NAHL announces additions and changes to Draft

April 10, 2020

The North American Hockey League (NAHL) has announced that it has made two major changes to the 2020 Draft process. The NAHL has added a new Supplemental Draft, which will be held on Tuesday, May 12th, while the regular NAHL Entry Draft will now be held on Tuesday, July 21st. Both Drafts will be broadcast live on HockeyTV and be done online at nahl.com.

 

The NAHL Board of Governors recently approved changes to the NAHL Player Procurement System due to unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, which prematurely ended the 2019-20 season and subsequent postponement of NAHL team Pre-Draft Evaluation Camps and NAHL Combines.

 

NAHL Teams utilize a mix of in-season scouting along with evaluation camps and NAHL Combines to select players in the Entry Draft.  The NAHL wanted to protect the 2019-20 in-season evaluation of players, while giving players the chance to showcase themselves to teams in the important evaluation camps teams have come to rely upon in building their rosters.

 

“The Supplemental Draft is necessary to serve as an additional outlet for teams to make decisions on how players performed in the 2019-20 season. A lot of time and effort has gone into scouting and recruiting. This way teams can make some decisions early,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld. “Equally as important, the rescheduling of the NAHL Entry Draft was necessary to allow teams time to make decisions on how players perform at team tryout camps.  Players develop over the summer and some of the best players in the NAHL are discovered through the tryout process."

 

The NAHL Supplemental Draft is scheduled for May 12th.  The Supplemental Draft will consist of 81 selections with each of the 27 NAHL Teams receiving three picks. The draft order will be determined by the order of the NAHL Entry Draft.  In addition, each NAHL team will be been given an additional tender on May 13th, which can be used following the Supplemental Draft.

 

The NAHL Entry Draft has been rescheduled for July 21st. Traditionally, NAHL Teams utilize a mix of in-season evaluation along with team tryout camps and NAHL Combine to select players in the Entry Draft.  The Entry Draft order will remain unaffected by the implementation of the Supplemental Draft. Prior to the Entry Draft, NAHL teams will turn in their protected list of tenders and veterans in order to determine the number of picks they will have in the Entry Draft. 

 

NAHL Tryout Camp Dates and NAHL Combines are currently being rescheduled. Please stay tuned to nahl.com for a list of new dates for both, which will be announced in the coming days.

 

In the meantime, the NAHL and its member teams hope that you are all safe, healthy and looking forward to getting back on the ice as soon as possible.