When the NHL announced the general managers and other executives had voted to last month decentralize the NHL Draft, several thoughts came to mind.
First, from a selfish standpoint. how could you ruin such a great event? The NHL Draft is about the league coming together as one. There is so much intrigue around the draft. What players are on the move? What trades could be made? Will there be any surprises on who is drafted where?
The interaction between the team executives and the media helps fuel what is a great two days. Last year, the NHL Draft was held in Nashville. This year, the NHL Draft will be held in Las Vegas at The Sphere. It will also be the last centralized draft before it becomes decentralized.
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The second thought that came to mind was from a business standpoint. saving money is a good thing, but why do these teams need to bring everyone to the NHL Draft?
As Dennis Bernstein of the Fourth Period pointed out on Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, it is a reward for a long season. Go to a place, say Nashville and Montreal, and let loose for a couple of days. The NHL season, after all, is a grind not only for the players but the executives.
But if the decision is truly about money and cost savings, why does everyone need to go or at least be on the floor? Why can’t the teams use the suites in an NHL arena to stage events for the staff, while having those necessary be on the draft floor?
But there is more. Again, if it is all about the money and travel for these teams, what kind of message does it send when the NHL will spend close to $5-$6 million to rent out The Sphere in Las Vegas?
And while it might be in the best interest for NHL executives to be at their home location for the NHL Draft, it takes away from the experience for the fans. Not to mention it costs money to get everyone to a team hub as well.
The NFL Draft is a whole different animal in itself. But let’s be honest, will players and fans want to go knowing teams will be calling in their picks and trades? Not really.
That is what makes the NHL Draft so different. The action on the floor. Seeing the different general managers interact and work to make trades. Sometimes it works and sometimes it does not, like we saw this past year.
Brian Burke Thinks Decentralizing the NHL Draft is “Really Stupid”
As Brian Burke stated on an episode of the Jeff Marek Show in November, his best work came on the draft floor, not in his office.
“Yeah, I made two big deals on the floor. Two huge deals on the floor. Two of the biggest in the history of the league on the floor. I think it’s a really important place and a lot of business gets done there. I think the drama of being on the floor and having the kids families walk up after they’re picked and put on their hat and their sweater. I think that drama is great.
Even deputy Commissioner Bill Daly was surprised by the move when he spoke Sirius XM NHL Network radio back in November.
“Well, I’ll tell you, I was a little bit surprised by the results we got on kind of an informal polling basis, but it was a very strong majority of our clubs, I shouldn’t say our managers because we asked for one vote per club. And you know, who controls that vote and whether that’s the vote of, you know, a team president or, or a governor, owner, or a general manager is really up to each club. So I don’t know, other than being reflective of what our clubs want. I don’t know who was actually doing the voting but it was a very, very strong majority in favor of transitioning the form of the draft.”
At the time of the interview, there was some uncertainty around whether the 2024 or 2025 NHL Draft was going to be decentralized. The plan was always for the 2024 NHL Draft to have the same format as the League was still finalizing plans.
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As we found out on Tuesday, starting in 2025, the NHL Draft will be decentralized, while the 2024 NHL Draft will keep the same format as previous drafts.
However, it was a loud voice coming from the clubs that wanted a draft similar to the NFL Draft.
A big reason the clubs want this format is to prepare for free agency on July 1st. The dates for the draft are June 28th and 29th, Those dates are so close and the clubs say they have little time to prepare.
But what if free agency started after July 1st or the season started earlier, thus there could be a week between the start of free agency and the draft to save the centralized format? It was like this before.
Again, the centralized format makes the NHL unique and not boring. So we will see what happens in 2025 with the decentralized draft because the NHL is not committed to do this for the foreseeable future.
The NHL always has the option to go back to a centralized draft.
