NHL entry draft
The NHL entry draft (French: Repêchage d'entrée dans la LNH) 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; all others enter the 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 regular season.
The lottery winner moved up the draft order a maximum of four places, meaning only the five worst teams, based on regular season points in a given season, could pick first in the draft, and no team in the non-playoff group could move down more than one place.
From 2015 to 2020, there were three lottery winners that received the top three picks, and any teams above it in the draft order would move down no more than three spots.
[2] The NHL briefly changed the drafting age from 20 years old to 18-year-olds in 1974, to compete with the new WHA which was allowing teams to sign underage junior players.
This rule change was made to facilitate the absorption of players from the defunct World Hockey Association.
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.
Prior to that year the entry draft was conducted in Montreal hotels or league offices and was closed to the general public.
[7][8] The selection order in the NHL entry draft is determined by a combination of lottery, regular season standing, and playoff results.
The basic order of the NHL entry draft is determined based on the standings of the teams in the previous season.
The basic order of the picks is determined as follows:[11] The number of teams in the second and third group depends on whether the Conference finalists also won their division.
[12] At the conclusion of the regular season, the 16 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.
This means the team with the worst record can win any lottery selection an unlimited number of times while the second-worst can do the same for the second overall pick only.
[16][17][18] The remaining teams maintains their order of selection based on the points accrued the previous season.
As the lottery determines the top two slots, no team can drop more than two places from the position established based on previous season point totals.
