The 2017 NHL entry draft was the 55th draft for the National Hockey League. It was held on June 23–24, 2017, at the United Center in Chicago. The first three selections were Nico Hischier by the New Jersey Devils, Nolan Patrick by the Philadelphia Flyers, and Miro Heiskanen by the Dallas Stars.
As of 2026, there are 55 active NHL players from this draft.
Eligibility Ice hockey players born between January 1, 1997, and September 15, 1999, were eligible for selection in the 2017 NHL entry draft. Additionally, undrafted non-North American players born in 1996 were eligible for the draft; and those players who were drafted in the 2015 NHL entry draft, but not signed by an NHL team and who were born after June 30, 1997, were also eligible to re-enter the draft.
Draft lottery Since the 2012–13 NHL season all teams not qualifying for the Stanley Cup playoffs have a "weighted" chance at winning the first overall selection. Beginning with the 2014–15 NHL season the NHL changed the weighting system that was used in previous years. Under the new system the odds of winning the draft lottery for the four lowest finishing teams in the league decreased, while the odds for the other non-playoff teams increased. The first three picks overall in this draft were awarded by lottery. The odds of winning the second and third draws increased on a proportional basis depending on which team won the previous draw. In the 2017 draft lottery, the expansion Vegas Golden Knights had the same odds of winning the lottery as the team that finished with the third fewest points in the 2016–17 NHL season (this ended up being the Arizona Coyotes). Vegas earned the lowest possible pick that they could receive, and selected sixth overall in the first-round and third in each subsequent round of this draft. The New Jersey Devils, Philadelphia Flyers and Dallas Stars won the draft lotteries that took place on April 29, 2017, giving them the first, second and third picks overall. New Jersey moved up four spots to earn the first selection, while Philadelphia and Dallas moved up from the thirteenth and eighth spots, respectively. In the process, the Colorado Avalanche, Vancouver Canucks, Vegas Golden Knights and Arizona Coyotes were each knocked down three places from first, second, third and fourth overall, respectively, while the Buffalo Sabres and Detroit Red Wings dropped two spots and the Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets each dropped one place.
Indicates team won first overallIndicates team won second overallIndicates team won third overallIndicates teams that did not win a lottery + Complete draft position odds Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th 13th 14th 15th Colorado 18.0% 16.0% 14.1% 52.0% Vancouver 12.1% 11.8% 11.3% 34.0% 30.7% Vegas 10.3% 10.3% 10.1% 11.8% 39.3% 18.1% Arizona 10.3% 10.3% 10.1% 2.1% 22.8% 34.6% 9.7% 8.5% 8.7% 8.8% 7.2% 33.0% 28.7% 5.2% Buffalo 7.6% 7.8% 8.0% 14.3% 38.2% 21.4% 2.6% Detroit 6.7% 7.0% 7.2% 23.4% 39.7% 14.8% 1.2% Dallas 5.8% 6.1% 6.4% 33.7% 37.9% 9.5% 0.5% Florida 5.4% 5.7% 6.0% 44.7% 32.7% 5.4% 0.2% 4.5% 4.8% 5.1% 56.5% 26.4% 2.7% 0.1% Carolina 3.2% 3.4% 3.7% 67.8% 20.7% 1.3% <0.1% Winnipeg 2.7% 2.9% 3.2% 76.4% 14.3% 0.5% <0.1% Philadelphia 2.2% 2.4% 2.7% 84.3% 8.3% 0.1% 1.8% 2.0% 2.2% 91.2% 2.9% 0.9% 1.0% 1.1% 97.0%
Top prospects Source: NHL Central Scouting final (April 11, 2017) ranking.
Ranking North American skaters European skaters 1 Nolan Patrick (C) Klim Kostin (C/LW) 2 Nico Hischier (C) Elias Pettersson (C) 3 Casey Mittelstadt (C) Lias Andersson (C) 4 Gabriel Vilardi (C) Miro Heiskanen (D) 5 Michael Rasmussen (C) Martin Necas (C) 6 Cody Glass (C) Timothy Liljegren (D) 7 Owen Tippett (RW) Kristian Vesalainen (LW/RW) 8 Eeli Tolvanen (RW) Urho Vaakanainen (D) 9 Cale Makar (D) Erik Brannstrom (D) 10 Nick Suzuki (C) Jesper Boqvist (C) Ranking North American goalies European goalies 1 Jake Oettinger Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen 2 Keith Petruzzelli Olle Eriksson Ek 3 Ian Scott Adam Ahman
Selections by round The order of the 2017 entry draft is listed below.
