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35 Comments
The draft is what makes the NHL unique. Don’t ruin tradition
I would rather watch at home than sit in the cheapest seats in an arena. I bought cheap seats ($80) in vancouver 6 years ago, and it was horrible. Terrible view, cramped seats, there wasn't anything about the experience I enjoyed.
The first draft I watched I was interested in where the Sedins were going to end up. I was a Canucks fan at the time and I can't express the amount of excitement and fascination I felt seeing Burke land both of them. I've been hooked on the draft ever since and always pick a few prospects to follow to try to recapture that. I'm a Kraken fan now and the Shane Wright draft was almost as exciting as the Sedin draft. If any NHL execs read this, please don't take that away.
I hope the Panthers go hard for Patrick Cane. He would instantly improve the team. Could be the missing piece to enable the team to finally win the Stanley Cup. Come on team, I want to be alive to see a Stanley Cup parade down Federal Highway/Biscayne Blvd (U.S. 1)!
Why do they insist on making the draft worse every year? It's like they want to be a second-class sport
The NFL are already does ‘decentralized drafts’, it would allow the league to put drafts in like a park downtown or a scenic venue or something as opposed to an arena, would be super cool for the league imo
Maybe they should take a look a Dearborn Michigan,
I don't watch much of any sports drafts, because there's just too much talking. It's not just the TV broadcasters. I don't need to see each team's entire management group onstage and hear them thank the host city and the commissioner and all the rest. Anything that makes the event less boring should be considered.
So prior to this year, cheapest Jets tickets were about $100 cdn. Concessions here aren't horrible. They are putting together good package pricing but need some better family packages and need to advertise the price drops because most people (like me) assumed they were maybe $5 off a ticket which is what they used to do when tickets went 'on sale.'
Ugh…decentralizing The Draft Day experience..let’s just continue to diminish opportunities for people to have in person interaction experiences..that are worthwhile and memorable.
I think the draft is stupid tbh. Why does Connor Bedard have to play for Chicago? Why couldn't he freely sign with any NHL team at 18 years old? Why is he forced to be a Blackhawk?
It's honestly ridiculous when you really think about it.
I pay 150 a ticket to see the Rangers, between the lirr and food and drink it's never been under 600 a night for my partner and I. So we see 1 or 2 games a year
Prices go up & paychecks stay the same. Who knew that would lead to decrease sales
I get why they want to do it from a business standpoint. But not having a big stage for the draft loses something.
Gabe cant catch a break
Before decentralizing the draft, the NHL should eliminate the ridiculous awards show and the incredibly lame All-Star game because the draft is a much more anticipated and enoyable event than those two clown shows.
nhl needs 10 and 15 days contracts count against the cap but its limited term
The only benefit I see for fans if they change the draft is the potential for more trades during the draft. Currently having all the teams on the floor, everyone is watching their actions, who is calling who, and I feel that it discourages moves from occurring. Being decentralized, teams would have more freedom to make their calls so we could see some more action as fans.
You may have mentioned it, although i dont remember seeing it. Boldy is also out for the Wild week-week. That makes us $31mil under the cap with the buyouts right now 😢
I dislike the spectacle that the NHL has made out of the draft, but by the same token, having less visibility as in days of yore would lead to conspiracy theories. We need a better balance.
Ticket prices are ridiculous. Im looking at going to ny for 4 or 5 games and its going to cost me likely 1300 for those games and thats just me, granted im in good seats but price flexing is a huge damn issue. Theres 1 game against a western team and 2 games that are the islanders and flyers and those tickets are like double the cost of the west team.
Jets fans used to be appreciated for their unwavering support by ownership and it was reflected in the overall experience. Go back to making it about the fans and their experience and not about the product on the ice. The fans are there because of the product on the ice already. To draw them in is good, to have them looking forward to the next game is crucial. Go back to doing things like they did in expansion year 2011. As for Villardi, suck it up and next man up.
I went to the 2023 draft in Nashville. It was awesome, one of my favourite experiences in recent years. There’s really no reason to change it. Seeing every team’s management group on the floor adds to the weight of the experience. Pretty much anyone who’s anyone in North American hockey is there and you get to be a part of it.
