The 2020 NHL entry draft was the 58th draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on October 6–7, 2020. It was originally scheduled for June 26–27, 2020, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, but was postponed on March 25, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was held in a remote format, with teams convening via videoconferencing, and Commissioner Gary Bettman announcing the selections in the opening round and deputy commissioner Bill Daly in all subsequent rounds from the NHL Network studios in Secaucus, New Jersey.
The first three selections were Alexis Lafreniere by the New York Rangers, Quinton Byfield by the Los Angeles Kings, and Tim Stutzle by the Ottawa Senators.
Eligibility Ice hockey players born between January 1, 2000, and September 15, 2002, were eligible for selection in the 2020 NHL entry draft. Additionally, un-drafted, non-North American players born in 1999 were eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2018 NHL entry draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 2000, were also eligible to re-enter the draft.
Draft lottery
First phase
The first three picks overall in this draft were awarded by lottery. Since the 2012–13 NHL season all teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. Beginning with the 2014–15 NHL season the NHL changed the weighting system that was used in previous years. Under the new system the odds of winning the draft lottery for the four lowest finishing teams in the league decreased, while the odds for the other non-playoff teams increased.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2019–20 regular season was cut short after it was suspended on March 12, 2020. The league then implemented a special 24-team format for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs that included an additional Qualifying Round. The NHL also wanted to hold the draft lottery before the playoffs began on August 1, 2020, while at the same time keeping its 15-team draft lottery system. It was decided that the draft lottery would include the seven teams that did not qualify for the playoffs, and eight placeholders representing the yet-to-be-determined clubs eliminated in the qualifying round.
The first phase of the draft lottery was held on June 26, 2020. The first overall pick was won by "Team E", one of the placeholders. As a result, the league conducted a second draft lottery on August 10, 2020, while the Los Angeles Kings moved up two spots and the Ottawa Senators (previously acquired from San Jose) remained at third overall. In the process, the Detroit Red Wings and Ottawa Senators moved down three spots from first and second overall, respectively, while the Anaheim Ducks, New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres each dropped one spot.
Indicates team won first overallIndicates team won second overallIndicates team won third overallIndicates teams that did not win a lottery {| class="wikitable" |+ Complete draft position odds ! Team ! 1st ! 2nd ! 3rd ! 4th ! 5th ! 6th ! 7th ! 8th ! 9th ! 10th ! 11th ! 12th ! 13th ! 14th ! 15th |- ! Detroit | 18.5% || 16.5% || 14.4% ||style="background:#DDDDDD;"| 50.6% || || || || || || || || || || || |- ! Ottawa | 13.5% || 13.0% || 12.3% || 33.3% ||style="background:#DDDDDD;"| 27.9% || || || || || || || || || || |- ! San Jose | 11.5% || 11.3% ||style="background:#F3F781;"| 11.1% || 13.2% || 37.7% || 15.2% || || || || || || || || || |- ! Los Angeles | 9.5% ||style="background:#F5A9BC;"| 9.6% || 9.7% || 2.8% || 26.1% || 34.0% || 8.3% || || || || || || || || |- ! Anaheim | 8.5% || 8.7% || 8.9% || || 8.4% ||style="background:#DDDDDD;"| 34.5% || 26.7% || 4.3% || || || || || || || |- ! New Jersey | 7.5% || 7.8% || 8.0% || || || 16.3% ||style="background:#DDDDDD;"| 38.9% || 19.4% || 2.1% || || || || || || |- ! Buffalo | 6.5% || 6.8% || 7.1% || || || || 26.0% ||style="background:#DDDDDD;"| 39.5% || 13.1% || 1.0% || || || || || |- ! Team A | 6.0% || 6.3% || 6.7% || || || || || 36.8% || 36.0% || 7.8% || 0.4% || || || || |- ! Team B | 5.0% || 5.3% || 5.7% || || || || || || 48.8% || 30.7% || 4.3% || 0.1% || || || |- ! Team C | 3.5% || 3.8% || 4.1% || || || || || || || 60.5% || 25.7% || 2.4% || <0.1% || || |- ! Team D | 3.0% || 3.3% || 3.6% || || || || || || || || 69.6% || 19.4% || 1.1% || <0.1% || |- ! Team E |style="background:#A9D0F5;"| 2.5% || 2.7% || 3.0% || || || || || || || || || 78.0% || 13.3% || 0.4% || <0.1% |- ! Team F | 2.0% || 2.2% || 2.4% || || || || || || || || || || 85.5% || 7.8% || 0.1% |- ! Team G | 1.5% || 1.7% || 1.8% || || || || || || || || || || || 91.8% || 3.2% |- ! Team H | 1.0% || 1.1% || 1.2% || || || || || || || || || || || || 96.7%
Second phase
Because a placeholder team won the initial draft lottery, a second lottery took place on August 10. The second phase of the lottery gave all eight teams eliminated in the qualifying round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs an equal chance to win the first overall pick. This guaranteed that a team that made the playoffs would select first overall in draft for the first time since 1983. Each eliminated team had one lottery ball; the seven teams that did not win the second draft lottery were assigned picks nine through fifteen based on inverse order of points percentage. The New York Rangers won phase two of the draft lottery and moved up nine spots in the draft order to earn the first selection in the draft.
