The 2021 NHL Entry Draft will be held on July 23-24, 2021 after a one-month delay from its originally scheduled time in June due to the coronavirus pandemic. The draft will be the 59th NHL Entry Draft and the second time the event will be held in a remote format. Teams will be convening via videoconferencing with Commissioner, Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner, Bill Daly announcing selections in the round picks from the NHL Network studios in New Jersey.
Fans of the NHL don’t have to sit and watch their favourites get picked from the Draft as they can participate in their own special way. By placing the best NHL bets, fans can celebrate their picks and also fill their pockets when the Draft takes place in July.
Eligibility
The 2021 NHL Entry Draft is limited to Ice hockey players born between January 2001 and September 2003. Undrafted, non-North American players born in 2000 are also eligible for the draft. In addition, players born after June 30, 2001, and were drafted in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft but not signed by any NHL team are eligible to re-enter the draft.
Draft Lottery
The 15 NHL teams that did not make the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the 2020–21 NHL season were entered into the 2021 NHL Draft Lottery. The addition of an expansion team to the National Hockey League did little to change the No.1 overall pick in the draft which might not come as a shock to many in the NHL. The rights to the No1 overall pick in the draft belong to the Buffalo Sabres who were the worst team in hockey in the 2020–21 NHL season.
The Buffalo Sabres came out on top to earn the No.1 overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, beating out favourites, the Seattle Kraken and the Anaheim Ducks. The Seattle Kraken made it to the NHL as an expansion team in 2021-22 and holds the No.2 overall pick while the Anaheim Ducks will take the No.3 overall pick.
The Sabres will take the No.1 overall pick in the Draft for the 2nd time in four years as they previously held the No. 1 pick in the 2018 Draft which they used on Ramus Dahlin. That didn’t seem to help the hockey team as they finished the 2020-21 season with the worst record in the NHL, claiming only 15 wins and 37 points from 55 games.
The Top 15 teams to head the 2021 NHL Draft order is as follows;
- Buffalo Sabres
- Seattle Kraken
- Anaheim Ducks
- New Jersey Devils
- Columbus Blue Jackets
- Detroit Red Wings
- San Jose Sharks
- Los Angeles Kings
- Vancouver Canucks
- Ottawa Senators
- Chicago Blackhawks
- Calgary Flames
- Philadelphia Flyers
- Dallas Stars
- New York Rangers
The Arizona Coyotes will be absent from the results of the Draft Lottery as they were forced to forfeit their first-round pick as a result of a penalty sanction levied against the team due to violations of the NHL Combine Testing Policy during the 2019-20 NHL season. The absence of the Arizona Coyotes saw the Philadelphia Flyer move a spot in the draft.
