The Disappointment of The NHL Draft

The 2025 NHL Draft took place in Los Angeles at Peacock Theatre on June 27th. It was the first time in NHL history that a “decentralized” draft would happen. Meaning that teams would not be present during the draft and instead will be in their respective stadiums in their city, and will be on a video call for the draft, while the top 50 prospects will be present in Peacock Theatre. Teams voted for a decentralized draft due to focus, as they found it easier to concentrate alone at home rather than being in a stadium with other people. Announcing the draftees to their new teams will be either celebrities, team alumni, current players, or Gary Bettman himself. 

What a disaster for the first-ever “decentralized” trade. Multiple issues within this draft will likely prevent the NHL from using this format again, or they will attempt it again with fewer issues. Who knows. However, these issues highlighted below were disappointing for the NHL draftees and fans.

Issue Number One: Teams on a Video Call Meeting Their Pick.

A “decentralized” draft for these future NHL players means they will not meet their teams in person; instead, they will meet them through a video call after being drafted to their respective teams. This felt disrespectful towards these draftees. Imagine being the first overall pick of the 2025 NHL draft, having your name called, and meeting your future team’s organization through a video call. It takes away a lot from the moment itself as it takes away the handshake of each individual of the organization, as well as the picture taken with the pick and their new team. 

However, as stated above, it was not Gary Bettman’s idea to have a draft like this. It was the team’s idea to focus and concentrate on themselves, which can be considered selfish. But, the NHL itself is a business, and this draft was deemed to be a “big business meeting with every NHL team and future players.” However, it does not take away from the fact that it still felt disrespectful for players, especially the top three picks or those who had technical difficulties talking to their teams and then being interrupted by the reporter beside them. It was probably overwhelming for players while also being awkward for them, as well as the fans. 

Issue Number Two: Celebrities Announcing Picks Instead of Team Members/Alumni.

It was interesting seeing that instead of teams announcing who was drafted to their team, we would have celebrities. However, some teams did have players (current or former) to announce their pick (ex., Shea Weber for Nashville, Kris Letang for Pittsburgh, etc.), which was nice. However, having celebrities announcing some picks just felt strange, considering some of them are not interested in hockey. 

The small pro of this was that, luckily, some announcers did make sense for the teams they were announcing, examples being Meredith Gaudreau for the Blue Jackets, Adam Sandler for the Bruins and Joshua Jackson and Marguerite Moreau for the Ducks. Either than that, some announcers just fell flat and were unknown to the hockey fans in the stands, for example, the Utah Mammoth’s announcer, golfer Tony Finau, was told to make some sound that represented a “mammoth” and allegedly he did not want to do it but had too and it had audience members cringe. 

The announcers were not the worst part of the night, as there were worse than them, but it felt like a celebrity showcase more than a draft. It is almost like they wanted fans to be excited to see who was going to announce the next pick rather than what player was going to be drafted next. 

Issue Number Three: The Pacing of The Draft

Allegedly, the decentralized draft was also created to “shorten” the time of the actual draft. Organizations felt like the original format of the draft took “too long,” as the draft would start at 7 PM EST and end around 10:30 to 11 PM EST. Lasting just over three and a half hours. However, for the decentralized draft, it felt longer than the original format, as just about an hour and a half into it, only about five picks were chosen. Then, after the top 15 picks, the entire draft felt like it was being rushed due to the dragging. 

It almost felt like they were dragging on the beginning and did not realize how much time they had left, so they chose to rush the ending. Which sucks for those being drafted. They also did not start the draft clock after a pick was chosen, greeted by Gary Bettman and talked to their teams, which took about three to five minutes of TV time. Not to mention, the fifth overall pick, Brady Martin, was not even at the draft. He was at home helping out at his parents’ farm in Elmira, Ontario. Overall, the draft felt like it was going on forever until it suddenly picked up the pace and ended. It was obvious that the fans in the crowd tried to stay engaged with what was going on while slowly being drained by the tedious pacing of the draft.

Issue Number Four: Gary Bettman 

Gary Bettman was very present throughout this year’s draft. From the beginning of the draft, he greeted fans, but then went on to have a very predominant role as he was announcing draft picks for those who did not have a celebrity, team alumni or current team player/member, as well as if a team made a trade. His presence probably was not a huge issue overall, but it annoyed fans. 

A lot of fans have shared their distaste for Bettman, as he has been accused of favouring American hockey teams over Canadian ones, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs, hiring referees and linesmen who are inconsistent at their job, relocating franchises, and how he announced a lockout three times during his time as commissioner. He also is regularly boo’d when on screen by fans or even by the fans present in the arena because of the negative impact he has had on the league. 

He was not a big issue for the draft itself, but it probably annoyed fans to see him on screen more consistently than in the last draft years. 

In summary, the new decentralized draft was a disaster for the NHL. Hopefully, it is a one-and-done format, as it brought a lot of issues, such as the team video calls, celebrities and others announcing picks, the pacing of the draft and Gary Bettman himself. One of the main things the NHL should consider for the draft is its fan base. Will the fans enjoy the product that is being presented to them? Or, will they just be sitting in their seats, bored out of their minds?