Gary Bettman might soon make an announcement that won't sit well with fans
Gary Bettman might soon make an announcement that won't sit well with fans of the National Hockey League and its draft.
In 2005, the NHL reduced the number of rounds in its annual draft from 9 to 7. Now, there's talk of another significant reduction, as player agents are pushing to drastically cut the number of players selected in the amateur draft.
This information comes from Sportsnet's insider Elliotte Friedman, as discussed in a recent episode of the podcast *32Thoughts*.
The reasoning is players that don't get contracts are mostly later-round picks, and people (mostly agents) wonder why players get tied to a team for 2-4 years, only to not get a contract from that team.
«They almost think it's like holding up a player from really beginning their NHL career. We'll see what happens there.»
The current CBA expires at the end of the 2025-26 season.
This route would be similar to the NBA, where any undrafted player would immediately become a free agent, able to sign with any team whenever they want.
These agents want the draft to be reduced to just 4 rounds. The goal of this drastic change is to limit the number of players tied to a team for 2 to 4 years, only to not be offered a contract by that team.
Could Gary Bettman Reduce the NHL Draft to Four Rounds?
It's understood that after the 4th round, the chances for a player to make it to the "show" are pretty slim. These undrafted players could then try to showcase their skills not with just one team (as they do now when selected between the 5th and 7th rounds), but to the entire league.
This would be bad news for the Montreal Canadiens.
Just imagine if the Habs hadn't drafted in the 5th round in recent years. We would have a completely different lineup, as Joshua Roy, Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Cayden Primeau, Michael Pezzetta, Jake Evans, and Brendan Gallagher would not have been part of the organization.
On the other hand, as Charles-Alexis Brisebois from the site DLC reminds us, reducing the draft rounds could lead to more stories like that of Arber Xhekaj. We remember that the defenseman signed with the Canadiens after being overlooked in the draft.
Une réduction du nombre de rondes au repêchage?
It wouldn't be surprising to see the NHLPA fighting for this change in the next collective bargaining agreement, which will expire at the end of the 2025-2026 season.
If negotiations do take place, we might see a compromise where not three but two rounds are cut from the NHL draft. This would reduce the number of drafted prospects by 64, leaving a total of 160 players selected.
| POLL | ||
Would you like Gary Bettman to eliminate rounds 5-6-7 of the NHL Draft? | ||
| Yes | 297 | 44.4 % |
| No | 372 | 55.6 % |
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