Where: Keybank Center, Buffalo.
When: The first round of the draft will take place on Saturday night, starting at 01:00 Swedish time, with the remaining rounds (2–7) taking place on Saturday at 17:00.
Draft order: 1) Toronto, 2) San Jose, 3) Vancouver, 4) Buffalo, 5) New York Rangers.
Here's how it goes:
All 32 NHL teams generally have one pick per round, but because draft picks are often traded, that is not always the case in practice. For example, San Jose has three picks in the first round (numbers 2, 9 and 27). The 16 teams that missed the playoffs last season were entered into a lottery for the first 16 picks; the remaining teams are ranked according to their season results.
The draft is generally open to players born between January 1, 2006 and September 15, 2008.
+ Stenberg challenges as top choice
Canadian center Gavin McKenna, 18, has long been the favorite to go as number one - but more and more people are putting Ivar Stenberg forward after his strong season with Frölunda, the World Junior Championship and the World Championship.
Mats Sundin (chosen by Quebec in 1989) and Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo in 2018) are the only Swedes ever selected first overall.
But most likely, Stenberg will be selected second by San Jose.
+ Björck can go top 5
Viggo Björck, Djurgården, has also risen in the rankings in recent months, and after a trade the other night there is speculation that Buffalo, which needs center depth, may take him at number four, a draft pick they received by trading defenseman Bowen Byram to Chicago.
It hasn't happened since 2011 that two Swedes were among the top four. That year Gabriel Landeskog of Colorado was chosen as number two and defenseman Adam Larsson of New Jersey as number four.
+ More Swedes can leave early
There are many rankings ahead of the draft, and experts value players differently. Eliteprospects.com has compiled rankings from the biggest and most established experts and taken an average. This puts five more Swedes, behind Stenberg and Björck, on the list of the 32 who could go in the first round:
- Malte Gustafsson, defenseman, HV71, 18) Elton Hermansson, forward, Modo, 23) Alexander Command, defenseman, Örebro, 31) Marcus Nordmark, defenseman, Djurgården, 32) William Håkansson, defenseman, Luleå.
If seven Swedes go in the first round, it would tie the blue-and-yellow record from 2009. That year defenseman Victor Hedman went highest and was selected second by Tampa Bay.
