One of the NHL‘s most exciting recent seasons just ended, and the next one’s still 2½ months away, but there’s some cool hockey content in midsummer. The league’s Emmy-winning Welcome to the NHL returns this weekend to spotlight some of the sport’s young potential stars.
This year’s hourlong special follows the No. 1 overall pick, San Jose Sharks prospect Macklin Celebrtini, along with Tij Iginla — son of Hall of Famer Jerome Iginla and the first-ever draftee of the newly relocated Utah Hockey Club — and others as they experience last month’s 2024 NHL Draft at Sphere in Las Vegas ahead of the challenges of trying to make and stay in the world’s top league.
Welcome to the NHL bows at 7 p.m. ET/4 PT Saturday, July 20, on NHL Network and streaming on ESPN+. It also will air on Sportsnet in hockey-mad Canada and will be available on the league’s YouTube channel. Watch the trailer above and a clip of revered boxing announcer Michael Buffer introducing the Philadelphia Flyers’ appropriately named top draft pick Jett Luchanko below.
The show features exclusive behind-the-scenes access to 10 top prospects as they experience the anxiety and exhilaration of the draft with their families, friends and advisers. Also spotlighted are Cayden Lindstrom (Columbus Blue Jackets), Zayne Parekh (Calgary Flames), Zeev Buium (Minnesota Wild), Cole Eiserman (New York Islanders), Michael Hage (Montreal Canadiens), Max Plante (Detroit Red Wings), Carter George (Los Angeles Kings) and Kevin He (Winnipeg Jets).
The docuseries also turns the cameras on celebrity fans including Buffer, former NFL star Marshawn Lynch and Grammy-winning Canadian singer Celine Dion. The 2022 edition of Welcome to the NHL earned a 2023 Sports Emmy Award for Edited Event Coverage.