NEW YORK – The National Hockey League announced today that the Montreal Canadiens will host the 2022 NHL Draft™ at Bell Centre. The 2022 event will mark the 27th time the City of Montreal will host the NHL Draft, and the first time since 2009. The city was scheduled to host the 2020 NHL Draft, which was moved to a virtual event for health and safety precautions due to COVID-19.
The 2022 NHL Draft will be held over two days: Thursday, July 7 (Round 1, televised on Sportsnet, TVA Sports, ESPN or ESPN2) and Friday, July 8 (Rounds 2-7, television information to be announced when available). 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.
“We are proud to announce that, once again, we are conducting our Draft in front of the great fans of the Montreal Canadiens,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “Montreal, the site of the first NHL Draft in 1963, is a wonderful place to bring the NHL family together and to focus on the future of our game as our Clubs call the names of top prospects from around the world. We also thank Geoff Molson and the entire Canadiens organization for their cooperation and support while we needed to conduct the Draft remotely the past two years.”
“We are very excited to have been chosen by the League to host the draft, which will take place in Montreal for the first time since 2009,” said France Margaret Bélanger, President, Sports and Entertainment of CH Group. “On behalf of all fans and the organization, we would like to thank the NHL for this vote of confidence, which will allow us to finally present this major event after two virtual editions, while providing an unforgettable experience to several young players.”
“NHL hockey being a major tourist attraction in the metropolis, Tourisme Montréal is happy to fulfill its mandate by contributing to the return of this event in our beautiful city,” says Yves Lalumière, President and CEO of Tourisme Montréal. “We are thrilled to welcome back teams and players in the first sports city in Canada.”
The NHL Draft offers the opportunity for hockey fans to witness the beginning of the careers of the latest NHL® stars. Recent No. 1 overall picks include Alex Ovechkin (Washington, 2004), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh, 2005), Erik Johnson (St. Louis, 2006), Patrick Kane (Chicago, 2007), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay, 2008), John Tavares (NY Islanders, 2009), Taylor Hall (Edmonton, 2010), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Edmonton, 2011), Nail Yakupov (Edmonton, 2012), Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado, 2013), Aaron Ekblad (Florida, 2014), Connor McDavid (Edmonton, 2015), Auston Matthews (Toronto, 2016), Nico Hischier (New Jersey, 2017), Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo, 2018), Jack Hughes (New Jersey, 2019), Alexis Lafrenière (NY Rangers, 2020) and Owen Power (Buffalo, 2021).
The NHL Draft was conducted in various Montreal hotels, the League office in Montreal, as well as the historic Montreal Forum from 1963-1984. The event was held outside Montreal for the first time at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in 1985. Montreal again hosted the Draft in 1986, 1988, 1992 and 2009.
Ticket plans, related events and other details pertaining to the 2022 NHL Draft will be announced at a later date. For historical information and past draft selections, visit records.nhl.com. NHL Network and NHL.com will provide extensive coverage live from the event leading up to and after the 2022 NHL Draft. NHL Social™ will have exclusive coverage on all social platforms, and those looking to join the conversation can use the official hashtag #NHLDraft.
