The 2022 NHL draft has been scheduled to take place in Montreal, Quebec this July according to a statement from the NHL on Friday.
This comes after the city was supposed to host the event both this year and in 2020, but it was moved to a online & virtual format due to the COVID-19 Pandemic for both years. The last in-person draft was held in Vancouver in 2019.
According to the NHL, the event will be held over two days in the city, on July 7 and 8, with spectators and media both allowed access in for the first time in two years. Next years’ draft will mark the 27th time that Montreal has hosted the event, with the last time they hosted being in 2009.
The @CanadiensMTL will host the 2022 #NHLDraft at Bell Centre on Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8. Info: https://t.co/ufA9ZiqN0A pic.twitter.com/VnNn9bo0Hi
— NHL Public Relations (@PR_NHL) September 17, 2021
“Montreal, the site of the first NHL Draft in 1963, is a wonderful place to bring the NHL family together and to focus on the future of our game as our Clubs call the names of top prospects from around the world,” said NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman in a press release on Friday. “We also thank Geoff Molson and the entire Canadiens organization for their cooperation and support while we needed to conduct the Draft remotely the past two years.”
Next year’s draft will see several young players trying for their shot at the major leagues, but this time up close and in person at one of the NHL’s most covered annual events.
Tickets and other details are to be announced at a later date, but if you’ve missed out for the last few years and want to see the NHL’s next star players for the first time yourself, you might want to mark the date in your calendar.
For more information about the draft and past drafts, you can visit https://records.nhl.com/draft/