Men’s Competitive Draft League — Draft Night: How It Works

Welcome to the Men’s Competitive Draft League Draft. Below is everything you need to know about how draft night runs, how players are selected, and how franchise tags and paired players are handled. Please read this in full before Sunday if you are a draftee in this season’s draft league!

The Basics

• 4 teams, each led by a captain and built through the draft.
• Rounds 1–12 take place live and in person on draft night. All remaining rounds are completed by league management behind closed doors in the days following the draft, and final rosters are announced once complete.
• Snake draft order. The pick order reverses every round. The team picking last in one round picks first in the next.
• 2 minutes per pick. When a team is on the clock, they have two minutes to make their selection.

Player Pools

Every player in the draft has been placed into one of three pools:

• Pool A — Each team may draft up to 3 Pool A players.
• Pool B — Each team may draft up to 6 Pool B players.
• Pool C — all remaining players. No limit.

Teams may draft from any pool in any round, as long as they stay within the caps above. Once a team hits a pool’s cap, all of their remaining picks must come from the other pools. Pool assignments will be visible on the draft board on draft night.

Captains and Franchise Tags

This is the single most important rule to understand before you build your board.

A captain occupies one of their own team’s spots in whichever pool they are graded into. A captain graded into Pool A enters the draft with 2 Pool A spots remaining, not 3.

Before draft night, each captain selects one Franchise Tag player who is automatically placed on their roster.

• Franchise Tag players are removed from the draft board — they will not be available for selection on draft night.
• A Franchise Tag player still counts toward their pool’s cap. Tag a Pool A player and you enter the draft with 2 of your 3 Pool A spots remaining. Tag a Pool B player and you have 5 of 6 Pool B spots remaining. Pool C tags do not affect any cap.
• These stack. A captain graded Pool A who also tags a Pool A player enters the draft with 1 Pool A spot left.
• Goalies may be Franchise Tagged. A tagged goalie counts toward the team’s 2-goalie maximum.
• If a Franchise Tag player is part of a pair, the pairing is dissolved — their partner returns to the draft board as a regular unpaired player in their pool.
• League management will coordinate tag selections to ensure no two teams tag the same player. All four Franchise Tags will be announced before Round 1 begins.

Goalies

Each team may roster a maximum of 2 goalies, and is guaranteed a minimum of 1. If a team has not selected a goalie by the end of the in-person rounds, league management will assign one during the closed-door rounds.

Goalies are drafted from the pools like any other player, and a goalie’s pool assignment counts toward the pool caps as normal.

Paired Players

Some players registered with a partner request, and where both players requested each other, they are paired — drafting one means drafting both.

Drafting a pair

• When a team drafts a player who is part of a pair, both players join that team with the single pick.
• Because the team received two players for one pick, that team forfeits its pick in the following round. The paired partner fills that roster spot. (Two players, two rounds — the roster math always balances.)
• Under a snake order, a pair taken with the last pick of a round costs you the first pick of the next round. Plan the turn accordingly.
• If the forfeited pick falls in a closed-door round, league management will simply skip that team in that round.

Pairs and the pool caps

• A paired partner counts toward whichever capped pool they belong to, exactly as if they had been drafted directly. A Pool C partner does not count against any cap.
• If both players in a pair are in the same capped pool, that single pick uses two spots against that cap. Several pairs on this year’s board are Pool A + Pool A — drafting one of those uses two of your three Pool A spots with a single selection.
• If the two players are in different capped pools, the pick uses one spot against each. A pair made up of a Pool A goalie and a Pool B skater costs a Pool A spot, a Pool B spot, and one of your two goalie spots at once.
• A team cannot draft a pair if doing so would put them over any pool cap, over the 2-goalie maximum, or if they have only one roster spot remaining.

Splitting a pair

• A player may choose to dissolve their pairing and enter the draft as an individual — either before draft night or live during the draft. To dissolve during the draft, the player notifies league management, and the change takes effect immediately.
• If a pairing is dissolved, both players become regular unpaired players in their pools. A player drafted after dissolving joins their team alone, with no forfeited pick.
• A live dissolution must be confirmed within the drafting team’s 2-minute pick clock. If the player cannot be reached or does not decide in time, the pair stays intact and the team must make a different selection. Being present in person on draft night is a real advantage here.
• Dissolving a pairing is permanent — once dissolved, it cannot be re-formed, and any picks already made stand.

After Round 12

Once the 12 in-person rounds are complete, league management will finish the remaining rounds privately in the days following the draft. The same rules in effect — pool caps, the goalie maximum, and any outstanding forfeited picks. Full rosters will be published on the website and social media once the draft is complete.

Quick Reference

We look forward to welcoming potential draftees to Draft Night on Sunday July 26 at 8pm (Montana’s BBQ & Bar, St. Catharines, ON)

Games are scheduled to begin August 9, 2026. For those who are drafted, payment is to be made at ballhockey.com’s Canal Rinks prior to first scheduled game. 

Payment details will be communicated to players drafted in the days following the draft via email. 

VIEW POOL ASSIGNMENTS (and Pairs) HERE