"Yuck" - NHL analyst slams talk of decentralized draft returning in 2026, questions Gary Bettman's stance

Almost two weeks after the 2025 NHL draft, the league is deciding on the future draft format. NHL insider Elliotte Friedman said the vote on keeping the decentralized draft is not finished.

Most teams seem to want to keep the decentralized format. It enables teams to stay in their cities during the draft instead of meeting in one place.

"Apparently, there are reports about the future of the NHL draft There is a vote right now, not yet completed. But from what I'm canvassing -- unless there is a wild swing in the few remaining to be submitted -- the vote will be to stay with the decentralized format," Friedman tweeted.

NHL analyst Dan Kingerski disagreed with keeping the decentralized draft. He reminded that even NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said the format was "unpopular."

"Wait, didn't everyone, including Gary Bettman, admit the decentralized draft was unpopular and we'd go back to the real draft! Yuck. The elimination chamber, awkward press conferences, and waiting days to talk to prospects was brutal."

In his statement from March, Gary Bettman had said that the League will try the decentralized draft in 2025, and if it doesn't work, the League will go back to the regular way.

"This is what the clubs said they wanted," Bettman said, via Sports Illustrated. "A number have said, ‘Well, maybe we should have the other form.’ And we’ve said, ‘Listen, we’ll go through this experience and if there’s a surge of interest to go back, we’ll put it back to the clubs again.’"

The NHL will decide the draft with voting

In the 2025 NHL draft, players gathered in Los Angeles, but teams stayed home. The league used many cameras and technology to connect everyone. This was to make the draft a fun show for fans watching at home.

It was also done because several teams wanted the focus, which was first witnessed during the COVID-19 changes in 2020 and 21.

Gary Bettman said the 2025 draft was a test drive for the new format. He said the league will ask teams again about their preferences this summer.

"At some point over the summer, we’ll poll the clubs again," Bettman said. "We can go either way. We’re easy. It’ll really be the preference of the clubs."

The draft had many video calls and interviews. For now, the future of the NHL draft format remains unclear.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash