[Article] Updated: NHL Teams Vote To Decentralize Entry Draft

[Kragar]

Just now, 6of1_halfdozenofother said:

 

That's part of the anticipation and the anticipation is what makes the event good for TV.

 

Moving it to remote drafting would save them costs, sure - and it'd probably save Gory Buttman some grief because he won't get booed on live television - but seeing a bunch of bodiless heads making announcements through a television screen twice removed hardly seems like a made-for-tv type of endeavour, and the tv stations that used to broadcast it will quickly find that it's not worth their money to stage a tv event around it.  Obscurity - seems like it's what the NHL craves.  

Makes sense.  NFL and NBA have bigger fanbases, so there's enough interest without any spectacles.

 

I just got so tired of seeing Harrison Katz up there all those years.  Team management only, please!

[Thrago]

On 10/16/2023 at 12:09 PM, grumpyone said:

the only thing they need to change about the lottery is to televise the entire thing to put the fans at ease regarding 'fixing' the draft. 

I think they need to add a system where for every year you drop in the draft the following drafts you get a better chance at rising in the draft until you do,  It still burns me that the Canucks have never risen in the draft only fallen, which to me is a broken system, especially since there are multiple teams that have risen multiple times. Also if you have risen in the draft you will have a worse chance in the following drafts or even a 3 year period where you can't.

Edited October 23, 2023 by Thrago

[RWJC]

NHL Teams Vote To Decentralize Entry Draft

 

October 25th, 2023 at 5:14pm CST • By Josh Erickson

 

NHL teams have voted in a majority to decentralize the NHL Entry Draft, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, ending the years-long tradition of front offices gathering for an in-person event. The change will likely take effect for the 2025 edition of the draft.

 

Friedman cited three primary reasons why support for a draft format that does not require in-person participation in a single venue had gained traction. The largest issue has arisen from a problem of the league’s own creation: the shortening distance between the draft and free agency, which decreased to just one day this past summer. Travel costs of teams’ front offices and scouting departments were another consideration. Friedman also added that “some teams felt their plans were being discovered because tables were too close and things were overheard.”

 

Notably, the 2024 NHL Draft, slated to take place in Las Vegas, does not have a confirmed venue. The Golden Knights’ T-Mobile Arena is booked for the desired dates, and the new Sphere venue has reportedly been considered as a potential venue. If a venue can’t be secured, it’s possible the transition away from in-person drafts begin as soon as 2024.

 

How a remote draft will look is anyone’s guess. It is certain to have more production value and added detail compared to the drafts conducted remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic – the draft does generate some significant TV revenue and will need to maintain viewability for a television audience.

 

Perhaps the most uncertain portion of a decentralized draft is player/prospect participation. The league will need to figure out a suitable substitute for players getting called up to a podium and putting on their team’s jersey – one of the most seminal moments in many players’ pro careers…

 

link to rest of article:

https://www.prohockeyrumors.com/2023/10/nhl-teams-reportedly-vote-to-decentralize-entry-draft.html#ref=home

 

 

[Ghostsof1915]

Is there a reason the league is bending over backwards to submit to whatever Vegas wants?

I knew Vegas was going to be trouble. I didn't expect them to be so demanding. Maybe they should realize there's 31 other teams in the league too.

[Crimson JH]

On 10/16/2023 at 8:20 AM, Nucker67 said:

Draft is fine. They need to change the Lottery.

This, I want to see those damn ball picks on live! 

[Miss Korea]

9 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Is there a reason the league is bending over backwards to submit to whatever Vegas wants?

I knew Vegas was going to be trouble. I didn't expect them to be so demanding. Maybe they should realize there's 31 other teams in the league too.

 

Team privacy and convenience.  GMs don't like making/discussing franchise-altering moves in front of fans and other GMs.  Even good trades are typically going to get booed.  On top of that, after the second day of drafting they have about six days to scramble back home and prepare for free agency.

 

Vegas has nothing to do with it at all.  You're looking at this completely the wrong way.  The GMs hated the draft format and were happy to vote for a change.

[Alflives]

Stupid league. The draft was cool and created interest in the league and the future players. The league needs to realize there is a lot more to fan interest than just the game on the ice. 

[spook007]

Question, how about the interviews of the prospects?

 

I seem to recall a lot of stories about how important the interviews were ahead of the draft?

[Wing]

14 hours ago, Ghostsof1915 said:

Is there a reason the league is bending over backwards to submit to whatever Vegas wants?

I knew Vegas was going to be trouble. I didn't expect them to be so demanding. Maybe they should realize there's 31 other teams in the league too.

Cause it's Bettman's child that he is so ever proud of. Doesn't help when they're 7-0 to start the season. I really hate the fact that they're in our division. They'll always going to be in our way. 

