Who exactly would Pepe LePueix represent![]()
Claude did move around a lot in his career, so I'm not sure anybody (outside of Detroit fans) would associate him as an Av. But it was mostly an example of somebody who might already be in the building. I feel like the NFL has brought some alums to announce picks and my knee jerk reaction was 'that wasn't the team I would have associated him with.'
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.
Hopefully some teams send somebody. My personal pipe dream would be a mini Anchorman reunion between Ferrell (Kings), Steve Carell (Bruins), Vince Vaughn (Blackhawks), and Paul Rudd (sorta Blues). Or at least Carell and Jenna Fischer (Blues) for the Office fans.
The broadcast itself shouldn't be too much different, albeit last year's was a spectacle.
There were some former GMs like Brian Burke who didn't like the change because he thinks the dynamic of 32 GMs in one area helps spark trade talks. He isn't totally wrong, I remember hearing an anecdote about Kings assistant GM Mike Futa running into a Boston group at the same hotel bar. Futa brought up Milan Lucic's name and the trade talk escalated very quickly.
But realistically teams can just as easily text/call each other from their home bases. It was always a funny visual to see teams calling each other while on a noisy draft floor.
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