Pucks and Pitchforks
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NHL Draft: Another Embarrassment for the NHL

By aharongoldwasser

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 19: Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs speaks after being revealed as the cover athlete for EA Sports' "NHL 20" video game during the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
LAS VEGAS, NEVADA - JUNE 19: Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs speaks after being revealed as the cover athlete for EA Sports' "NHL 20" video game during the 2019 NHL Awards at the Mandalay Bay Events Center on June 19, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images) /
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Let’s get one thing straight. We all love hockey. We all love the NHL. This is a sport we could not live without. However, there is also no doubt that the NHL has a unique way of constantly stepping on their own feet. No matter how hard they try, league executives can not get out of their own way. Whether it is locking out the players twice in ten years or taking a tremendous marketing tool such as the Winter Classic and ruining it by literally just using the same teams over and over again. The NHL has a very difficult time marketing itself properly.

This brings us to 2020. Similar to other professional leagues, the NHL was forced to shut down in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We all got excited when we heard the NHL was coming back with a 24-team “playoff”. However, then came the details of the NHL Draft Lottery. The lottery would be conducted in two phases. The first phase would include the seven teams not participating in the return to play along with place holders which would then be used for one of the teams that would lose in the qualifying round if that pick fell within the top three. Well, that is how it worked out. The top pick was won by a place holder, which we found out last night, would go to the New York Rangers.

Now, as a New Jersey Devils fan, this hurts since we will see a generational talent go to the Rangers for a second-consecutive year. However, purely from an NHL fan standpoint, this is a disaster for the league and it is a disaster of their own making. 24 teams were given the opportunity to compete for the Stanley Cup, the ultimate prize. Seven teams were excluded. The NHL tried to play both sides of the coin.

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They essentially told those 24 teams to not worry. You are going to get the best of both worlds. You get to compete for the cup, but you will also be eligible to win the top pick. The Pittsburgh Penguins finished 5th in the Eastern Conference, yet, had a chance to win the top pick. There was a chance we could have seen Alexis Lafreniere go to a team that already had Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The Maple Leafs finished 8th in the East, yet, had a chance at the top pick. A team that already has Mitch Marner, John Tavares, Austin Matthews, and William Nylander had a chance to get the top pick as well.

The bottom line is that the NHL has a team that finished with 79 points getting the top pick, yet a team that finished with 39 points is stuck with the fourth pick. The optic of a big market team getting the number-one pick is terrible for the league. This is not a conspiracy theory because it would be way too difficult to fix a draft without anyone knowing. However, there is the optics to consider. Teams from Detroit and Ottawa (which had two chances at the number one pick thanks to a trade) did not get the number one pick, but the pick ended up with a team in New York, perhaps the largest market of all and a team that is on the cusp of becoming a truly great and exciting team. This is yet another example of how the NHL can not get out of its own way.

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