Round one
# Player Nationality NHL team College/junior/club team 1 Nico Hischier (C) Switzerland New Jersey Devils Halifax Mooseheads (QMJHL) 2 Nolan Patrick (C) Canada Philadelphia Flyers Brandon Wheat Kings (WHL) 3 Miro Heiskanen (D) Finland Dallas Stars HIFK (Liiga) 4Cale Makar (D) Canada Colorado Avalanche Brooks Bandits (AJHL) 5 Elias Pettersson (C) Sweden Vancouver Canucks Timra IK (HockeyAllsvenskan) 6 Cody Glass (C) Canada Vegas Golden Knights Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 7 Lias Andersson (C) Sweden New York Rangers (from Arizona)1 HV71 (SHL) 8 Casey Mittelstadt (C) United States Buffalo Sabres Green Bay Gamblers (USHL) 9 Michael Rasmussen (C) Canada Detroit Red Wings Tri-City Americans (WHL) 10 Owen Tippett (RW) Canada Florida Panthers Mississauga Steelheads (OHL) 11 Gabriel Vilardi (C) Canada Los Angeles Kings Windsor Spitfires (OHL) 12 Martin Necas (C) Czech Republic Carolina Hurricanes HC Kometa Brno (Czech Extraliga) 13 Nick Suzuki (C) Canada Vegas Golden Knights (from Winnipeg)2 Owen Sound Attack (OHL) 14 Callan Foote (D) Canada Tampa Bay Lightning Kelowna Rockets (WHL) 15 Erik Brannstrom (D) Sweden Vegas Golden Knights (from NY Islanders)3 HV71 (SHL) 16 Juuso Valimaki (D) Finland Calgary Flames Tri-City Americans (WHL) 17 Timothy Liljegren (D) Sweden Toronto Maple Leafs Rogle BK (SHL) 18 Urho Vaakanainen (D) Finland Boston Bruins JYP (Liiga) 19 Josh Norris (C) United States San Jose Sharks U.S. NTDP (USHL) 20 Robert Thomas (C) Canada St. Louis Blues London Knights (OHL) 21 Filip Chytil (C) Czech Republic New York Rangers PSG Zlin (Czech Extraliga) 22 Kailer Yamamoto (RW) United States Edmonton Oilers Spokane Chiefs (WHL) 23 Pierre-Olivier Joseph (D) Canada Arizona Coyotes (from Minnesota)4 Charlottetown Islanders (QMJHL) 24 Kristian Vesalainen (RW) Finland Winnipeg Jets (from Columbus via Vegas)5 Frolunda HC (SHL) 25 Ryan Poehling (C) United States Montreal Canadiens St. Cloud State (NCHC) 26 Jake Oettinger (G) United States Dallas Stars (from Chicago)6 Boston University (HE) 27 Morgan Frost (C) Canada Philadelphia Flyers (from Washington via St. Louis)7 Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (OHL) 28 Shane Bowers (C) Canada Ottawa Senators Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) 29 Henri Jokiharju (D) Finland Chicago Blackhawks (from Anaheim via Dallas)8 Portland Winterhawks (WHL) 30 Eeli Tolvanen (RW) Finland Nashville Predators Sioux City Musketeers (USHL) 31 Klim Kostin (C/LW) Russia St. Louis Blues (from Pittsburgh)9 Dynamo Moscow (KHL)
Notes The Arizona Coyotes' first-round pick went to the New York Rangers as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent Derek Stepan and Antti Raanta to Arizona in exchange for Tony DeAngelo and this pick. The Winnipeg Jets' first-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent Columbus' first-round pick in 2017 to Winnipeg in exchange for Vegas selecting Chris Thorburn in the 2017 NHL expansion draft from Winnipeg, a third-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The New York Islanders' first-round pick went to the Vegas Golden Knights as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured that Vegas selected Jean-Francois Berube in the 2017 NHL expansion draft from the Islanders in exchange for Mikhail Grabovski, Jake Bischoff, a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The Minnesota Wild's first-round pick went to the Arizona Coyotes as the result of a trade on February 26, 2017, that sent Martin Hanzal, Ryan White and a fourth-round pick in 2017 to Minnesota in exchange for Grayson Downing, a second-round pick in 2018, a conditional fourth-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The Columbus Blue Jackets' first-round pick went to the Winnipeg Jets as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that sent a first-round pick in 2017, a third-round pick in 2019 to Vegas and ensured that Vegas selected Chris Thorburn in the 2017 NHL expansion draft from Winnipeg in exchange for this pick. Vegas previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on June 21, 2017, that ensured that Vegas selected William Karlsson in the 2017 NHL expansion draft from Columbus in exchange for David Clarkson, a second-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The Chicago Blackhawks' first-round pick went to the Dallas Stars as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent Anaheim's first-round pick in 2017 (29th overall) and a third-round pick in 2017 (70th overall) to Chicago in exchange for this pick. The Washington Capitals' first-round pick went to the Philadelphia Flyers as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent Brayden Schenn to St. Louis in exchange for Jori Lehtera, a conditional first-round pick in 2018 and this pick. St. Louis previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on February 27, 2017, that sent Kevin Shattenkirk and Pheonix Copley to Washington in exchange for Zach Sanford, Brad Malone, a conditional seventh-round pick in 2017 or 2018, a conditional second-round pick in 2019 and this pick. The Anaheim Ducks' first-round pick went to the Chicago Blackhawks as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent a first-round pick in 2017 (26th overall) to Dallas in exchange for a third-round pick in 2017 (70th overall) and this pick. Dallas previously acquired this pick as the result of a trade on February 24, 2017, that sent Patrick Eaves to Anaheim in exchange for this pick (being conditional at the time of the trade). The condition – Dallas will receive a first-round pick in 2017 if Anaheim advances to the 2017 Western Conference Final and Eaves plays in at least 50% of their games – was converted on May 10, 2017. The Pittsburgh Penguins' first-round pick went to the St. Louis Blues as the result of a trade on June 23, 2017, that sent Ryan Reaves and a second-round pick in 2017 (51st overall) to Pittsburgh in exchange for Oskar Sundqvist and this pick.
Round two