NHL Draft change anticipated by 2025 if not sooner, Bettman, Daly say

STOCKHOLM — The NHL Draft is set for a change, but it may not happen until 2025.

Prior to the first game of the 2023 NHL Global Series Sweden presented by Fastenal on Thursday, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly talked about the draft and other topics, including plans for a World Cup and NHL player participation in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics in Italy.

Bettman mentioned that the idea of most team representatives staying in their home cities instead of all 32 clubs being represented on the draft floor came from a few teams.

“We were comfortable with the format we’ve been using,” Bettman said. “It’s different from anyone else’s, and we liked that. This proposal came organically from several clubs, and the overwhelming majority want to make a change.”

Daly said the NHL is still deciding whether the change can occur for the 2024 NHL Draft.

“The only issue we have is whether we make the change as early as 2024 or push it to 2025,” Daly said. “Our goal is to have a 2024 draft that resembles the traditional draft and then transition in 2025, but we don’t have enough information to confirm that yet.”

Bettman added that even with the change, the draft will continue to be a special event on the NHL calendar.

“The event in either format is still a major event,” Bettman said. “There will still be fans, players, and prospects with their families present. The only difference will be whether or not the clubs will be on the floor, as opposed to being at home, where they can host their own fan events and have more access to all their personnel in real time.”

With the Detroit Red Wings, Ottawa Senators, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Minnesota Wild in Stockholm for the 2023 Global Series, the topic of an international calendar emerged. As Daly has previously mentioned, the hope is to have a World Cup in February 2025, followed by NHL player participation in the Winter Olympics the year after.

“We’re working with the (NHL) Players’ Association on the structure of [the World Cup],” Daly said. “And then after that, we would like to alternate between the Olympics and the World Cup every other year. One or the other.”

“This obviously involves reaching an agreement to go to Milan, and that is still a work in progress. All parties are aligned in trying to make it happen, so hopefully in the next couple of months, we’ll have a good understanding of where we stand.”