NHL to hold 2020 entry draft before resumption of season? (Regardless of when, it'll be virtual)

[LadyStanley]

Report: NHL considering holding draft before conclusion of current season

Leaving the draft as is — in June — would give the NHL an opportunity to generate some interest at a time when sports are at a standstill.



Draft order, conditional picks (based on season/playoff results) all would need to be decided on how to be handled. And not all teams would be happy.

And say they did a snake draft like 2005, that could cause headaches and complaints as well.


(A tangent...many teams have their summer development camp within weeks of draft. Some even the week following. At this point, there may still be barriers to getting prospects to even travel, much less congregate, this summer. That could have interesting long term impact on prospect acquisition.)

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[LadyStanley]

One way I can see conditional picks handled is that the non-met pick is used in 2020 draft AND

If 19-20 season resumes and the result is met, means an exchange of picks for 2021 draft.

Example. Team A traded player B to team C for conditional 2020 1st (if reach cup final; 2020 2nd if not).
So, Team A uses team C's 2nd pick for 2020 draft. Team C makes final, so in 2021 Team A swaps their 2nd for Team C's 1st.


But how to work things if season is not resumed?

If player is mere rental, won't be with team next season to get benefit of acquisition.

 

[BLONG7]

This makes no sense......they haven't even determined who finished where.....cancel the season and the playoffs, ramp it up for October and hope a return to somewhat normal....
Have the Draft and UFA dates and then get ready for a hopeful full season.

 

[Crosside]

How you can trade player for pick , if maybe have playoff this summer

 

[Acesolid]

cancel the season and the playoffs

That'd be the absolute LAST resort.

If the NHL does that the financial repercussions would be... severe. There is so much money in TV contracts and ticket sales that would be lost it's crazy.

I think the NHL would rather play a single elimination tournament in late July and early August then cancel the season.

 

[BLONG7]

That'd be the absolute LAST resort.

If the NHL does that the financial repercussions would be... severe. There is so much money in TV contracts and ticket sales that would be lost it's crazy.

I think the NHL would rather play a single elimination tournament in late July and early August then cancel the season.

It would probably have to be in empty stadiums though? Who at that point is going to allow 20K together in a building to watch hockey? This is sad, and unprecidented times.......I think it's better to look ahead and focus on next season, and even then, who knows what will happen.
I would love to see the season finished, but it just doesn't seem possible? Hope I am wrong, and your idea may just come to light, but who knows....

 

[Acesolid]

It would probably have to be in empty stadiums though? Who at that point is going to allow 20K together in a building to watch hockey? This is sad, and unprecidented times.......I think it's better to look ahead and focus on next season, and even then, who knows what will happen.
I would love to see the season finished, but it just doesn't seem possible? Hope I am wrong, and your idea may just come to light, but who knows....

It may be played in empty stadium, but it'll be played.

NBC pays the NHL 200 MILLION $ per year for the TV rights. Sportsnet even more.

If the there is no end of the season (or at least playoffs) the consequences would be catastrophic for the NHL.

The NHL's pockets are for from endless.

 

[TheTotalPackage]

I can see this making sense only if the league decides not to complete the regular season. That way they can take the standings as is, with few adjustments to account for the discrepancy in games, and proceed from there.

Now if the regular continues as Friedman suggested in his piece, then I have no clue.

 

[LadyStanley]

More speculation

 

[Oscar Lindberg]

It's simple for the draft. Do the lottery for the top 15 picks as they would have normally. For the rest of the picks, do another lottery.

Teams in the second lottery are given odds congruent to their place in the standings, with the opportunity to move up spots. The higher in the standings, the less of a chance to move up.

There's no way to be absolutely fair in this situation, but it at least gives each team a chance to get a slightly better pick.

None of this 2005 BS

 

[LeHab]

By mid June the league should have a decision on what to do with the remaining of the season. If season is cancelled then a draft can be held. Otherwise buzz will be already ramping up around whatever format for the remaining is proposed so you may as well wait until end.

If there is still no decision, just wait until you have one. Sooner or later they have to make that call.

 

[LadyStanley]

Sharks GM Doug Wilson talks about his observations and insights from NFL folks he talked to about their virtual draft.

 

[gstommylee]

This makes no sense......they haven't even determined who finished where.....cancel the season and the playoffs, ramp it up for October and hope a return to somewhat normal....
Have the Draft and UFA dates and then get ready for a hopeful full season.