[Wing]

4 hours ago, spook007 said:

Question, how about the interviews of the prospects?

 

I seem to recall a lot of stories about how important the interviews were ahead of the draft?

They'll probably still hold interviews but virtually.

 

Yea the draft is cool and should stay as is. This league seems to only follows others and does unique things for not the right reasons. 

[RWJC]

Brian Burke says Sedins wouldn’t have been Canucks with decentralized draft

 

"A lot of the work that goes into the draft is impossible to do remotely," said former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke.

 

The NHL is reportedly planning to move to a decentralized draft format where each team would stay in their own home city for the draft rather than travel to a central location.

 

The draft has been centralized since 1963 apart from remote drafts conducted in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each NHL team sends a score of staff to the event, including the general manager, assistant general managers, and various scouts, as well as communications staff and other support staff.

 

According to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and echoed by other reporters with their own sources, a “vast majority” of teams voted in favour of decentralizing the draft.  

 

“Under the proposed decentralized model laid out in the Oct. 18 memo, the league would use a 5,000- to 10,000-seat venue and have one or two representatives from each club on hand,” reads a report from The Athletic. “Prospects would be greeted by commissioner Gary Bettman and a team rep on the draft stage for a brief photo opportunity after being selected and could later be flown with their family to the club’s home city after finishing broadcast and media responsibilities.”

 

Both the NBA and NFL run decentralized drafts and there are various reasons why the NHL is planning a similar format, including the travel and lodging costs, as well as privacy concerns with the teams’ tables so close together. 

 

But one former Vancouver Canucks general manager is staunchly opposed to the plan: Brian Burke.

 

"I think it's a really important place and a lot of business gets done there."

One of Burke’s signature moves as general manager of the Canucks was the wheeling and dealing at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft that gave the team the second and third-overall picks to select Daniel and Henrik Sedin. 

 

According to Burke, the trades that led to the Sedins becoming Canucks — as well as the blockbuster deal he made for Chris Pronger when he was general manager of the Anaheim Ducks — wouldn’t have happened with a decentralized draft.

 

“I made two big deals on the floor [of the draft] — two huge deals on the floor, two of the biggest in the history of the league on the floor,” said Burke on The Jeff Marek Show. “I think it’s a really important place and a lot of business gets done there.”

 

For Burke, there was a necessity of meeting face-to-face with the other general managers involved — Rick Dudley for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Don Waddell for the Atlanta Thrashers. 

 

The truly difficult deal was with Dudley and the Lightning, who owned the first-overall pick. Burke and the Canucks held picks three and four but needed to get the first-overall pick to ensure that Dudley or Waddell didn’t nab one of the Sedins, if not both of them, before the Canucks could pick. 

 

Further complicating the deal is that Dudley technically wasn’t in charge of the Lightning’s draft until the day of the draft because the Lightning were in the process of being sold and outgoing owner Art Williams was notoriously over-involved. The sale of the Lightning was finalized the night before the draft — if it didn’t, the trade for the first-overall pick might not have gone through.

 

“The finality of this came very quickly,” said Dudley at the time. “If we had to run this by Art, it would have been hard to get it done.”

 

The Canucks then traded the first-overall pick to Waddell and the Thrashers to get the second-overall pick — along with assurances the Thrashers would pick Patrik Stefan and not one of the Sedins — giving Burke and the Canucks the second and third-overall picks they needed.

I’ll be telling the whole story of how Burke got both Sedins in my upcoming book, On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Vancouver Canucks at the NHL Draft (shameless plug), but suffice it to say, it was a complicated series of deals with a lot of moving parts and it’s completely understandable that Burke might not have been able to get those deals done without meeting with Dudley and Waddell in person.

 

“The detail that goes into the draft where you’re on the floor, working on deals, talking to people on the side — a lot of the work that goes into the draft is impossible to do remotely,” said Burke. “So much of it was last minute and in-person and on the phone late at night. We actually got the deal done that morning on the floor.”

 

Then Marek asked Burke directly if the Sedins would have become Canucks with a decentralized draft.

 

“I would say no,” said Burke. “I would say…if they make the change and it had happened in the remote era, it would have been much more difficult and much more complicated.”

 

"They're going to ruin the greatest spectacle that exists in pro hockey."

Burke and Marek gave several other good reasons to keep the draft centralized.

 

“I keep coming back to the players and their families,” said Marek, “and saying to myself, if I’m in either position, either the father or the player, and I’m either walking up myself to shake the hand of the general manager who just drafted me or I’m watching my son do that and shake the hand of the team that’s about to help him take the next step in his hockey career, that’s really special. 

 

“To me, that handshake — I don’t know, maybe I’m too overly romantic about the whole thing, Burkie, but that handshake means a lot. I really love that moment of the draft. It’s not going to be anywhere close to the same.”

