Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

What Time Does the NHL Draft Start Tonight

First round of the 2025 NHL Draft takes place tonight

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The big night for young ice hockey players is upon us once again as the 2025 NHL Entry Draft takes center stage tonight. As usual, plenty of talented youngsters who have proven their skills across junior ice hockey leagues in North America and on the Global stage will assemble as they wait for their name to be announced. Hockey fans across the world, get ready to meet the next generation of young players waiting to take the NHL by storm.

What Time is the Draft?

The 2025 NHL Entry Draft will start tonight at 7:00 PM ET and will feature only the first round of the draft. A total of 32 selections will be made today. As rounds 2-7 will all be held on Saturday, the draft will start at noon ET.

The 2025 #NHLDraft is heading to Los Angeles June 27! pic.twitter.com/3eSw7QXqqO
— NHL (@NHL) February 22, 2025

2025 NHL Draft Venue

This year’s NHL Draft will take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles, California. The draft will be telecast tonight on ESPN, ESPN+, SN, and TVAS. Rounds 2-7, which are taking place tomorrow, will be telecast on NHLN, ESPN+, SN, and SN1.

2025 NHL Draft Preview

There are plenty of skilled players who will be anxious to see where they land in the draft, but the general consensus seems to be that defenseman Matthew Schaefer will be the number one overall pick. Here are some of the top players in the draft this year, as per various draft projections.

It's mock draft time! 🥳

What do you think of @NHLAdamK's picks?

Read more from @NHLdotcom ➡️ https://t.co/Gps1wdju3u

The 2025 Upper Deck #NHLDraft will be held June 27 and 28! pic.twitter.com/7oFoyGxRSx
— NHL (@NHL) May 7, 2025

Matthew Schaefer – Defenseman

As mentioned earlier, Schaefer is one of the, if not the best, defenders at this year’s draft. The left-handed shooter is a versatile two-way player with great skating skills and speed.

Michael Misa – Forward

Michael Misa is a popular choice to be selected second overall. The forward brings a great burst of speed along with a powerful left shot.

Anton Frondell – Forward

Another forward in the discussion as a top player is Anton Frondell. He brings power and precision on the ice with the ability to pick out exceptional passes, leading to easy goals with his playmaking skills.

Caleb Desnoyers – Forward

Playing primarily the center position, the left-handed shooter, Caleb Desnoyers, is seen as another top prospect and could potentially be selected with the fourth overall pick.

2025 NHL Draft Order

As has been the standard for the past couple of decades, the 2025 NHL Draft will also follow a seven-round format. With each team getting a draft pick for each round, the total number of draft picks will be 224.

Of course, with the several trades that take place, not all teams will have the same number of selections to make. The Colorado Avalanche, with 2 picks, have the fewest selections this year, while the Montreal Canadiens have the most selections with 12.

The draft lotteries were won by the New York Islanders and the Utah Mammoth this year. The Islanders jumped 9 spots to claim the 1st overall pick while the Mammoth climbed the maximum of 10 spots to claim the 4th overall pick. Here is the draft order for the first round.

Also Read: Who Are Porter Martone’s Parents and Sister? All About the Parents and Siblings of the 2025 NHL Draft Top Prospect

The @NYIslanders win the Draft Lottery and will select first overall at the 2025 #NHLDraft! 🙌

The Draft Lottery continues on @espn, @Sportsnet, and @TVASports! pic.twitter.com/tNrHE89DFz
— NHL (@NHL) May 5, 2025

Pick	Team	Trade
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
27	Washington Capitals
28	Winnipeg Jets
29	Carolina Hurricanes
30	San Jose Sharks	From Dallas Stars
31	Philadelphia Flyers	From Edmonton Oilers
32	Calgary Flames	From Florida Panthers

The big night is not far away for all these future stars of the National Hockey League. Dreams of becoming a professional hockey player will begin tonight for another 200-plus teenagers, some of whom could even go on to become the faces of the league in just a few years.

2025 NHL Draft

Anton Frondell

Caleb Desnoyers

Matthew Schaefer

Michael Misa

NHL

NHL Draft

Devavrat Kulkarni

nfl

I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!