undrafted NHL players

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