The first night of the NHL Draft is in the books, and the consensus is in: the new format stinks. Honestly, it’s one of the worst decisions that the NHL has made in recent years. Coming off the heels of constant good news, with a new CBA signed, sealed, and almost delivered, a massive trade getting everyone talking (Noah Dobson for two first-round picks and a prospect), and the constant chatter around major trades and free agency. Heck, the New Jersey Devils don’t have a first-round pick because of the Jacob Markstrom trade, but fans were tuning in just in case the Devils made a massive trade while the ESPN broadcast was running.
A Devils trade never happened. In fact, no trade involving NHL players happened. The most exciting moment of the draft was when the Pittsburgh Penguins traded with the Philadelphia Flyers, accepting two first-round picks for their 12th-overall pick. Other than that, the draft was pretty boring.
In a normal year, a draft without those superstar prospects and a lack of juicy moves would bore the masses. This isn’t the NFL Draft, where teams are looking the present in the eyes. The Calder Trophy winner likely isn’t in this draft. Instead, this is solely looking toward the future.
The reason the NHL broadcast of the draft is remotely interesting is the interactions of the team executives in the room. Usually, we’re seeing teams go over to the tables of other teams, and that provides fun speculation on the broadcast. “Oh, Tom Fitzgerald is walking over to speak with Barry Trotz. Could a deal be in the works?”
On top of that, this is the first time teams are interacting with essentially their top prospect. Those interactions are short, but they are fun. AND it adds great pictures to put on articles (but that might be a personal preference).
So, of course, the NHL changed the format for no reason, and they took the soul out of it. The NHL Draft wasn’t the most popular draft, even of its week (with the NBA Draft getting more eyes and ears), but they physically pushed away viewers. The viewing experience was dry and forced. Adding celebrities and famous people from the cities in question fell flat. If you had so many celebrities in the building, why not have one of them host? We’re sure Nikki Glazer makes a better master of ceremonies than Gary Bettman.
The worst of the worst was having the players get drafted, put on his jersey, then walk to a giant screen for what was essentially a Zoom meeting. Who needed to see a 100-foot Keith Jones? Nobody asked for this.
The decentralized NHL Draft was a huge failure for the league
Sorry, that wasn’t the worst part. The worst part was the length. We assumed the decentralized draft would lead to faster picks and getting in and out of this in a solid three hours. Instead, the draft didn’t end until close to midnight, breaking four hours for the broadcast. It was a disaster for the NHL on one of its biggest nights.
The ESPN broadcast did its best to fill the air time, but even the hosts couldn’t hide their boredom on air. Kevin Weekes’s forehead couldn’t break the news that this draft wasn’t working?
The NHL should make drastic changes for Saturday’s show. Call the teams tonight, get them to fire up the team plane, and get some representatives to Los Angeles. Friday didn’t work, but if they can get teams in place on Saturday, we can save this weekend. We’ll have huge trades happen live on air. Executives will drive rumors at a moment’s notice. Figure this out. You have 12 hours.
Also, do a better job of telling stories. We love the emotion of these moments. Matthew Schaefer and James Hagens have that emotional factor here, but the broadcast didn’t do enough to get us invested in these players. We won’t see them again for months, but oftentimes, years. How much have you, as a Devils fan, watched Anton Silayev since he was drafted last season? Make us care about these picks, these players, and most importantly, these people.