NHL Draft June 27-28: Los Angeles

[Hacketts]

So no zoom?...

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[red devil]

 

[Voight]

We knew this already; guess its official.

Still absolutely hate that they changed the way they run it. Could've stayed unique instead of following suit with other leagues.

 

[Quack Shot]

Crypto or Intuit?

 

[Brodeur]

We knew this already; guess its official.

Still absolutely hate that they changed the way they run it. Could've stayed unique instead of following suit with other leagues.

It’s a bummer but understandable from the teams’ perspective. Bit of a pain to fly 20+ people out plus hotels and meals for a week.

The other factor is the calendar. The SCF is getting pushed back further into June to avoid conflicts with the NBA. Some teams opted to stay in Vegas after last year’s draft to do free agency on July 1. It can be a mad dash to the airport after the draft. I thought I made pretty good time leaving the arena in 2019 and getting to the airport. I was in security with Colorado’s group while LA/Arizona were already at adjacent gates.

Crypto or Intuit?

Peacock Theater across the street from Crypto.

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

I liked the way we did it but if it increases activity around the draft, that'll be fun too.

 

[JPeeper]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

 

[Nogatco Rd]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

Did it make that much a difference in the televised product, or just as an attendee? Didn’t watch last year

 

[JPeeper]

Did it make that much a difference in the televised product, or just as an attendee? Didn’t watch last year

I'd say it improved the televised product, but it's still the draft so it went from like a 2/10 to a 3.5/10.

 

[Brodeur]

Logistically I don't know if the NHL could get it every year, but I'd be down for them to hold the draft at the Sphere in Vegas for the end of time. The venue is awesome and the draft was awesome last year.

I went last year and it was fantastic. The logistical problem might be that it’s not a financial money maker for the venue. I paid $130 for the first round which was exorbitant for the draft but typically they’d run a concert on a Friday night where people would pay $500+ for a seat. Last I heard, the Sphere was losing a lot of money.

The other annoying thing was that Day 2 started at 8:30am. Typically it’d be 10am at past drafts. It had to start early because the Sphere staff needed to clean up in time for a 4pm movie showing. Definitely felt weird to force myself to go to sleep at midnight on a perfectly good Friday night in Vegas.

We'll see how well the theater setup works. It won’t be as much fun to attend since half the fun was photo/autograph pops with the team personnel, but LA is an easy enough destination for me.

Edit: I was looking up results for last weekend's UFC event and then spotted their upcoming schedule. I had forgotten that last year's draft ran up against UFC's annual International Fight Week in Vegas. It was extra busy last year, I debated attending the UFC Hall of Fame ceremony right after the NHL Awards Show. Hotels weren't cheap with all of the events going on and I ended up flying back on the Saturday night since it was too expensive to stay an extra night. And the NHL folks were probably lucky that Conor McGregor backed out of his fight. I booked my room when it was rumored he'd be fighting and the rate jumped up after it was confirmed.

Edit #2: Just had my memory jogged. I met a nice couple while in line at the Awards show. They had tickets for the draft and the Brazil/Paraguay Copa America match at Allegiant Stadium on the same night. We happened to be in the same section for the draft and they had to bail about 10 picks into the first round. Soccer wouldn't be happening every year in Vegas but it can be a busy calendar.

 

[Brodeur]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

 

[OrangePMD]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

He should congratulate the cup winners, thank the host city and send a shout out to the watch parties before every pick.

 

[Brodeur]

He should congratulate the cup winners, thank the host city and send a shout out to the watch parties before every pick.

I'd have to rewatch last year's, but it felt like most teams (thankfully) avoided this. I think a couple teams did do a shout out for retiring scout(s) and one who had recently passed away which felt appropriate for the event. I have a vague recollection that nobody congratulated Chicago in 2010 which I attributed to teams not liking how they fired Dale Tallon before that season.

 

[OrangePMD]

I'd have to rewatch last year's, but it felt like most teams (thankfully) avoided this. I think a couple teams did do a shout out for retiring scout(s) and one who had recently passed away which felt appropriate for the event. I have a vague recollection that nobody congratulated Chicago in 2010 which I attributed to teams not liking how they fired Dale Tallon before that season.

Yeah, they probably told the GM's not to do it last year, which made it better.

 

[Emerica]

Such a shame they are not doing it centralized moving forward. That is what distinguished the NHL draft from all the other drafts and seeing GMs talking to each other on the floor was part of the fun.

 

[kingsholygrail]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

Yup, just a reminder that Bettman works for the owners. They want it.

 

[Chainshot]

Crypto or Intuit?

Draft Kings of course.

 

[LaCarriere]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

Problem with this is look at an org like Colorado. The "rep/alum" you'd probably want there is Sakic, but he's likely heavily involved with any last min roster moves, and to have him separate from all the rest of the front office would likely force him out of the process. Then you have guys like Roy who are involved in completely different organisations.

The top round guys will still get their draft day. Don't really see this as bring an issue. Media will still be present with the top draft selections, really just missing lower ranked guys and the logistics of getting so many executives into one arena floor.

