Watertown, SD — The North American Hockey League’s 2026 draft is slated to begin tomorrow with the league’s second Futures Draft and will conclude on Wednesday with the Entry Draft. The Shamrocks are projected to make seven selections across the two days.
The Futures Draft debuted a year ago with each team being given two additional selections. This year, those selections can only be used on 2010 born players. Following the draft, selected players will be automatically added to their team’s USA Hockey Affiliate Player List for the 2026-27 season and are eligible to participate in up to 10 NAHL games without being added to the team’s official Protected List.
“In the futures draft, we look for players that can play here a year or two down the road,” Shamrocks General Manager and Head Coach Casey Kirley said.
Watertown will hold picks 19 and 51 in the Futures Draft. Last season, the Shamrocks used one of their two selections on Nash Paine who appeared in three contests for the club and notched an assist against the Minnesota Mallards in the second to last weekend of the regular season.
The Entry Draft will begin on Wednesday with the Shamrocks holding the 18th overall selection in the first round. The club will then have a long layoff until their next selection coming in the sixth round, 182nd overall. In total, the club will currently hold selections in the first, sixth, seventh (214th overall), eighth (246th), and ninth (278th) rounds on Wednesday.
“We look for players of high character and compete” Kirley said. “We have a good core coming back, so we are looking to add a couple players to our group to make an impact.”
Last season the Shamrocks found two key contributors with their later round selections. The Shamrocks snagged forwards Kyle Green and Justin Obrochta in the sixth and tenth rounds respectively.
Fans can follow along on our website and on Shamrocks social media for live draft coverage and updates.