Report: NHL to change draft format in 2025
Gary Bettman makes changes to the annual entry draft.
According to a report from ESPN insider Greg Wyshynski, the NHL is changing the annual NHL Entry Draft format for 2025 in Los Angeles.
Wyshynski reports that in 2025 the league will move to a 'decentralized' draft, a format used in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball that has teams making their draft selections from their own arena rather than traveling to a central location and making them from the draft floor.
Call me crazy, but that kind of negates the entire purpose of holding the draft in a place like LA? I mean, if the draft is decentralized and none of the teams are even in the city, why should fans care? I've been to the NHL Draft before and it's a fantastic fan experience... but if the teams aren't there, what is there for me?
Wyshynski reports that some of the draft's top prospects will be on-site, but where's the fun in that? The worst part? Wyshynski announces that NHL commissioner Gary Bettman will make the selectionn announcements himself.
From Wyshynski:
This will be the NHL's first decentralized draft, a format used in the NBA, NFL and Major League Baseball that has teams making selections from their own facilities rather than traveling to a central location and making them from the draft floor. Outside of two years during the COVID pandemic, the NHL has had a single location host the draft since 1963.
Initial plans for the decentralized draft had top prospects assembling in a mid-sized venue, along with a few team representatives and league executives. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman would announce each first-round pick and greet the draftee onstage.
It's unclear how public access to the 2025 draft at the Peacock Theater will be facilitated, a source told ESPN.- Greg Wyshynski
Bettman has been pushing for this format for years now.
"Families are going to be there, prospects are going to be there, we're all going to be there," Bettman said at the 2023 NHL board of governors meeting in Seattle. "With more and more people with computers and data involved with the draft and doing that type of work on the floor, they were all more comfortable in their home environments."
Anything to save a buck, eh Gary?
