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Russian players still eligible for 2022 Entry Draft, NHL says

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Cooper Godin
April 21, 2022  (11:23 PM)
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Despite the on-going Russian invasion of Ukraine, the National Hockey League will allow Russian-born players to be selected during upcoming Entry Draft in July in Montreal, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

"It's a question we have asked before as recently as the GM meetings in Florida and I got the same answer again on this day when I circled back to a league official in lieu of what's happened at Wimbledon and the answer was «no.» The NHL is not contemplating barring Russian players from getting drafted on July 7 and 8 in Montreal." LeBrun said.

He added, "I guess the other thing that we'll have to keep an eye on is whether some of those Russian prospects are downgraded in the eyes of some NHL teams when the draft arrives. I've talked to a few scouts in front offices that are having that internal dialogue, but for now and I don't think it's going to change – Russian players absolutely allowed to be drafted."

Three Russian players were ranked in the top-ten of international skaters category in the NHL's Central Scouting mid-term rankings back in January. Those players are Danila Yurov (pictured; ranked 3rd), Ivan Miroshnichenko (ranked 8th), and Alexander Perevalov (ranked 10th).

The 2022 NHL Entry Draft will take place on July 7th and 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal (Quebec). The final draft rankings from NHL Central Scouting are expected to be released in mid-May.

Source: Pierre LeBrun - Insider Trading (TSN).