Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) – The NHL Draft is set to return to the City of Buffalo this June for the first time in 10 years. The National Hockey League is expected to invite several of the game’s top prospects, with somewhere between 90 and 100 young players to be in attendance in Buffalo with their family members.

While the NHL is certainly no stranger to Buffalo, Patrick Kaler, president and CEO of Visit Buffalo, feels this is a great opportunity to further put the city and Western New York on the map on a national, as well as an international stage.

“We look forward to hosting the 2026 draft, bringing all of the teams to town, players who are going to be drafted, their families. This has a good economic impact for our community, too,” said Kaler in an interview with WBEN. “It’s about $2.6 million on the conservative side, we estimate they’ll probably be over $3 million by the time it’s over with.”

Kaler says those figures are just based on room nights for the teams, sponsors, media and the athletes. This won’t include the fans that are also slated to be in attendance.

“It doesn’t even take into account everybody else who will be coming in and spending dollars while they’re here,” he noted. “So this was just a huge opportunity for Buffalo, especially during a hard time for tourism, a hard time for our Canadian friends not wanting to come over. This will really just help us so greatly for 2026 overall numbers.”

Compared to where the city was 10 years ago, Kaler feels this is an even greater opportunity to showcase what Buffalo is all about with prospects, teams, and also fans planning to be in attendance.

“You just think about where we were 10 years ago as a destination. Canalside was still under construction, the community has continued to evolve and change. So it’ll be another different experience,” Kaler said. “That’s what’s the great thing about Buffalo. We do continue to add to our great toolbox of things for people to experience while they’re here, and it shows what a fantastic place Buffalo actually is.”

Once the draft on June 26-27 is complete, Buffalo will have hosted the most drafts than any other city. Kaler feels that really speaks to who Buffalo is as a sports and hockey destination.

Kaler hopes the expected national, and even international exposure for Buffalo with the draft will have a positive long-term impact for the city.

“The more that we have Buffalo in the public eye, not only just in the United States but around the world, this helps tell that Buffalo story. This is just another one of those pieces of the cog that gets the attention placed on Buffalo, and we’re just thrilled to be a part of it,” Kaler said.

And while Downtown Buffalo has experienced some hardships with businesses closing as the result of the COVID pandemic, even six years after the fact, Kaler strongly believes the NHL Draft and other similar events will continue to make Buffalo and downtown a viable destination.

“If you look at 10 years ago and the overall visitors spend in our destination, from ’14-24, we’re up almost 70%. I think that speaks a lot to the sustainability of tourism, that people are coming and still coming to our destination, still going out to our restaurants, our bars, our night life, staying in our hotels,” Kaler said. “These types of things just continue to put us at the top of that list.”