2005 NHL Entry Draft

The 2005 NHL Entry Draft was the 43rd NHL Entry Draft.

As a lockout cancelled the games of the 2004–05 NHL season, the draft order was determined by lottery on July 22, 2005. Teams were assigned 1 to 3 balls based on their playoff appearances and first overall draft picks from the past three years. According to the draft order, the selection worked its way up to 30 as usual; then instead of repeating the order as in past years, the draft "snaked" back down to the team with the first pick. Therefore, the team with the first pick overall would not pick again until the 60th pick. The team with the 30th pick would also get the 31st pick. The new CBA reduced the draft to seven rounds in length, compared to nine rounds in years past.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won the draft lottery and, as expected, selected Sidney Crosby. The lottery associated with the draft has colloquially been referred to as the Sidney Crosby Sweepstakes due to the certainty of Crosby being selected first.

The draft was held at the Westin Hotel in Ottawa, Ontario, on July 30, 2005, and unlike normal drafts it was not open to the public, for the first time since 1980. The draft was originally supposed to be held at the Corel Centre with the Ottawa Senators being the host beginning June 25, 2005, but was cancelled due to the lockout. The Corel Centre was available for the new date, but it would not have been possible to use it on such short notice. Only the top 20 prospects attended the draft. The Senators did not host the draft due to this, and were compensated by hosting the 2008 draft instead.