“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 the drama is great,” said Burke. “They’re going to ruin the greatest spectacle that exists in pro hockey…Our draft is special and unique and it’s amazing and we’re going to go away from it, I know that, but I think it’s really stupid.”

Burke laid the blame on a younger generation of general managers pushing for this change, though his ire might be misaimed.

 

“With these millennials, I think these idiots don’t know any better,” said Burke. “They’re going to all vote for this because it’s easier and it’s more NBA-like and more NFL-like and we don’t have to bring out whole staffs together and we can do this all in one room…”

 

 

Daniel Wagner 
about 3 hours ago

 

link to rest of article:

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/brian-burke-says-sedins-wouldnt-have-been-canucks-with-decentralized-draft-7744000

[IBatch]

There will be some serious pushback by some GMs.   They like the draft the way it is, or at least have been on record saying that it's the one time of the year, where they can get deals done quicker.     GM meetings are different,  more formal and specific agenda's.    The draft can put staff in a position to expedite deals that otherwise take longer to get done.   Hope they keep it just like it is. 

[IBatch]

11 hours ago, RWJC said:

Brian Burke says Sedins wouldn’t have been Canucks with decentralized draft

 

"A lot of the work that goes into the draft is impossible to do remotely," said former Vancouver Canucks general manager Brian Burke.

 

The NHL is reportedly planning to move to a decentralized draft format where each team would stay in their own home city for the draft rather than travel to a central location.

 

The draft has been centralized since 1963 apart from remote drafts conducted in 2020 and 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Each NHL team sends a score of staff to the event, including the general manager, assistant general managers, and various scouts, as well as communications staff and other support staff.

 

According to a report from Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and echoed by other reporters with their own sources, a “vast majority” of teams voted in favour of decentralizing the draft.  

 

“Under the proposed decentralized model laid out in the Oct. 18 memo, the league would use a 5,000- to 10,000-seat venue and have one or two representatives from each club on hand,” reads a report from The Athletic. “Prospects would be greeted by commissioner Gary Bettman and a team rep on the draft stage for a brief photo opportunity after being selected and could later be flown with their family to the club’s home city after finishing broadcast and media responsibilities.”

 

Both the NBA and NFL run decentralized drafts and there are various reasons why the NHL is planning a similar format, including the travel and lodging costs, as well as privacy concerns with the teams’ tables so close together. 

 

But one former Vancouver Canucks general manager is staunchly opposed to the plan: Brian Burke.

 

"I think it's a really important place and a lot of business gets done there."

One of Burke’s signature moves as general manager of the Canucks was the wheeling and dealing at the 1999 NHL Entry Draft that gave the team the second and third-overall picks to select Daniel and Henrik Sedin. 

 

According to Burke, the trades that led to the Sedins becoming Canucks — as well as the blockbuster deal he made for Chris Pronger when he was general manager of the Anaheim Ducks — wouldn’t have happened with a decentralized draft.

 

“I made two big deals on the floor [of the draft] — two huge deals on the floor, two of the biggest in the history of the league on the floor,” said Burke on The Jeff Marek Show. “I think it’s a really important place and a lot of business gets done there.”

 

For Burke, there was a necessity of meeting face-to-face with the other general managers involved — Rick Dudley for the Tampa Bay Lightning and Don Waddell for the Atlanta Thrashers. 

 

The truly difficult deal was with Dudley and the Lightning, who owned the first-overall pick. Burke and the Canucks held picks three and four but needed to get the first-overall pick to ensure that Dudley or Waddell didn’t nab one of the Sedins, if not both of them, before the Canucks could pick. 

 

Further complicating the deal is that Dudley technically wasn’t in charge of the Lightning’s draft until the day of the draft because the Lightning were in the process of being sold and outgoing owner Art Williams was notoriously over-involved. The sale of the Lightning was finalized the night before the draft — if it didn’t, the trade for the first-overall pick might not have gone through.

 

“The finality of this came very quickly,” said Dudley at the time. “If we had to run this by Art, it would have been hard to get it done.”

 

The Canucks then traded the first-overall pick to Waddell and the Thrashers to get the second-overall pick — along with assurances the Thrashers would pick Patrik Stefan and not one of the Sedins — giving Burke and the Canucks the second and third-overall picks they needed.

I’ll be telling the whole story of how Burke got both Sedins in my upcoming book, On the Clock: Behind the Scenes with the Vancouver Canucks at the NHL Draft (shameless plug), but suffice it to say, it was a complicated series of deals with a lot of moving parts and it’s completely understandable that Burke might not have been able to get those deals done without meeting with Dudley and Waddell in person.