Changing the draft to a decentralized format ought only be used during a pandemic. The in person event makes it real for everyone involved- even the television audience.
The organization took Jets fans for granted. No game experience for fans with bad food/drink options. They’re trying to change now but the fan base is sour. Also the upper deck seats are garbage. You can’t see the entire ice.
Completely disagree with the notion that Quebec City is not a good option at this point. Compared to which market? If there were no talks of expansion or relocation in the NHL, nobody would be discussing Quebec City (again). But the NHL is the one talking about expansion (and to a lesser degree relocation). And for some bizarre reason that I still don't understand, they are even talking about returning to Atlanta. Because, you know, three strikes and you're out! 🙁 In GENERAL, bigger markets are better than smaller markets. But this is hockey. This is the NHL. This is a league that has failed miserably to connect with many American markets over the years. Is it easier to find 17,000 sports fans in Atlanta than it is in Quebec City? Yes, yes it is. Is it easier to find 17,000 fans willing to shell out money to watch a HOCKEY game in Atlanta over Quebec City? No sir. Not a chance. And this is the problem. The NHL has a pie-in-the-sky vision of what the league could be (if everything went their way and if we were living in Utopia). They do not live in reality. The reality is Quebec City has one of the best NHL arenas ready to go. Do they have the financial support and backing at this time? No, they do not. But the NHL has not really tried to help the market get that backing. Heck, they would need to back the idea of the Quebec Nordiques returning. Which, they do not. Instead, they would rather try Atlanta for a third time, or force-feed Arizona to the rest of the league. Arizona is getting the royal treatment while Quebec City is getting the royal shaft. And I really disagree with the idea that Winnipeg's struggles right now are a reason why Quebec City cannot work. Winnipeg's fans are merely stating to their owners that the organization has stagnated long enough. The honeymoon is over. The Jets have operated the franchise as if they are simply happy to be there. That needs to stop. But I also find it funny that ANY NHL franchise can be scrutinized for attendance woes right now when we have a team operating in a major North American sports league with less than 5,000 seats. Nobody is talking about Arizona's attendance because, oh, they have yet to play a game at home. Right. See no evil, hear no evil. This is not about anti-American hockey sentiment. This is not about Quebec City versus Atlanta or Arizona. This is about the NHL being completely out to lunch when it comes to the realities of their own sport. Until/unless that changes, the league will continue to spin its wheels.
They need to change the pace of the draft, taking 3 hours to do the first round is ridiculous. Otherwise keep it as is
Yes people fall awkwardly when someone skates thru the back of your leg at high speed. It’s called slew footing. Lizotte knows what he’s doing. High speed low skill 4th liner with a history of injuring players. Last year he got a game misconduct penalty for cross checking Morrissey in the face.
The NHL should keep the centralized draft. Like you said it is stupid for NHL to change it.
I'm scratching my head trying to figure out how decentralizing the draft would, on the whole, save the NHL money. Unless they go full digital draft, the league still has to travel to have a presence. Maybe the individual teams save money by not sending EVERYBODY (but what's stopping them from doing that now?), but you have to think that decentralizing would have an effect on their ability to market the event, which would further impact their revenue.
I don't get it.
The draft could use some streamlining. Some of the ritual is ridiculous. Was it a couple years back the Islanders had consecutive picks and took Wahlstrom & Dobson, so for the first pick 15 guys go up to the stage, Wahlstrom is picked, they line up for all the pictures, then go back to their tables, then they all get back up again, go up to the stage and announce the Dobson pick, take all the pictures then go back to their seats. Silly stuff.
So…….Aho was out of the lineup and Frederik Andersen left with injury prompting Kochetkov call up. But no mention? Any news on Aho?
Hopefully Goligoski just does the LTIRetire because he has been pure pain to watch since we signed him.
Good luck with Valardi, Kings willing to trade him as he’s missed more games than he’s played in 5 years. See ya!
The draft builds hype for the next season. Messing that up would be a huge mistake.