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Entry Draft

The annual NHL Entry Draft consists of a seven-round off-season draft held in June on a date of the commissioner's choosing. Early NHL drafts took place at the Queen Elizabeth (currently Fairmont) Hotel in Montreal. Amateur players from junior, collegiate, or European leagues are eligible to enter the Entry Draft. The selection order is determined by a combination of the standings at the end of the regular season, playoff results, and a draft lottery. The 16 teams that did not qualify for the playoffs are entered in a weighted lottery to determine the initial draft picks in the first round, with the last place team having the best chance of winning the lottery. Once the lottery determines the initial draft picks, the order for the remaining non-playoff teams is determined by the standings at the end of the regular season. For those teams that did qualify for the playoffs, the draft order is then determined by total regular season points for non-division winners that are eliminated in the first two rounds of the playoffs, then any division winners that failed to reach the Conference Finals. Conference finalists receive the 29th and 30th picks depending on total points, with the Stanley Cup runner-up given the 31st pick and the Stanley Cup champions the final pick.