NHL could implement a virtual draft for 2020 should in-person options fail
By Mary Clarke
With the NFL preparing to hold their 2020 draft virtually thanks to COVID-19, the NHL may be spurred to do the same in the coming months.
The NFL will be conducting their 2020 draft at home this year thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, and the NHL may not be too far behind in that regard. On Monday, the news broke that the NFL’s 2020 draft will go virtual after the league announced that team facilities will remain closed indefinitely.
Not long after the announcement, NHL insider and TSN reporter Pierre LeBrun tweeted that the NHL is possibly looking at a virtual draft for their own 2020 event if all else falls through. The other option the league is mulling over is the idea of holding a smaller venue draft later in the year, though a location is unknown at the time.
In late March, the NHL officially postponed the 2020 draft, the awards and the combine due to the uncertainty surrounding the coronavirus pandemic. While it’s a good sign that the league did not cancel the events outright, the timeline for the league’s return is still unknown — if it even happens at all this year.
The league is looking at all possible avenues to return at some point this season, from possibly playing at neutral sites in North Dakota and New Hampshire to expanding the playoff format to 24 teams.
With the NFL going to a virtual draft this later month, however, it’s very possible that the NHL will follow suit. With the NFL being as big of a league as it is, other sports leagues may fall in line behind them as the weeks and months churn along.
Though the NFL’s hand was likely forced into moving their draft to a virtual space due to how soon the draft is set to take place, do not be surprised if the NHL and other sports leagues follow the same pattern when all is said and done.
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