LNAH Relaunch: The Draft

If “No News is Good News” then the LNAH had an incredibly good start to the Summer. However, that wasn’t the case. Fortunately, the legal silence has been broken, and the late Summer news has been plentiful. In the latest round of the news frenzy, the draft has happened! Over two months past the date of last Summer’s draft, the 2026 draft was conducted virtually, with fans able to follow along on the league’s web site.  

Finding a silver lining in the delay, this year’s draft has the potential to be the most definite in terms of signing the early rounders. In past years, high profile players have been selected while waiting for offers from other leagues. Post draft, those offers have come in, leaving the respective LNAH teams without their early round selection(s).  This late in the Summer, the free agent market is smaller, with few still holding out for a shot at an ECHL, 2-way ECHL/AHL or European Contract. 

Regardless of who was available versus early June, the early rounds showed much promise for the 8 teams. 

Riviere de Loup raised eyebrows when it used the first overall pick on 41-year-old Patrick Coulombe. The selection would be the outlier on a league-wide youth movement but made sense for the 3L. With Captain Tristan Pomerleau stepping into an assistant coaching role while recovering from off season surgery, a veteran leader became necessary.  Coulombe brings 20 years of experience, 9 years of captaincy and championships in 3 different leagues.  

Coulombe was not a trend setter. In fact, he was far from it.  Of the 8 first round selections 4 were from university programs, and 2 were from junior programs. This would continue through round two where 13 of the first 16 selections were from the universities or juniors. It wasn’t until round three where teams began taking chances on veteran players from US and European Minor League teams. 

Eyes on the Mariners: Manotick came into the draft without a first round selection, and one slightly different rule than the other teams. With league citizenship requirements, the Mariners could draft both Quebec and Ontario-born players but can only trade Quebec-born players to Quebec-based teams. This wrinkle added a level of complexity to the Mariners drafting options. The Mariners went slightly older, using a higher percentage of picks on minor leaguers. This could be seen as a way to select more Quebec born players without having to convince a recent university or junior graduate to move outside of the province.   

Eyes on the Petroliers Roster: Going into the draft, it was announced that the Petroliers players would not be eligible. Indicators point to a dispersal draft later this Summer, but for the time being, they’re still on the sidelines. It’s a safe bet that the league wanted rosters to be settled before putting championship players up for grabs. 

As the league continues to grow and evolve, the draft showed how bright things are. The league operates as a healthy mix of minor league veterans and up and coming talent. The draft was a prime indicator that this structure will continue. In the coming weeks, the league will be fast tracking its season preparations leading up to opening night, and they’ll be doing it with newly augmented rosters.