The sports calendar is different for most major sports in 2020 as the world continues its battle against a global-wide pandemic, and the NHL is no different. The Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the Dallas Stars on Monday, Sept. 28 to win the Stanley Cup Final held in the Edmonton bubble. Next up is the NHL Draft, which takes place with a two-day event to be held on Tuesday, Oct. 6 and Wednesday, Oct. 7.
Round 1 of the NHL Draft will get started at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday with rounds 2-7 starting at 11:30 a.m. ET.
The draft had previously been scheduled for June 26-27 at Bell Centre in Montreal but was postponed on March 25 due to concerns of the coronavirus.
According to NHL.com, most of the prospects to be drafted will be watching from their homes, while others will be at places like restaurants or arenas. Teams will operate from their facilities except for the Vegas Golden Knights.
“It’s a great setting to launch what’s going to be a really important stretch of time for us.”
GM Kelly McCrimmon on the NHL Draft & how the Golden Knights are tackling it at @RCCCmt 👍 pic.twitter.com/Kd2yDf4iCY
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) October 5, 2020
General managers and staff may be at the facility, while others may be video conferencing.
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly will be headquartered at the NHL Network studio in Secaucus, New Jersey. Bettman will host the first round, while Daly will host the rest of the event the following day.
The New York Rangers won phase 2 of the 2020 NHL Draft Lottery and will make the first overall selection, and there appears to be a fairly obvious pick at the top, which shouldn’t cause for too much of an excitement when the No. 1 pick is announced.
The Stanley Cup champion Lightning are not scheduled to have a pick till the end of the second round at No. 62. Ordinarily they would’ve been able to pick at the end of the first round at No. 31, but they traded their first round pick to the San Jose Sharks. In that trade, which occurred on Feb. 24, the Sharks received the first round pick and Anthony Greco, while Tampa Bay received Barclay Goodrow and a third round pick.
With the NHL Draft set to get going on Tuesday night, odds are out at a variety of locations for prop bets related to the draft. If you want to get in on the action or are just curious on some of the potential betting opportunities, we rounded up several of the prop bets available for the NHL Draft.
All odds are via a popular United States sportsbook.
First round specials
Below are a few of the NHL Draft specials specifically for the first round of the draft to be held on Tuesday night.
Canadian born players selected in the top 10
- Over 4.5 (+195)
- Under 4.5 (-275)
2019 result: Three Canadian players were drafted inside the top 10 including Kirby Dach, Bowen Byram and Dylan Cozens.
Finnish born players selected in the first round
- Over 1.5 (+200)
- Under 1.5 (-286)
2019 result: Three Finish players were drafted in the first round including Kaapo Kakko, Lassi Thompson and Ville Heinola.
Swedish born players selected in the first round
- Over 4.5 (-125)
- Under 4.5 (-106)
2019 result: Four Swedish players were selected in the first round including Philip Broberg, Victor Soderstrom, Tobias Bjornfot and Simon Holmstrom.
Total defencemen drafted in the first round
- Over 6.5 (-115)
- Under 6.5 (-115)
2019 result: Ten defencemen were selected in the first round.
Total forwards drafted in the first round
- Over 23.5 (-115)
- Under 23.5 (-115)
2019 result: Twenty forwards were selected in the first round.
United States born players selected in the first round
- Over 2.5 (+175)
- Under 2.5 (-240)
2019 result: Nine United States player were selected in the first round including Jack Hughes, Alex Turcotte, Trevor Zegras, Matthew Boldy, Spencer Knight, Cameron York, Cole Caufield, John Beecher and Ryan Johnson.
Draft position matchups
The sportsbook offered odds on which player will be drafted first by comparing the two potential NHL prospects expected to be selected around the same time.
Player to be drafted first
- Tim Stuzle (-143)
- Quinton Byfield (+105)
Player to be drafted first
- Marco Rossi (+115)
- Lucas Raymond (-155)
Player to be drafted first
- Jamie Drysdale (-115)
- Jake Sanderson (-115)
Player to be drafted first
- Alexander Holtz (-155)
- Jack Quinn (+115)
Player to be drafted first
- Yaroslav Askarov (-134)
- Anton Lundell (+100)
Player to be drafted first
- William Wallinder (-115)
- Noel Gunler (-115)
Player to be drafted first
- Lukas Reichel (-200)
- John-Jason Peterka (+150)
Player to be drafted first
- Hendrix Lapierre (-115)
- Rodion Amirov (-115)
First overall pick
The sportsbook listed the top eight possibilities with Alexis Lafreniere as a heavy favorite to be the No. 1 overall draft pick on Tuesday night.
- Alexis Lafreniere (-10000)
- Quinton Byfield (+2000)
- Tim Stuzle (+2500)
- Cole Perfetti (+5000)
- Lucas Raymond (+5500)
- Jamie Drysdale (+7500)
- Alexander Holtz (+8500)
- Yaroslav Askarov (+10000)
2019 result: Forward Jack Hughes from the United States was selected first overall by the New Jersey Devils last season.
