The Western Hockey League announced today details for the 2024 WHL Draft Lotteries, to be conducted Wednesday, March 27.
The Western Hockey League announced today details for the 2024 WHL Draft Lotteries, to be conducted Wednesday, March 27.
The results of the 2024 WHL Draft Lotteries will be unveiled Wednesday, March 27 at 3 p.m. MT, streaming for free on the WHL’s YouTube channel.
The 2024 WHL Prospects Draft Lottery will involve the six non-playoff Clubs – Kamloops, Tri-City, Regina, Seattle, Edmonton, and Calgary – from the 2023-24 WHL Regular Season. A Club may only move up a maximum of two positions in the WHL Prospects Draft.
Kelowna has Regina’s pick, which was acquired from the Seattle Thunderbirds last January in the Colton Dach deal.
The Rockets have only had two first round picks since 2018, selecting Trevor Wong 18th overall in 2018 and Andrew Cristall 8th overall in 2020.
The WHL Prospects Draft Lottery will use a total of 21 balls, the allotment of which is as follows:
- Everett (via Kamloops) – Six balls
- Tri-City – Five balls
- Kelowna (via Regina) – Four balls
- Prince Albert (via Seattle) – Three balls
- Edmonton – Two balls
- Calgary – One ball
The lottery applies to the first round of the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft. For each round following, WHL Clubs shall draft based on the inverse order of the final standings from the 2023-24 WHL Regular Season.
The 2024 WHL U.S. Priority Draft Lottery will determine the order of selection for the first six picks in the first round of the WHL U.S. Priority Draft. The 2024 WHL U.S. Priority Draft Lottery will involve the six non-playoff Clubs – Calgary, Edmonton, Kamloops, Regina, Seattle, and Tri-City – from the 2023-24 WHL Regular Season. Each non-playoff Club will receive one (1) ball in the lottery. The remaining positions in the first round will be determined by inverse order of final standings from the 2023-24 WHL Regular Season. All selections in the second round will be made in inverse order of the final standings from the 2023-24 WHL Regular Season.
The 2024 WHL U.S. Priority Draft will be held Wednesday, May 8 and the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft will be held Thursday, May 9.
Since 2000, numerous impactful players have heard their names called with the first-overall pick, including but not limited to Gavin McKenna (Medicine Hat Tigers, 2022), Berkly Catton (Spokane Chiefs, 2021), Connor Bedard (Regina Pats, 2020), Matthew Savoie (Winnipeg ICE, 2019), Dylan Guenther (Edmonton Oil Kings, 2018), Kaiden Guhle (Prince Albert Raiders, 2017), Peyton Krebs (Kootenay ICE, 2016), Mathew Barzal (Seattle Thunderbirds, 2012), Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (Red Deer Rebels, 2008), and Braydon Coburn (Portland Winterhawks, 2000).
Players eligible for the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft are 2009-born players who reside in Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Northwest Territories, Yukon, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Players not selected in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft will remain eligible to be listed by WHL Clubs at any time thereafter.
Players eligible for the 2024 WHL U.S. Priority Draft are 2009-born players who reside in Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
Players not selected in the 2024 WHL U.S. Priority Draft will remain eligible to be selected the following day in the 2024 WHL Prospects Draft.
For complete coverage of the 2024 WHL Playoffs and 2024 WHL Drafts, please visit WHL.ca.
