Did you know that the NHL draft is happening today? I've been writing one million words about stuff related to it for this entire month so far! If you're getting into this year, here's some quick information you may want to know to preview it, what's going on, and how/when you can watch it.
When and where is the draft happening?
This year's draft is being help in Nashville, Tennessee. There are two days for the NHL entry draft. Day one is in the evening on June 28th, starting at 7:00 pm EST, and will only involve the first round. Day two will start at 11 am EST on the 29th the following day, and will complete rounds 2 through 7. It runs until it finishes.
Things are supposed to move much quicker between picks on day two, though that hasn't always been the case. The pandemic years saw things move a lot slower, to the point that day two took something like 12 hours to finish.
How can I watch the draft?
Day one will be broadcast on ESPN, Sportsnet and TVAS. It will likely have their A-list commentators and analysts on the whole first day to talk about the biggest prospects and interview everyone involved. The first day always has a lot more pomp and theatre to it. It's made to be a show. Day two will be broadcast on the NHL network, plus Sportsnet and TVAS.
Looking at Sportsnet's information, I am assuming that the broadcasts start at 7 pm but the actual draft picks won't begin until later – this matches my memory of the past years and how long they took to actually get going.
How does the draft work?
If you want a primer on how the draft works, from the draft order, age of eligibility, and so on, Cathy wrote this helpful guide last year that is still applicable today:
PPP Leafs
Who should I be interested in for Toronto?
I spent about 2-3 months writing several draft profiles for prospects I liked for Toronto's various picks this year (1st, 5th and 6th rounds). You can find the full library of them here:
PPP LeafsWho should I follow on Twitter?
For our own commentary and articles related to the draft, you can follow us at @PPPLeafs. Here's a bigger list of people I follow for the draft and prospect related things:
For the Leafs, specifically:
For potential draft related news, like trades:
- TSN Hockey
- Bob McKenzie
- Chris Johnston
- Kevin Weekes
- Mike Morreale
- Ryan Kennedy
- Craig Button
- Frank Seravalli
- Pierre LeBrun
- Scott Wheeler
- Corey Pronman
For the main public scouting folks:
- Elite Prospects and EP Rinkside
- Mitch Brown – one of my favourite people in the prospect world to follow
- David St. Louis
- Lassi Alanen
- Lauren Kelly
- Cam Robinson
- Dylan Griffing
- Daniel Gee
- Smaht Scouting
- Josh Tessler
- Jordan Malette
- Puck Preps
- Joel Henderson
- Sam McGilligan
- FloHockey
- Chris Peters
- Hadi Kalakeche – caution: may be a Habs fan, but is a good dude
- Tony Ferrari and Game Tape with Tony, his video series interviewing prospects over game tape.
- FC Hockey
- Brandon Holmes
- Dobber Prospects
- McKeens Hockey
- Will Scouch
- Derek Neumeier
- Brock Otten
For specific/regional scouting info:
- Swedish Prospects – take a guess
- Jimmy Hamrin – Sweden
- Marek Novotny – Czechia and Slovakia
- Draftin Europe – for all of Europe
- Jeff Rea – for Europe
- Czech Prospects – take a guess
- Russian Prospects – for Malaysia
- FinnProspects – for Sweden
Where can I talk about the draft here at PPP?
We will be putting out a Draft Day Thread (DDT). It's just like our Game Day Threads (GDTs), but for the draft. Who'd have thunk it! Not sure if we'll have one for each day, or just one for both combined. If we get a lot of comments on the first one I assume we'll split it just for ease of keeping up with everything.
How can I subscribe here to support this great draft-related content that the handsomest and humblest writer here made?
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