All players aged 19 or older by September 15 of that draft year are
automatically eligible.  Players who will be 18 by September 15 of
the draft year must opt-in.
 
This year, all players who have birthdates earlier than 16-Sep-1978
were automatically eligible.  Players whose birthdates fell between
the above date an 15-Sep-1979 were required to opt-in (as almost all
CHL players who met that age range did).  No players whose birthdates
were after 15-Sep-1979 were eligible this year.
 
This means that a number of CHL players can be drafted at the age of
seventeen and some US College players were only eighteen on draft day.
 
To confuse things even more, there are a number of exceptions that
apply to players who have been previously drafted.  The following
situations made players eligible for this year's draft:
 
- If a player was drafted in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft but was not
  offered a contract by the NHL club by June 1 of this year.
 
- If a player was drafted in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft and had not
  signed with the NHL club by June 1 of this year.
 
- If a European player was drafted in any year and his rights were
  renounced by the NHL club.
 
 
If you're not confused yet, there are different rules that apply to
previously undrafted players.
 
All undrafted players whose birthdates fall between 15-Sep-1978 and
1-Jan-1977 may opt to re-enter, unless they have elected to sign
with an NHL club.
 
North American-born players whose birthdates are earlier than
1-Jan-1977 were not eligible for this year's draft.  They are free
agents.*
 
Non-North American-born players who have not been previously drafted
may always opt to re-enter the draft, regardless of age.  (e.g. Ruslan
Salei)*.
 
 
* - These rules seems to change, depending on who you talk to at the
    NHL Office...i.e., the rules are so convoluted, no one knows the
    real rule.  These rules also seem to coincide and be implied by
    the elimination of the Supplemental Draft after 1994.
 
 
Mike Remmerde
Pacific Region Scout
Red Line Report
 
Oh yeah, and Blake Bellefuille *was* eligible this year.  I too, was
a bit surprised that he was passed over.  Just another sign that size
is a primary objective when making decisions at the draft table.
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.