Indicates team won first overall {| class="wikitable" |+ Odds at first selection ! Team ! 1st |- ! Edmonton | 12.5% |- ! Florida | 12.5% |- ! Minnesota | 12.5% |- ! Nashville | 12.5% |- ! NY Rangers | style="background:#A9D0F5;"|12.5% |- ! Pittsburgh | 12.5% |- ! Toronto | 12.5% |- ! Winnipeg | 12.5%
Top prospects Source: NHL Central Scouting final (April 8, 2020) ranking.
Ranking North American skaters European skaters 1 Alexis Lafreniere (LW) Tim Stutzle (C) 2 Quinton Byfield (C) Alexander Holtz (RW) 3 Jamie Drysdale (D) Anton Lundell (C) 4 Jake Sanderson (D) Lucas Raymond (LW) 5 Cole Perfetti (C) Rodion Amirov (LW) 6 Marco Rossi (C) Helge Grans (D) 7 Jack Quinn (RW) John-Jason Peterka (LW) 8 Kaiden Guhle (D) Topi Niemela (D) 9 Braden Schneider (D) Noel Gunler (RW) 10 Dawson Mercer (C) Roni Hirvonen (C) Ranking North American goalies European goalies 1 Nico Daws Yaroslav Askarov 2 Drew Commesso Jan Bednar 3 Samuel Hlavaj Joel Blomqvist
Selections by round The order of the 2020 entry draft is listed below.
Round one
# Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 1 Alexis Lafreniere (LW) Canada New York Rangers Rimouski Oceanic (QMJHL) 2 Quinton Byfield (C) Canada Los Angeles Kings Sudbury Wolves (OHL) 3Tim Stutzle (C) Germany Ottawa Senators (from San Jose)1 Adler Mannheim (DEL) 4 Lucas Raymond (LW) Sweden Detroit Red Wings Frolunda HC (SHL) 5 Jake Sanderson (D) United States Ottawa Senators U.S. NTDP (USHL) 6 Jamie Drysdale (D) Canada Anaheim Ducks Erie Otters (OHL) 7 Alexander Holtz (RW) Sweden New Jersey Devils Djurgardens IF (SHL) 8 Jack Quinn (RW) Canada Buffalo Sabres Ottawa 67's (OHL) 9 Marco Rossi (C) Austria Minnesota Wild Ottawa 67's (OHL) 10 Cole Perfetti (C) Canada Winnipeg Jets Saginaw Spirit (OHL) 11 Yaroslav Askarov (G) Russia Nashville Predators SKA-Neva (VHL) 12 Anton Lundell (C) Finland Florida Panthers HIFK (Liiga) 13 Seth Jarvis (C) Canada Carolina Hurricanes (from Toronto)2 Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 14 Dylan Holloway (C) Canada Edmonton Oilers Wisconsin Badgers (Big Ten) 15 Rodion Amirov (C) Russia Toronto Maple Leafs (from Pittsburgh)3 Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL) 16 Kaiden Guhle (D) Canada Montreal Canadiens Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) 17 Lukas Reichel (LW) Germany Chicago Blackhawks Eisbaren Berlin (DEL) 18 Dawson Mercer (C) Canada New Jersey Devils (from Arizona)4 Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) 19 Braden Schneider (D) Canada New York Rangers (from Calgary)5 Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 20 Shakir Mukhamadullin (D) Russia New Jersey Devils (from Vancouver via Tampa Bay)6 Salavat Yulaev Ufa (KHL) 21 Egor Chinakhov (RW) Russia Columbus Blue Jackets Avangard Omsk (KHL) 22 Hendrix Lapierre (C) Canada Washington Capitals (from Carolina via NY Rangers and Calgary)7 Chicoutimi Sagueneens (QMJHL) 23 Tyson Foerster (RW) Canada Philadelphia Flyers Barrie Colts (OHL) 24 Connor Zary (C) Canada Calgary Flames (from Washington)8 Kamloops Blazers (WHL) 25 Justin Barron (D) Canada Colorado Avalanche Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) 26 Jake Neighbours (LW) Canada St. Louis Blues Edmonton Oil Kings (WHL) 27 Jacob Perreault (RW) Canada Anaheim Ducks (from Boston)9 Sarnia Sting (OHL) 28 Ridly Greig (C) Canada Ottawa Senators (from NY Islanders)10 Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 29 Brendan Brisson (C) United States Vegas Golden Knights Chicago Steel (USHL) 30 Mavrik Bourque (C) Canada Dallas Stars Shawinigan Cataractes (QMJHL) 31 Ozzy Wiesblatt (RW) Canada San Jose Sharks (from Tampa Bay)11 Prince Albert Raiders (WHL) Notes The San Jose Sharks' first-round pick went to the Ottawa Senators as the result of a trade on September 13, 2018, that sent Erik Karlsson and Francis Perron to San Jose in exchange for Chris Tierney, Dylan DeMelo, Josh Norris, Rudolfs Balcers, a conditional second-round pick in 2019, a conditional first-round pick in 2021, a conditional first-round pick no later than 2022 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Ottawa will receive a first-round pick in 2020 if San Jose qualifies for the 2019 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted on March 19, 2019. The Toronto Maple Leafs' first-round pick went to the Carolina Hurricanes as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a sixth-round pick in 2020 to Toronto in exchange for Patrick Marleau, a seventh-round pick in 2020 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Carolina will receive a first-round pick in 2020 if Toronto's first-round pick in 2020 is outside of the top ten selections – was converted on August 10, 2020, when Toronto lost the second phase of the draft lottery. The Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick went to the Toronto Maple Leafs as the result of a trade on August 25, 2020, that sent Kasperi Kapanen, Pontus Aberg and Jesper Lindgren to Pittsburgh in exchange for Evan Rodrigues, Filip Hallander, David Warsofsky and this pick. The Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on December 16, 2019, that sent Taylor Hall and Blake Speers to Arizona in exchange for Nick Merkley, Kevin Bahl, Nate Schnarr, a conditional third-round pick in 2021 and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – New Jersey will receive a first-round pick in 2020 if Arizona's pick is outside the top three - was converted when the Coyotes advanced to the first round of the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs on August 7, 2020. The Calgary Flames' first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on October 6, 2020, that sent Carolina's first-round pick and a third-round pick both in 2020 (22nd and 72nd overall) to Calgary in exchange for this pick. The Vancouver Canucks' first-round pick went to the New Jersey Devils as the result of a trade on February 16, 2020, that sent Blake Coleman to Tampa Bay in exchange for Nolan Foote and this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – New Jersey will receive a first-round pick in 2020 if Vancouver qualifies for the 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs – was converted when the Canucks advanced to the first round of the playoffs on August 7, 2020. Tampa Bay previously acquired this pick in a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent J. T. Miller to Vancouver in exchange for Marek Mazanec, a third-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The Carolina Hurricanes' first-round pick went to the Washington Capitals as the result of a trade on October 6, 2020, that sent a first-round pick and Arizona's third-round both in 2020 (24th and 80th overall) to Calgary in exchange for this pick.