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All seven rounds of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft will be held virtually on Tuesday, October 6 and Wednesday, October 7.
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How the NHL Draft Works
One of the most common questions related to the NHL Draft is, “How many rounds are there?” The answer to that question has changed over time, but as of 2019, there are seven rounds in the NHL Draft.
Here’s a quick overview of how the NHL Draft works:
-The NHL Draft is held every year in late June/early July.
-Teams take turns selecting eligible players who have been drafted by that team.
-Players can be drafted from anywhere in the world, but most are from North America (NHL teams have an exclusive agreements with Canadian Hockey League teams for players aged 18-20).
-Players must be 18 years old by December 31st of the year they are drafted in order to be eligible.
-Once a player is drafted, they become property of that team and can be signed to an entry level contract.
-Players who are not drafted become free agents and can sign with any team.
The NHL Draft Lottery
The NHL Draft Lottery is used to determine the order of selection for the first 14 picks of the NHL Entry Draft. The Lottery is held annually, prior to the Entry Draft. The teams that finish with the fewest points in the regular season are entered into the Lottery, with the chance to win the first overall pick. The team that wins the Lottery will draft no lower than fourth overall.
NHL Draft Order
There are seven rounds in the NHL draft, with each team having one pick in each round. The order of the draft is determined by a lottery, which is held before the start of the NHL season. The team that wins the lottery gets the first overall pick, while the other teams are sorted in reverse order of their standings from the previous season.
NHL Draft Eligibility
You must be 18 years of age or older on or before December 31 of the year in which you are drafted in order to be eligible for selection in that NHL Entry Draft. If you turn 19 between January 1 and September 15, you are still eligible for that year’s draft. For example, a player who is born on August 10, 2001, would be eligible for selection in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, but a player born on August 11, 2001 would not be eligible until the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
NHL Entry Draft
The NHL Entry Draft is an annual meeting in which every franchise of the National Hockey League (NHL) systematically select the rights to available ice hockey players who meet draft eligibility requirements (North American players 18–20 years old and European/international players 18–21 years old). The NHL Entry Draft was first held in 1963, and has been commonly referred to as the “draft” ever since.
NHL Draft History
NHL teams have been selecting players through the draft since its inception in 1963. The draft has changed significantly over the years, both in terms of how many rounds there are and how the selection process works.
In the early years of the draft, there were as many as 21 rounds, with each team selecting a player in each round. The number of rounds gradually decreased over time, and by 1975 there were only 12 rounds. In 1986, the NHL reduced the draft to 10 rounds, where it remained until 2005. In 2006, the league once again expanded the draft, this time to 7 rounds.
The selection process has also changed over time. In the early years of the draft, all players who were eligible (i.e., age-appropriate and not already under contract with an NHL team) were available to be drafted by any team. In 1967, however, the NHL introduced a system whereby each team was given exclusive rights to draft players from its home territory (i.e., those who played junior hockey or college hockey in that team’s city or region). This system remained in place until 1979 when it was abolished and replaced with a “compensation” system that gave teams compensation picks if they lost certain players to free agency.
The current system, which has been in place since 1995, is a hybrid of these two previous systems. Under this system, all players who are eligible for the draft are available to be drafted by any team. However, each team does have exclusive rights to draft players from its home territory for a period of time before those players become eligible for free agency.
NHL Draft Prospects
Prospects are evaluated by NHL scouts, who assign each player a scouting rating between 1 and 10, with 10 being the best.
The draft order is determined by the standings at the end of the regular season. The team with the fewest points in the standings receives the first overall pick, while the Stanley Cup champion selects last.
There are seven rounds in the NHL draft, with each team getting one pick per round. In total, there are 217 prospects drafted each year.
NHL Draft Combine
The National Hockey League (NHL) holds an annual event called the Entry Draft, in which NHL teams select eligible amateur hockey players from around the world. The Entry Draft is one of the most important events on the NHL calendar, and it is where the vast majority of young players begin their NHL careers.
The NHL Draft Combine is a week-long event that takes place prior to the Entry Draft. It is invite-only and open to approximately 100 of the top draft-eligible prospects from around the world. The Combine features various physical and mental tests, as well as interviews with all 31 NHL teams. each year, a handful of prospects will stand out and significantly improve their draft stock.
NHL Draft Trades
NHL draft trades are not as common as they used to be, but they still happen from time to time. The most recent notable NHL draft trade was in 2017, when the Montreal Canadiens traded their first-round pick (NHL Draft Lottery odds: 10.7%) to the Nashville Predators for defenceman P.K. Subban.
In total, there have been 1,303 NHL draft trades made since the inaugural draft in 1963. Of those 1,303 trades, only 16 have involved first-round picks being traded on draft day (1.2%). The 2017 Subban trade was just the second time in the last 10 years that a first-round pick was traded on draft day.
NHL Draft Results
The National Hockey League (NHL) draft is an annual event in which the teams in the NHL select eligible amateur players who can join their organization. The draft order is determined by the standings of the previous season. The NHL Entry Draft was first held in 1963, and has been held every year since.
There are seven rounds in the NHL draft, with each team getting one pick per round. In total, there are 217 picks made in the NHL draft each year. 138 of those picks are made by Canadian teams, and 79 picks are made by American teams.
The first overall pick in the NHL draft is a much coveted position, as it gives the team an opportunity to select a very talented player who has the potential to be a star in the league. In recent years, some of the first overall picks have included Connor McDavid, Auston Matthews, and Jack Hughes.
