NAHL to attend 2017 NHL Draft in one week
June 16, 2017
The 2017 NHL Draft takes place in one week on June 23-24 at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois, and will be hosted by the NHL’s Chicago Blackhawks.
The 1st round of the draft will take place on Friday, June 23 (7pm eastern, NBC Sports Network). Rounds 2-7 will be conducted on Saturday, June 24 (10am eastern, NHL Network).
The North American Hockey League (NAHL) will be on site both days of the draft with live coverage on nahl.com, as well as, the NAHL’s social media channels.
Back in early April, the NHL Central Scouting final rankings were released for the 2017 NHL Draft and several NAHL players, both past and present, were on the list as players who could potentially be drafted in next weekend’s draft.
Seven players were recognized on the National Hockey League’s (NHL) Central Scouting’s 2017 Final Rankings. In addition, several players that weren't on the list have also been generated some draft buzz.
The list included six players that played in the NAHL during the 2016-17 season and one former player that played in another league, but played in the NAHL during last season (2015-16).
Skaters
Sam Huff, forward, Minot Minotauros
Keaton Pehrson, defenseman, Austin Bruins
Benton Maass, defenseman, Fairbanks Ice Dogs
Hunter Lellig, defenseman, Minnesota Magicians
Goalies
Tomas Vomacka, goalie, Corpus Christi IceRays
Ivan Prosvetov, goalie, Minnesota Magicians
Alumni
Zach Solow, forward, Dubuque (USHL) (Janesville Jets, 2015-16)
The only other non-major junior league in the United States that had more players listed than the NAHL was the USHL. A total of 42 NHL scouts, including those from NHL Central Scouting, were on hand at the NAHL back in February scouting players at the NAHL Top Prospects Tournament.
NHL club executives, scouts and coaches will be present on the NHL Draft floor while more than 15,000 fans and 500 print, television and radio media are expected to attend.
A total of 10 players from the NAHL have been selected during the past two years of the NHL Entry Drafts in 2015 and 2016.