In the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, insider Elliotte Friedman noted that there are NHL agents who believe that the NHL Entry Draft is too long and that a four-round draft would be more beneficial for the players. Friedman suggests that the NHL Players Association (NHLPA) could fight for this in the next Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA).
The current CBA is active until the end of the 2025-26 season, and while there is a long list of things to negotiate, this could be something brought to the table. The NHL Entry Draft is currently going through some changes. The 2024 NHL Entry Draft will be held at The Sphere in Las Vegas, the last in-person draft. Moving forward, the draft will be held remotely.
Part of the reasoning for a shorter draft is to allow more players to sign a contract. Of course, the higher a player is selected in the draft, the higher the team values them and is more likely to sign them to a contract. The concern is that the label of being a sixth—or seventh-round draft pick will stick with a player and make them underappreciated, therefore not receiving a contract.
Other Pro Leagues Have Shorter Drafts
The NBA has a much shorter draft than the NHL, and part of that has to do with a 15-man roster, while the NHL has 23. There is a lot more room around the league to add players, so naturally, a longer draft makes sense. The NBA only has a two-round draft, though, making each pick much more valuable.
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The NFL has the same number of rounds as the NHL currently has, seven. The big difference between the NHL and the NFL is the roster sizes, which are over twice as high, with 53 roster spots for the NFL.
If the NHL were to introduce this kind of system, the current maximum contract limit would likely have to be changed. With no more than 50 contracts allowed at a time, 23 of those immediately go to the NHL club, and with the American Hockey League (AHL) having NHL prospects playing through, that is most of the rest. During an NHL season, teams are typically close to the contract limit.
If the NHL were to shorten the draft, it would leave undrafted players eligible to sign immediately after being passed over. That would mean that teams would be free to sign entry-level contracts to players to have them as prospects, but with a maximum of 50 contracts, they wouldn’t have much room to expand their arsenal outside of their two pro-level teams.
Top Teams Benefit from Shorter Draft
There are a handful of teams that are prime destinations for hockey players. The Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Boston Bruins, and probably the southern teams like the Florida Panthers, Tampa Bay Lightning, and Dallas Stars are all places players want to play.
Teams like the Winnipeg Jets, Buffalo Sabres, and the Ottawa Senators would be at a disadvantage as they are usually on the no-trade lists as it is. Drawing free agents out of the draft would give the more appealing cities an advantage, similar to how we have seen Adam Fox and Artemi Panarin work their way to the Rangers.
Then comes the conversation of whether that is fair or not. Many will argue that it is fair, as every team can do certain things to entice players to join their organization. Others will say that Winnipeg can do nothing to have beautiful sunny days and great beaches all year round like Florida has.
It’s not like players in the late rounds never make it to the NHL. Joe Pavelski, Ondrej Palat, Mackenzie Weegar, and plenty of other NHL players were drafted in the seventh round. While clearly not regarded as top players on their draft day, these players proved to be well worth it, and kudos have to go to the scouting team, who, while they may have been lucky, also did the work to find these players.
This would be a drastic change to the way NHL pipelines work, and there are reasons to support or oppose it, but based on the information we have now, this is a conversation to be had two years from now during the next CBA negotiations.
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