The big sign for the Kenaston Super Draft is a familiar sight on the highway between Saskatoon and Regina. (CBC)

The ongoing lockout of NHL players has people in Kenaston, Sask., nervous about the fate of their Super Draft, a major fundraising event for the community.

The Kenaston Super Draft is one of the province's largest and best known NHL hockey drafts.

It has been around since 1984, and over the years the program has provided about $3.5 million for charities and worthwhile community projects, from artificial ice for the local arena to a new gym floor for the Kenaston school.

Super Draft chairman Don George said the lockout has put the draft in a holding pattern.

"You know they're going to come back sooner or later," George said. "There's just things you don't do, you put off."

George said, at this stage, organizers are contemplating a modified draft, possibly limited to the playoff rounds.

"If they were to settle pretty soon, we wouldn't probably be able to have a regular season draft and you hope then that you can have a playoff one," he said.

Village administrator, Carman Fowler, said the stakes for the community -- if the draft is lost altogether -- are high, especially for recreation programs.

"We'll have to come up with another way to support them and keep them running," Fowler said.