The 2025 NHL draft has sparked controversy amongst the NHL fandom in regards to its poor reception. The NHL GMs are voting right now on the future of the league’s draft as a result. It appears they will be sticking with the de-centralized format for now per insider Elliotte Friedman.
Unless the vote sees a last minute change, this will be bad news if confirmed for the majority of NHL fans who preferred it centralized. The new for 2025 draft format proved to be massively unpopular for how long and tedious it was. The 1st Round took over 5 hours long due to all the extra interviews and celebrity speeches that were added in an attempt to spice up the show and provide entertainment.
There is the old adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it.” The NHL draft for years was among the most popular events on the league’s calendar. The iconic moment of players in the first round walking up to the stage and shaking hands with their chosen organization’s team personnel was always a highlight. Who could forget that first picture taken of each player with their new team? This year it didn’t mean the same with it being virtual for the owners and managers not on site.
The whole point of the change was to make the draft flow better and it did anything but. Hopefully the future de-centralized drafts will see improvement and attempt to mimic the same magic of the old drafts. It will be interesting to see how long this format lasts depending on its future progression.
