NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly sent a memo to teams on Friday night stating reasons why it would be beneficial to still have the draft in June, according to a report by Elliotte Friedman.
Daly wrote that if the league waits until after the Stanley Cup is potentially awarded, there could potentially be too short of a period between the end of the 2019-20 season and the start of the 2020-21 season to squeeze in the draft lottery and the draft. If it turns out that the league is not able to resume its 2019-20 season, then the draft lottery and draft would have to be held "at some uncertain time prior to resuming play for the 2020–21 season."
Holding the draft before the end of the 2019-20 season presents a number of problems, not limited to figuring out a draft order, and deciding how to award conditional draft picks that are dependent on results from the remainder of the season, of which there are 15.
The NHL's memo recommended that the draft order could be based on points percentage, since teams haven't played an equal number of games. Typically, the NHL makes three drawings in the draft lottery, to determine the top three picks. For this summer, the NHL suggested just drawing for the No. 1 overall pick, with teams only being able to move up no more than four spots.
Conditional draft picks would be decided on a case-by-case basis by the league. Teams would have a week to either accept the league's proposal or come up with new terms that both teams agree to.
With the current standings, before the lottery, the top five picks in the draft order would be the Red Wings, Senators, Sharks, Kings, and Ducks, with Sharks' pick belonging to the Senators from the Erik Karlsson trade. The Penguins would be 25th in the order, although their lottery-protected first round pick would presumably still be traded to the Wild rather than deferring the pick to 2021, since they wouldn't be in a draft lottery.
Another issue with holding the draft before the end of the season is that it would prevent teams from including players in any draft-day trades. Daly wrote that teams can't expect this draft to look like past drafts.
"It is not going to be a typical NHL Draft. It is not going to look the same; it is not going to feel the same; and it is not going to be the same. ... Any comparison of the 2020 NHL Draft to a typical year’s Draft is not — and cannot be — an ‘apples to apples’ comparison.”
A Board of Governors call is scheduled for Monday, so the league will discuss the issue further after the weekend.
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