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The NHL Draft was way too long and nobody liked it

Colton Pankiw
Colton Pankiw
|
Jun 28 2025, 4:31 pm
The NHL Draft was way too long and nobody liked it
Kirby Lee/Imagn Images

It may be back to the drawing board for the NHL as they continue to figure out ways to tweak their draft presentation.

The NHL opted for a decentralized draft this year. This was not only supposed to speed up the draft process, but allow for all 32 general managers to remain in their respective cities in order to avoid travel just days prior to free agency. In year’s past, they would travel to whatever city was hosting the draft in order to meet the prospects they had selected.

The idea felt similar to what the NFL has become known for, and for the NFL, it works quite well. Perhaps it was just a rough go in the first attempt, but those watching would say it was anything but good for the NHL. Instead, it was choppy, awkward, and felt poorly planned out.

In fact, it was so bad that there were even big media personalities in the hockey world that voiced their displeasure with the format.

It was far from quick like fans had hoped, as it took close to five hours to complete the first round. What made things even more awkard, however, were the conversations between the prospects and front offices of the teams that drafted them. The delay on Zoom made it difficult for the conversations to flow naturally, and felt uncomfortable for everyone involved.

Going to a decentralized format was a decision the GM’s across the NHL voted for, meaning it’s likely going to happen again next year and for several to come. Assuming it does stay the same, the NHL is going to need to figure out a way to make the production better, as their first attempt last night was rather disastrous.

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