NAHL players ready for 2023 NHL Draft
The 2023 NHL Draft takes place the next two days on June 28-29 at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee, and will be hosted by the Nashville Predators.
The 1st round of the draft will take place on Wednesday, June 28th (7:00pm eastern, ESPN). Rounds 2-7 will be conducted on Thursday, June 29th (11:00am eastern, NHL Network). NHL club executives, scouts and coaches will be present on the NHL Draft floor while thousands of fans and hundreds of print, television and radio media are expected to attend.
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) will have full coverage on any picks on nahl.com, as well as the NAHL’s social media channels. In addition, all of the NAHL head coaches will be at the draft during the first round on Wednesday night.
Players born between January 1, 2003, and September 15, 2005, are eligible for selection in the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. Additionally, un-drafted, non-North American players born in 2002 are eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 2003, are also eligible to re-enter the draft.
Over 100 NHL scouts, including those from NHL Central Scouting, were on hand at the NAHL Showcase back in September, the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament in February, and the NAHL Robertson Cup Championship in May.
Back in April, the NHL Central Scouting final rankings were released for the 2023 NHL Draft and several NAHL players, both past and present, were on the list as players who could potentially be drafted in the 2023 NHL Draft.
2022-23 NAHL Skaters on the list
#99 Chase Cheslock, D, St. Cloud Norsemen
#127 Chris Pelosi, F, Janesville Jets
#153 Cayden Casey, F, North Iowa Bulls
2022-23 NAHL Goalies on the list
#6 Adam Gajan, G, Chippewa Steel
#20 Cameron Korpi, G, Oklahoma Warriors
#22 Patriks Berzins, G, Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks
Former NAHL Players on the list
#117 Aaron Pionk, D, Waterloo (Minnesota Wilderness, 2021-22)
#118 Eric Pohlkamp, F, Cedar Rapids (Minnesota Magicians, 2020-21)
#149 Kaden Shahan, F, Sioux City (Chippewa Steel, 2021-22)
#150 Gavyn Thoreson, F, Waterloo (Minnesota Wilderness, 2021-22)
A total of 38 players with NAHL ties have been selected in the past eight years of the NHL Draft.
So far this season, the NAHL has had 322 NCAA commitments, over 75% of which (244) are NCAA Division I commitments.