One issue they don't wait to have the draft to where they miss out on European players.

 

[LadyStanley]

League want decision within a week. Proposed date in June 5, need a month to prepare.

Conditional picks, draft lottery, not trading players among decisions to make.

 

[Goulet17]

Regardless of any widespread opposition from NHL GMs, based on Wyshynski's tweet below, I think this is a done deal (early June draft). If NBC and Sportsnet are on board and pushing it with the possibility of more coverage, Bettman's decision is already made.

It is an interesting situation, as the NHL draft has essentially replaced the NHL trade deadline as the key time to make player trades for NHL GMs, many of whom are trying to save their own jobs.

 

[Jumptheshark]

This will be interesting--

IF the NHL does resume play and there are changes in whom the playoff teams are, what happens if a team who say wins the lotto but ends up making the play-offs? Just saying? They won't be able to hold the lotto till right after the season ends, if the season does continue

 

[BondraTime]

This will be interesting--

IF the NHL does resume play and there are changes in whom the playoff teams are, what happens if a team who say wins the lotto but ends up making the play-offs? Just saying? They won't be able to hold the lotto till right after the season ends, if the season does continue

They will be able to move up 4 spots from where their pick is, not up to #1

 

[Ernie]

Regardless of any widespread opposition from NHL GMs, based on Wyshynski's tweet below, I think this is a done deal (early June draft). If NBC and Sportsnet are on board and pushing it with the possibility of more coverage, Bettman's decision is already made.

The key person here is Bettman. He gets what he wants and those that dare to cross him get left out in the cold.

 

[LadyStanley]

The biggest issue is that teams won't be able to trade (signed, playing) players.

A number of teams cull their pending UFAs, RFAs for assets. Others may make a trade to acquire player term for upcoming season.

 

[LadyStanley]

The key person here is Bettman. He gets what he wants and those that dare to cross him get left out in the cold.

GMs and/or BOG make the final call, not Bettman/Daly. The former have about half stating to LeBrun weeks ago they didn't like/want it.

BOG has a number of GMs as governor. And most owners will listen to their GMs.


Having a stand alone draft would allow league to have a lot of attention on them. NFL had 55m viewers for their three days of virtual draft.

I wouldn't even be surprised to see NBC make round one a prime time show on flag ship, rather than pushing it to NBCSN.

 

[Flukeshot]

I'm surprised that there is a second push on this. The first reports seemed to get such negative feedback. It's interesting that Daly's has basically wrote a thesis paper on why it needs to (or will) happen.

If this does indeed happen June 5th, can you imagine the network's lead up and player profile coverage? They would need to build up the hype so that the casual fan would be familiar with most these prospects.

 

[Ernie]

GMs and/or BOG make the final call, not Bettman/Daly. The former have about half stating to LeBrun weeks ago they didn't like/want it.

BOG has a number of GMs as governor. And most owners will listen to their GMs.


Having a stand alone draft would allow league to have a lot of attention on them. NFL had 55m viewers for their three days of virtual draft.

I wouldn't even be surprised to see NBC make round one a prime time show on flag ship, rather than pushing it to NBCSN.

Oh, I know technically the BoG has the final say. My point is that Bettman gets his way, or, at the very least, doesn't stick his neck out like this if he doesn't know he can win.

 

[DaBadGuy7]

GMs and/or BOG make the final call, not Bettman/Daly. The former have about half stating to LeBrun weeks ago they didn't like/want it.

BOG has a number of GMs as governor. And most owners will listen to their GMs.


Having a stand alone draft would allow league to have a lot of attention on them. NFL had 55m viewers for their three days of virtual draft.

I wouldn't even be surprised to see NBC make round one a prime time show on flag ship, rather than pushing it to NBCSN.

To me that’s the only reason for them to be pushing this so hard imo. Even if it gets 1.5-2 million viewers that’s a huge win for NHL. But if that’s not the case, no reason to hold this draft in June, wait till August or even during off days of Cup Final whenever that may be.

 

[LadyStanley]

Hmmmm

 

[LadyStanley]

Roundtable reaction: Which NHL teams are most impacted by a...

Paywall. BOG meeting Monday. Decision coming by end of the week

Round table discussion on the good, bad, concern over pre-playoff draft.


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