The Manitoba Junior Hockey League and its eleven member clubs are pleased to announce that the 2020 MJHL Draft will be held on Sunday, April 26 at 9:00 AM CST. The draft will be held online utilizing RinkNet Live Draft Centre technology provided by HockeyTech.
Traditionally the MJHL Draft has been held the first week of June, “with the abruptness of season’s end and the subsequent cancellation of all hockey activities for the foreseeable future across the province and nation, we felt it was important to provide some much needed excitement and positivity during what has been a disappointing and difficult time for everyone” comments Kim Davis, MJHL Commissioner.
The Neepawa Natives will hold the first overall selection in the 2020 MJHL Draft followed by the OCN Blizzard and Selkirk Steelers rounding out the top three picks.
| Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Round 4 | Round 5 | Round 6 | Round 7* | Round 8* |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neepawa | Winkler | Neepawa | Neepawa | Neepawa | Swan Valley | N/A | N/A |
| OCN | OCN | OCN | OCN | OCN | OCN | OCN | OCN |
| Selkirk | Selkirk | Selkirk | Selkirk | Selkirk | Wayway | N/A | N/A |
| Winnipeg | Selkirk | Wayway | Steinbach | Dauphin | Winnipeg | N/A | N/A |
| Dauphin | Dauphin | Dauphin | Dauphin | Swan Valley | Dauphin | N/A | N/A |
| Virden | Virden | Virden | Swan Valley | Winnipeg | Virden | N/A | Virden |
| Wayway | Wayway | Portage | Wayway | Portage | Wayway | N/A | Wayway |
| Swan Valley | Swan Valley | Swan Valley | Winnipeg | Selkirk | Virden | N/A | N/A |
| Winkler | Winkler | Dauphin | Winkler | Winnipeg | Winnipeg | N/A | Winkler |
| Portage | Portage | Portage | Portage | Portage | Dauphin | N/A | N/A |
| Steinbach | Steinbach | Steinabch | Steinabch | Steinabch | Winnipeg | N/A | N/A |
Prior to the MJHL Draft, teams will submit up to two (2) Auto-Protect selections from the designated home zone. New to this year’s draft procedures, teams will have the option to decline an Auto-Protect selection and defer that pick to Round 7 or 8 of the draft. Full details of procedure updates along with Auto-Protect selections will be released on Monday, April 20.
Director of Operations, Kevin Saurette adds “the MJHL Draft is a very important event for the league and its member teams. We are very excited about the talent level across the province in what should be a very thrilling month for the 2005 draft class with both the WHL and MJHL Drafts taking place in April.”
All selections will be available online to the public in real-time for the benefit of all teams, players, and fans to engage with this live event. Keep posted to @mjhlhockey and #MJHLDraft20 on social media for round-by-round draft summaries or follow live at www.mjhlhockey.ca/draft.
