NHL Insider Reveals Motive Behind Decentralized Draft

To say that the NHL's new draft format is controversial would be an understatement.

In the past, teams would have basically all of their key front office personnel (general managers, scouts, etc.) attend the event and do their business at tables on the draft floor. This year, however, teams conducted business from their headquarters in their respective cities, while only a select few personnel members and the prospects attended the draft at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Essentially, the new format functions much like the NFL and NBA's drafts have for many years.

Many fans, and even commissioner Gary Bettman, criticized the new draft format, and especially that the first round alone took four and a half hours to get through. However, league general managers voted in favor of keeping the draft decentralized, so it will stick around for at least a little while longer.

There are plenty of reasons why general managers voted in favor of the decentralized format, but according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman, one of the biggest reasons why has to do with the greater privacy afforded to each team.

"It's obvious to me that these teams that voted to keep it the way it is, they value the secrecy. From what I understand, it was all about secrecy," Friedman said on his "32 Thoughts" podcast. "Mark Yannetti, who runs the draft for the Kings, gave a quote, and I can't remember where I saw it, but he gave a quote where he said, 'I was able to look up injury reports and not worry about someone looking over my shoulder.' People said I could talk at my table or I could have a conversation without worrying who was listening to me."

"One guy said to me, 'I think people read lips,' and I'm like, come on. And he goes, I think people do read lips. Everybody's got a camera right now. I was worried about getting my lips read. And he was serious about it. They also feel that if you streamline the broadcast, it will be better. And I have no doubt that that is something they're going to do for next season."

To be fair, much of the issues involving the runtime were due to the presentation of the draft, not the format itself. Celebrities announced all the first-round picks, and players were taken to a backstage room for an interview with their new teams before the clock could even start for the next pick.

If the NHL trims the fat, the decentralized format could work out very well. However, there will always be those who prefer the old format.