With the 2025 NHL Draft just a few weeks away, we decided to look into how it works, when it will take place, the order and the overall format.
How Does The NHL Draft Work?
The NHL Draft has been a mainstay feature of ice hockey’s biggest league since 1963, when the first ever NHL Draft took place in Montreal, Quebec.
Prior to its inception, NHL franchises would add fresh talent through exclusive rights and use their sponsorship with junior sides to bring in the best players.
Every year 16 teams finish in the playoffs (8 teams from the Western Conference and Eastern Conference) meaning another 16 teams do not have a chance at winning the Stanley Cup.
These 16 teams then go into the NHL Draft Lottery, which was held on May 5 this year and this determines who will get a number one pick for the draft.
During the lottery, 14 table tennis balls are put into a bowl and these 14 balls can make up to 1001 different combinations, meaning each team in the lottery is given a set of possible combinations.
The number of combinations a team is allocated is based off their regular season record, essentially the worse a teams record is the more combinations they can obtain.
They are then ordered 1-16 based on their probability of winning, for example the San Jose Sharks were first with a probability of 18.5% and the Calgary Flames were 16th with 0.5% probability.
One combination is removed by the leagues board so that it sits on 1000 possible outcomes, the first drawn ball picks the number one pick for the NHL Draft.
However, a rule that was added in 2021 means that a team can move up by a maximum of 10 places, so if the Calgary Flames were somehow drawn first then they could only move up to 6th from 16th.
This would mean that the team who were put first due to having the worst record would earn the first pick in the NHL Draft, which would have been the San Jose Sharks after the 2025 season.
After this the second pick is then selected in the same format and confirms the top two of the overall NHL Draft, with the rest being ordered by the lowest amount of points to the most.
The teams that did qualify for the playoffs but failed to progress into the final stages are then ordered by how far they progressed, alongside their tally in the regular season.
All of these stages so far have been completed in 2025, with the first 28 picks being decided and the New York Islanders managed to get selected for the number one pick.
Further down the line the 29th pick will be awarded to the franchise that loses in the conference finals and achieved the lowest points tally in the regular season, while the 30th pick will go to the other conference finals loser.
So this means that the 31st pick will go to the Stanley Cup Final runner up and the final 32nd spot is handed to the Stanley Cup winners for 2025.
Can NHL Teams Swap Draft Picks?
Yes, NHL teams can use their draft picks to obtain various things across the league and this feature has been used heavily ahead of the upcoming 2025 draft.
What this means is teams use their number of picks in the first round as leverage when signing a player, so a team may give up a first-round pick for a player from another side.
The Calgary Flames managed to get the Panthers’ pick after a trade over Matthew Tkachuk back in July 2022 and the San Jose Sharks got their hands on the Dallas Stars’pick in February which saw Mikael Granlund and Cody Ceci go to Dallas.
Another example is from the Philadelphia Flyers who managed to take a first-round pick from the Edmonton Oilers in June 2024, giving up a first round pick to the Oilers in last year’s draft.
This means that Philadelphia now has three picks in the first round in 2025, while also having the sixth spot and Colorado Avalanche’s 22nd spot from a deal that saw Sean Walker join Colorado in March 2024.
Another NHL franchise that has three picks is the Nashville Predators, boasting the 5th and 23rd from a deal with Tampa Bay Lightning for Tanner Jeannot in February 2023 – while also having the 26th pick after giving Yaroslav Askarov to the San Jose Sharks.
So, San Jose, Philadelphia and Nashville are three out of six teams that have multiple first-round picks for the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Chicago Blackhawks have the 3rd and 25th pick of round one after a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs which saw Jake McCabe move to Canada in February 2023.
Similarly, the Columbus Blue Jackets will make the 14th and 20th pick of the opening round after trading David Jiricek to Minnesota in November last year.
While the Montreal Canadiens have two consecutive picks with 16th and 17th due to a trade with the Calagry Flames – making Sean Monahan a Flames player in August 2022.
When is the 2025 NHL Draft?
The 2025 NHL Draft is set to make history as it will be shown on a live broadcast for the first time in history, as NHL enthusiasts can view the proceedings as they unfold.
It is set to take place in Los Angeles at L.A. Live’s Peacock Theater and the first round will commence at 7 p.m. ET on June 27 and the following six rounds will start at 12 p.m ET on June 28.
What is the 2025 NHL First Round Draft Order?
1. New York Islanders 2. San Jose Sharks 3. Chicago Blackhawks 4. Utah Mammoth 5. Nashville Predators 6. Philadelphia Flyers 7. Boston Bruins 8. Seattle Kraken 9. Buffalo Sabres 10. Anaheim Ducks 11. Pittsburgh Penguins 12. New York Rangers 13. Detroit Red Wings 14. Columbus Blue Jackets 15. Vancouver Canucks 16. Montreal Canadiens (from Calgary Flames) 17. Montreal Canadiens 18. Calgary Flames (from New Jersey Devils) 19. St. Louis Blues 20. Columbus Blue Jackets (from Minnesota Wild) 21. Ottawa Senators 22. Philadelphia Flyers (from Colorado Avalanche) 23. Nashville Predators (from Tampa Bay Lightning) 24. Los Angeles Kings 25. Chicago Blackhawks (from Toronto Maple Leafs) 26. Nashville Predators (from Vegas Golden Knights via San Jose Sharks) 27. Washington Capitals 28. Winnipeg Jets
