NAHL announces results of 2020 Supplemental Draft

It was a return to a little bit of normalcy and also an exciting day for the NAHL on Tuesday, May 12th as the league held its first ever Supplemental Draft.

Back on April 10th, the NAHL Board of Governors 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.

In total, 81 players were selected in the draft, which took two hours to complete.

“The reality is we ran into something unprecedented and there was a lot of uncertainty and we did not know how things would work out. We have teams trying to build their rosters for the 2020-21 season, so the Supplemental Draft was created to specifically make a decision on a player based on his performance during the 2019-20 season,” said NAHL Commissioner and President Mark Frankenfeld. “There will still be an Entry Draft, but we know that tryout camps had to be pushed back to later in the Summer, so because of that there was a need to identify players in May that would be a part of the long-term plans of our NAHL teams. Players will continue to develop over the summer and some of the best players in the NAHL are discovered through the tryout process and then the Entry Draft.”

View the results of the 2020 NAHL Supplemental Draft at nahldraft.com

Click here to watch an archive of the draft through HockeyTV

With the first overall pick, the Wichita Falls Warriors, who are the NAHL’s newest team for the 2020-21 season, selected with their first ever selection forward Ryan Robinson. The Plano, Texas native is no stranger to the NAHL or Wichita Falls head coach Garrett Roth. Robinson played in the NAHL during a portion of the 2018-19 season for the Bismarck Bobcats, where Roth was then an assistant coach. Robinson played the 2019-20 season in the USHL for the Des Moines Buccaneers.

The next selection by the Odessa Jackalopes saw the first defenseman drafted as Hunter Carrick was taken #2 overall. Carrick is also not a stranger to the NAHL, having spent part of the 2017-18 season with the Johnstown Tomahawks. Last season, he spent time in the USHL with both the Omaha Lancers and Madison Capitols.

The first goaltender selected was Brennan Boynton, who was taken by the Minnesota Magicians at #12 overall. Boyton had a brief experience in the NAHL during the 2018-19 season with the Brookings Blizzard and played this past season in the USHL for the Fargo Force.

Breakdown of positions drafted:

Forwards: 54 (67%)

Defense: 21 (26%)

Goalies: 6 (7%)

Breakdown of teams/levels/leagues where players were selected from:

Canadian Junior: 30

USHL: 15

18U: 11

Prep School: 10

High School: 7

Other Junior: 4

16U: 2

European Junior: 2

Birth year breakdown:

2000: 26

2001: 35

2002: 17

2003: 3

Players not drafted or tendered by NAHL teams are still able to participate in each team's respective open tryout camps.  Remaining tryout camps are listed here.

The 2020 NAHL Entry Draft is scheduled for Tuesday, July 21st at 1pm (central).