Here's what you need to know about the NHL Draft
Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews all have one thing in common – they were drafted first overall in the NHL Entry Draft.
The draft is a very exciting time during the NHL season. It brings fans hope when their team is struggling, it brings youth into the league and it can make a strong team even stronger.
While the actual draft takes place over two days, there is a lot of preparation that leads into this big event. Here’s what you need to know about how the NHL Draft works:
How is the order decided?
Before the draft can begin, the drawing order needs to be decided. Once the regular season is finished and before the playoffs begin, a lottery is held to decide which teams get the top picks in the NHL Draft.
Originally, the process was simple – the team that had the worse win-loss record in the league, meaning they finished last in the standings, would get the No. 1 pick. From there, the picking order continued in the inverse order of the standings. The process changed to a lottery-style draw in 1995 to make it more interesting and to discourage teams from tanking throughout the season in order to get that coveted first pick.
At first, this new lottery system allowed the winner to move up to a maximum of four spaces ahead from their original draft spot. It stayed that way until 2013 when the rules changed to allow the winner to pick first overall.
This leads us to the current NHL Draft Lottery rules; as of 2016, the lottery decides which teams will get the top three picks in the draft.
The lottery itself could easily be mistaken for a local lotto number drawing before the nightly news. There are 14 balls numbered one to 14 in a machine, and the balls are drawn at 15-second intervals. Four balls are drawn at once to create the number combination.
A computer randomly assigns number combinations to teams, with amount of combinations being related to odds of each team winning. For example, the team that finished last has the highest chance winning at 20 per cent, meaning they will have the most number combinations.
The spot for the first pick is drawn first, followed by the second pick and the third pick. The rest of the picks will be the remaining teams in the inverse standing order.
Any team can win the lottery if the balls are drawn in their favour. However, no team can fall back three spots from their original standing.
How do teams decide which players to pick?
There is a lot of work leading up to the draft that fans never see during the live event. Teams have talent scouts watching hundreds of players for years leading up to the draft.
The NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranks the skillsets of draft prospects at specific points during the season, with the final rankings being released in early April. Each player’s skills are ranked as excellent, very good, good, average, poor or not applicable. Ultimately, scouts are looking for how a player’s talents would apply to playing in the NHL.
The prospects are divided into different ranking lists based on where they train and the position they play. Different skills are emphasized for different positions in the rankings. For example, speed would likely be more important for forwards as compared to goaltenders.
There is also the Draft Combine where young athletes showcase their skills and talents during physical tests and interviews. This gives teams a chance to talk to players they are interested in drafting and intel into how they will be as a member of their hockey organization.
That said, a common dilemma for teams is whether to pick a player that fills a need on their team or pick the best player available.
Say your team is in need of a good defenceman and you are on the clock for your pick. Based on your scouting reports, the best defenceman is approximately the tenth best player left currently undrafted. But the best player available is a centre coming off of an amazing year with his team. Who do you pick?
The NHL Draft is a combination of research, knowledge and luck. Not all players will turn out as great as they are projected to be, and other players will come out of nowhere to surprise you. While intel and scouting help teams make informed decisions, the ultimate result is a gamble.
What about trades?
Trades play a large role in the NHL Draft. There is a lot of talking and negotiating at the draft since every general manager in the league is under one roof. Plus, with the draft happening shortly before free agency begins, there is a lot of movement happening around the league.
Picks in the draft can be traded for multiple reasons. In some cases, draft picks are thrown into trades in exchange for a player or to sweeten the deal. For example, before the 2019 trade deadline in February, the Anaheim Ducks traded Brandon Montour to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for defenceman prospect Brendan Guhle and a 2019 first-round pick.
Picks can also be conditional in trades. For example, when the Ottawa Senators traded Matt Duchene during the 2018-19 season, part of their return included a 2020 first-round pick that was conditional on Duchene re-signing with the Columbus Blue Jackets. That means if Duchene decided not to re-sign, the conditional pick would remain Columbus’ possession.
Another common transaction is a team trading draft picks for draft picks. Let’s say that the team currently on the clock is choosing the 20th overall pick. Before the pick, the team that has the 23rd overall pick trades for the 20th pick and adds another pick in a later round to sweeten the deal.
But why would you trade and give up an additional pick if you are picking soon? The likely reason is that the team has a specific player in mind that they want to draft, and they are worried the player will be chosen by a different team before it’s their turn to pick.
All of the trades that happen during the NHL Draft are announced on stage at the draft. The NHL also keeps a list of trade transactions so the media and fans can keep track of what’s moving where.
While the NHL Draft can be confusing at times, it can definitely be an exciting event to watch. The first-round of the 2019 NHL Draft will take place on June 21, with the remaining six rounds happening on June 22.