I can actually see teams wanting this, I'm sure some teams were forced in the past to leave certain personnel behind. Some teams probably have massive front offices.

 

[Brodeur]

Problem with this is look at an org like Colorado. The "rep/alum" you'd probably want there is Sakic, but he's likely heavily involved with any last min roster moves, and to have him separate from all the rest of the front office would likely force him out of the process. Then you have guys like Roy who are involved in completely different organisations.

The top round guys will still get their draft day. Don't really see this as bring an issue. Media will still be present with the top draft selections, really just missing lower ranked guys and the logistics of getting so many executives into one arena floor.

Yeah a lot of the more famous alums are in the hockey ops now. I wasn't sure which alum the Devils could send now that Brodeur moved to the hockey ops side. If they went with the celebrity route, Patrick Warburton doesn't live too far from downtown LA. But say for a team like LA, they could send somebody like Luc Robitaille who works on the business side and isn't directly involved with the scouting end. Although a celeb fan like Will Ferrell would be more fun if he didn't have anything else going on that night.

Colorado could send a current player like MacKinnon/Makar if they were interested in a weekend in SoCal. I forget if there are players who live/train in LA during the summer. When LA hosted the 2010 Draft, guys like Sidney Crosby, Shea Weber, and Ryan Miller were in the building. Claude Lemieux is a player agent now and is usually at the draft anyways (he was about a dozen seats from me last year). Not sure if he'd consider it a conflict of interest if he were asked to announce a pick.

In terms of the TV presentation it won't look too much different. It's a bit of a whirlwind for the draftees anyways. They're busy taking pictures and coordinating time with their families/entourage. We'll see if more guys opt to stay home like the NBA/NFL, but there seems to be something different with hockey where teammates want to go support each other since many of them have grown up playing together.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

Problem with this is look at an org like Colorado. The "rep/alum" you'd probably want there is Sakic, but he's likely heavily involved with any last min roster moves, and to have him separate from all the rest of the front office would likely force him out of the process. Then you have guys like Roy who are involved in completely different organisations.

Avs should use Tyler Arnason for this.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Kings could use a Centre to go with Liam Greentree

 

[algernon]

Who exa

Yeah a lot of the more famous alums are in the hockey ops now. I wasn't sure which alum the Devils could send now that Brodeur moved to the hockey ops side. If they went with the celebrity route, Patrick Warburton doesn't live too far from downtown LA. But say for a team like LA, they could send somebody like Luc Robitaille who works on the business side and isn't directly involved with the scouting end. Although a celeb fan like Will Ferrell would be more fun if he didn't have anything else going on that night.

Colorado could send a current player like MacKinnon/Makar if they were interested in a weekend in SoCal. I forget if there are players who live/train in LA during the summer. When LA hosted the 2010 Draft, guys like Sidney Crosby, Shea Weber, and Ryan Miller were in the building. Claude Lemieux is a player agent now and is usually at the draft anyways (he was about a dozen seats from me last year). Not sure if he'd consider it a conflict of interest if he were asked to announce a pick.

In terms of the TV presentation it won't look too much different. It's a bit of a whirlwind for the draftees anyways. They're busy taking pictures and coordinating time with their families/entourage. We'll see if more guys opt to stay home like the NBA/NFL, but there seems to be something different with hockey where teammates want to go support each other since many of them have grown up playing together.

Who exactly would Pepe LePueix represent

Avs should use Tyler Arnason for this.

Who is Tyler Arnason

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

Are we talking about Venues...oh sorry...have been to 2 Drafts in my Life once in Edmonton in 1995 and once in Calgary in 2000,both awesome experiences for fans and fanatics like me...in 1995 LA took AKi berg amd 2000 the Kings took A Frolov with their top selections...I didn't knew anything about either...I remember Frolov being a pretty player for the Kings and possession Kings on the O-Zone cycles...Berg was big and brought over too young by Taylor and co...but Kings later peddled him to TO and got MCammalleri in the deal

 

[StreetHawk]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

It would speed things up, plus we don't need to watch the NHL clubs send up an 8-10 person entourage to get into the photo with the drafted player. And we do away with the thanking of the host city team and their fans at their draft party. But, I'm sure we'd get hit with more sports gambling ads in place of this.

 

[HockeyVirus]

When the change was first rumored last year, I thought the initial thought was that teams would/could send an emissary to make the pick. Somebody like a famous alum, a notable current player, or a celeb fan. We got a taste of that last year with Joe Thornton, Connor Bedard, and Celine Dion announcing picks. It'd be a bit boring if Bettman has to make every pick announcement.

100%. This is just such a downgrade from what we have, and I am a draft lover (one of my favorite hockey events of the year, near the top for sure). Hate this change.

Imagine for example the Leafs drafting a kid out of Sweden and Mats Sundin is there to greet him on behalf of the Leafs. Or in the future, a retired William Nylander. Those moments would be so cool to see. And of course like you said celebrity ones. Imagine Will Ferrel announcing LA kings pick with Snoop Dogg or something nuts like that.