A few days ago, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reported that a majority of the teams that make up the National Hockey League had voted to decentralize the NHL draft, making it so teams would no longer appear on the floor of the draft venue. Players would no longer get to put on their team jerseys, as well as meet team staff immediately on the podium.
Originally, the current draft format began in 1963, beginning at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal for 10 years, until it began moving around to various locations (still inside Montreal) until its first visit to Toronto in 1985. In 1986, and for the next 37 years, the NHL Draft would be located at a specific team’s home arena, still carrying the original draft etiquette and procedures.
Although the 2024 NHL Draft in Las Vegas still does not have a designated location up to this point, it will likely be the last draft for the foreseeable future that fans are accustomed to. Unlike the NBA, MLB, and NFL drafts, the NHL has had a long history of teams making their draft selections in person, and the players trying on their new jerseys for the first time in their pro careers.
Aside from the game itself, it was one important and notable difference that the NHL had to differentiate itself from the other professional sports leagues in North America, making the draft a more entertaining event overall. The league has not announced any specifics on the upcoming change, meaning the fans are still in the dark about how much similarity it will have to the other professional leagues.
Nevertheless, from a fan perspective, we at PHR would like to know how the actual consumers of the game perceive the change. Vote below!
They didn’t get it right, according to Burkie and Gabby. I agree with those guys, too. My vote wouldn’t sway Bettman, though.
Obviously, I cannot speak for the rest of the team at PHR, but I completely agree. Like I said in the post, it’s something extremely unique to the league, and the explanations ultimately given to change the draft format weren’t enough for me. It felt like there were other solutions that could have come before changing the entire orientation of the event.
@Brennan – Does it seem to you (like me) that the NHL violated a Prime Directive that says, “If it ain’t broke, don’t break it.” ? Most times, I think Bettman can’t get out of his own way.
Yeah, I would agree with that. One of the major problems with Draft ’23 was that it started on June 28th, and free agency opened up three days later. With the Finals ending on the 13th (and granted, I understand that it could have gone 7 games and the league had to prepare for that) it feels the league could have made a scheduling change to address this issue instead. It would take a different preparation from the players but starting the season on October 3rd instead of October 10th would help this issue a lot.
The people running the game today fail to realize the uniqueness of the game and view it more as a product just like the other sports leagues. The attendence issues they’re beginning to see are a part of this new approach to the game.
@Gbear – Do you, like me, wonder where the “Blame control” grenade will land with the NHL? As in, maybe, “How dare you stupid fans not overpay for our stupidity!” The only thing NHL.com has done right with the overhaul of Gamecenter was restoring the “Listen” link for the Sirius/XM audio feed for the teams. The rest of it looks like a Mickey Mouse mangling of what the IIHF does. The declining attendance issues in some places are coupled with other markets that have shrunk or massively changed their TV and Radio coverage. The Kings went to Radio/TV simulcast, but kept Jim Fox to suck the oxygen out of the room like Beers does on the B’s radio side. The Ducks dumped longtime Color guy Dan Wood, for no good reason, and brought in former Ducks’ legend (sic), Emerson Etem, to learn from Jim Fox’s example. All the California teams have been forced to have their primary broadcast outlets be interweb audio streaming. The Blackhawks have turned their TV and Radio setups upside down and sideways, after losing Pat to retirement and Edzo to Seattle. Calgary and Vancouver were geo-blocking early, but now that is just Vancouver (SN 650). Calgary has been lax getting game replays up on SN960. SN590 doesn’t appear to have any Leafs games, leaving you with TSN 1050 (and podbay.fm). Even PIT swapped Mears and Getzoff for reasons unknown. It’s been reported that they gave Errey the boot, too. The Habs, thankfully, replaced last year’s boat anchor with a new guy (Victor Findlay) that is much better, but they dumped Sergio. I doubt I was the only one not happy about that. However, if you’re going to replace Sergio, “Jeep” (J.P. O’Connor) is a very good choice.
@Mac – Wow, I wasn’t aware of what the Pens did with their broadcast crew. :0
But revenues are way up we’re told! The look at ground level seems to reveal something else.
@Gbear – Of all the changes in various markets, theirs was least damaging, but still a little weird, nonetheless. When @Dave tipped me off about Dan Wood getting axed in Anaheim, I started looking around to see what other blocks were coming out of the Jenga tower. I just recently found an article that detailed all the changes, and was a bit surprised at how many there were. We knew about the situation with Bonesy & Ralphie in TOR, but they ironed that one out in time. I hate to give props to Bell Media for not botching it up in MTL, but so far, Victor Findlay & “Jeep” have been OK.
@Mac – I must’ve done something wrong on the new NHL.com scoreboard page because everything on it is in miniature print. :/
@Gbear – I can recommend a great browser for that problem – LibreWolf. If not for the Sharks & Flames this season, there have been times when the Nashville Cats were going to have their scores put up in “Noto Sans” 2-point font face. Ctrl+++++ can’t make it better, though. At least the guys made the trip to Vancouver, sort of. They left Pete at home, and Max filled in with Hal.
@Mac – I still have no idea what the Preds are trying to accomplish. Still mushy middle but with retained salary now. :/
@Gbear – Maybe it’s the case of seeing what Bruno can do with the cast he’s been given, then adjust. They’ve been stuck in zero-to-minus-one land for so long, it might take a little while to snap out of it. I’m not sure what to expect from night-to-night, like you.
In an era where two other sports make their drafts a spectacle, and baseball is trying as well, this is a miss.
NHL draft was the most entertaining to watch and gave it a little difference compared to other leagues. If anything other leagues should have been aspiring to be more like the NHL. It’s one of the few things they had that was better than the others.
The draft format is Irrelevant.
So here’s the thing. The way the draft USED to work made the draft floor really fun to watch. All 7 rounds in one day, rapid fire picks, scouts and staff running from table to table…
Now? They spend 10 hours on the first round with long commercial breaks and there’s hardly any trades.
If it’s gonna keep being this format, might as well just do it over Zoom, cuz it’s gonna be boring as sin either way…
Maybe put a each team up in the private corporate box seats where they can’t be overheard, instead of on the floor. Then put all the prospects and their families on the floor where all the cameras could watch their every move.
Once again the league that likes to consider itself unique and different jumps in with all the other leagues. Bettman and Daly have been terrible for the sport.
So much business and deals happen on the floor. I guess they are still trying to save face from the Lindros fiasco. Right on time.
No. Fire Bettman.
All need to know NHL changes one their best things. keeps the stupid outdoor games. Gary just keeps trying to get people who don’t care to watch ignoring real fans. Every team has huge front office. Unless they make surprise trade at draft. They know who they will try to sign and what offer is.
Yes. The pageantry is pointless. It made the drafts nearly impossible to stay tuned to.
The owners and GM’s don’t care about making fans happy, they just want what’s easy for them. The game is on a precipice as it is, so let’s alienate your fans even more.