The World Hockey Association has rescheduled its two-day Draft weekend, TFP has learned.
The Draft, originally scheduled for July 10th and July 11th, has been pushed back one week to July 17th and July 18th.
According to WHA President of Hockey Operations Peter Young, the date was pushed back because of the "extraordinary number of NHL Free Agents" following the July 1st.
"Our hockey operations departments were not expecting to find almost 200 unrestricted free agents available," said Board of Governors Chairman Mario Frankovitch.
"With as many as another 200 Type 2 Free Agents having until July 15th to accept offers on the table it would have been redundant to draft before that date."
The WHA will also avoid selecting many entry-level Russian players, said Young, because of the federation fees required to transfer the players to North America.
The WHA Draft will take place at the new Fallsview Casino Niagara. WHA teams will select 30 NHL/AHL Free Agents on July 17 and 30 Entry Level Free Agents on July 18.