 

“The detail that goes into the draft where you’re on the floor, working on deals, talking to people on the side — a lot of the work that goes into the draft is impossible to do remotely,” said Burke. “So much of it was last minute and in-person and on the phone late at night. We actually got the deal done that morning on the floor.”

 

Then Marek asked Burke directly if the Sedins would have become Canucks with a decentralized draft.

 

“I would say no,” said Burke. “I would say…if they make the change and it had happened in the remote era, it would have been much more difficult and much more complicated.”

 

"They're going to ruin the greatest spectacle that exists in pro hockey."

Burke and Marek gave several other good reasons to keep the draft centralized.

 

“I keep coming back to the players and their families,” said Marek, “and saying to myself, if I’m in either position, either the father or the player, and I’m either walking up myself to shake the hand of the general manager who just drafted me or I’m watching my son do that and shake the hand of the team that’s about to help him take the next step in his hockey career, that’s really special. 

 

“To me, that handshake — I don’t know, maybe I’m too overly romantic about the whole thing, Burkie, but that handshake means a lot. I really love that moment of the draft. It’s not going to be anywhere close to the same.”

“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 the drama is great,” said Burke. “They’re going to ruin the greatest spectacle that exists in pro hockey…Our draft is special and unique and it’s amazing and we’re going to go away from it, I know that, but I think it’s really stupid.”

Burke laid the blame on a younger generation of general managers pushing for this change, though his ire might be misaimed.

 

“With these millennials, I think these idiots don’t know any better,” said Burke. “They’re going to all vote for this because it’s easier and it’s more NBA-like and more NFL-like and we don’t have to bring out whole staffs together and we can do this all in one room…”

 

 

Daniel Wagner 
about 3 hours ago

 

link to rest of article:

https://www.vancouverisawesome.com/canucks-hockey/brian-burke-says-sedins-wouldnt-have-been-canucks-with-decentralized-draft-7744000

Just read this post.   Burke is right.   As for his deal, getting the Sedins, quite a lot of available on it.    Would suggest you get Burke locked in for  a full interview to find any added value from what's already done.    A book on deals, for sure the Sedins are one.   Also need to look into the Dryden one as well.   How ironic that one of the best teams ever, dynasty was denied as a result, the original "Giraffe" did what Roy did and more as a rookie - for a team that begged Beliveua to come back one final season and wasn't supposed to even make the playoffs.   MTL gave Boston 3 guys that never played a game in the NHL, and Boston gave up a top ten all-time goalie.   Yikes. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by IBatch

[Bob Long]

Why don't they just have the draft in the same place every year, and keep the format the same? do it in Buffalo or another small market every year like with the combine. 

[Diamonds]

2 minutes ago, Bob Long said:

Why don't they just have the draft in the same place every year, and keep the format the same? do it in Buffalo or another small market every year like with the combine. 

Because the NHL only knows how to take drastic measures apparently.

 

Burke definitely echoes a lot of my opinions on why the draft shouldn't go remote. Probably my biggest reason though is the prospect-management handshake and meet and greet. It says there will still be a team rep at the draft, but it's not going to be anyone of importance in the organization since those people will all be in the decision-making room.

[Bob Long]

13 minutes ago, Diamonds said:

Because the NHL only knows how to take drastic measures apparently.

 

Burke definitely echoes a lot of my opinions on why the draft shouldn't go remote. Probably my biggest reason though is the prospect-management handshake and meet and greet. It says there will still be a team rep at the draft, but it's not going to be anyone of importance in the organization since those people will all be in the decision-making room.

 

I can't remember is there a gm meeting right before the draft? I guess they could do that? Dunno seems dumb, but Gary gonna Gary.

[6of1_halfdozenofother]

2 hours ago, Diamonds said:

Because the NHL only knows how to take drastic measures apparently.

 

It's almost like in the league head office playbook, there's a mandate to grab at pennies while letting the $100 bills float away. 

[Coconuts]

 

 

[24K]

Horrible decisions to decentralized the draft. It is the one thingnthenNHL does better than every other league and Bettman and the greedy owners goes and destroys it.

 

Watch the already draft ratings tank to the ground. 

[Diamonds]

50 minutes ago, 24K said:

Horrible decisions to decentralized the draft. It is the one thingnthenNHL does better than every other league and Bettman and the greedy owners goes and destroys it.

 

Watch the already draft ratings tank to the ground. 

Ya, I really don't see any positives from this other than that the NHL saves some money.

 

A lot of the excitement at the draft is the handshake lines and team meet-and-greets with their new prospects. Now it's just going to turn into owners handing the draft picks jerseys since none of the decision makers will be present. Also GMs apparently complained about the possibility of being overheard at their draft tables, but without the ability to just walk a few steps and chat with another GM I'm convinced there will be fewer trades.

 

The NHL is basically removing the fun aspects of the draft that make fans want to watch.