NHL: 5 Reasons It Runs the Best Draft in All of Sports

The NHL Entry Draft does more than make for a glamorous weekend in the early offseason, as everyone with a stake in the affairs of any team take a glimpse at the future of the sport. It is also a testament to the often under-appreciated league’s superior ability to cater to its fans.

When sized up against the same event in the other major sports, the NHL draft draws practically no comparisons. Mostly just contrasts that exploit the flaws of other sports' drafts and, on the flip side, accentuate the shrewdness of Gary Bettman’s circuit in its first step in building up to a new season.

Here now are five strong suits to the NHL draft that ought to be the envy of the NFL, NBA, MLB, or all three.

Alternating host cities

Although the event was originally fixated in Montreal, 23 different NHL cities have hosted the draft at least once since 1985. Not unlike the all-star game, having the draft in one’s home arena is a privilege that gives a franchise, its fans and its community something to look forward to. All eyes with an interest in the league are centered on that one market for a full weekend.

You wouldn’t want your family reunion to be held in the same city or town at the same relative’s house every year, would you?

The NHL gets it. As a result, on an annual basis, one of its 30 constituents gets a chance to provide a sense of summertime unison and to enliven the community with the presence of business travelers and fans from other teams.

The same cannot be said about the NFL, which has consistently held its draft (and its all-star game, for that matter) in a city that doesn’t even have pro football.

What? It’s true. The so-called New York Giants and New York Jets both play in East Rutherford, the same city the New Jersey Devils and Nets called home before transferring to Newark. Yet New York is where pro football’s top prospects always find out who they’re joining next season.

Speaking of Newark, to its credit, the NBA appears to be resuming the practice of selecting a host venue every season after a decade-long stay at Madison Square Garden. But the NHL has never lost touch in this department.

A team-first attitude

There are obvious reasons as to why NHL commissioner Gary Bettman can sometimes appear coated with boobird-seed. But compared to some of his counterparts in other sports, it is hard to label him a narcissist.

After all, on the weekend of the NHL draft, Bettman will offer introductory remarks and announce who is on the clock between picks. Other than that, the stage literally belongs to the executives of individual teams as they declare and greet their choices at the podium.

Conversely, the NBA’s David Stern is always standing alone to announce and shake hands with every draft choice in his league.

Perfect timing

More than at least one full week after the Stanley Cup is bestowed and certainly by the time the NHL awards have been distributed, the afterglow of one season has all but tapered off.

That is when everyone’s attention turns to the NHL draft and all mouths cue up the clichéd, yet fairly apt, remarks about all teams going back to 0-0-0. And it works well to have it right in the aftermath of the Summer Solstice and in the days leading up to July 1, better known to some as Canada Day or NHL Free Agency Launch Day, or both.

Now why won’t Major League Baseball look at that and consider holding its draft on the eve of its winter meetings in December? The MLB does itself no favors by highlighting its newest prospects in the middle of the season.

The season is for highlighting the present. The future, even the immediate future, needs to wait until the offseason, when the whole organization actually has time for it.

Perfect timing: Part II

Since the conclusion of the first post-lockout season, Round 1 of the NHL Draft has been held on a Friday evening, with all subsequent rounds on a Saturday.

In the same time span, the NBA has started the same event on either a Wednesday or Thursday night. To schedule any event of that magnitude in any sport on a weeknight is to deprive that event of maximum fanfare.

Whether it’s out-of-market fans eager to get away and witness the draft in person, viewing parties at the home venues of other teams or just in neighboring sports bars, the weekend is the most logical time to draw attention and interest.

Timely ending

Each of the last 10 NFL drafts have seen more than 250 players selected over a span of three dragged-out days.

The MLB boggles the mind with its 1,500-plus annual picks in the First-Year Player Draft (Well, big surprise. After all, you’re looking at a sport that thinks sleepless extra-inning marathons are just as compelling and memorable in the regular season as they are in the playoffs).

On the other extreme, the latest NBA Draft was over in one night with merely two rounds and 60 selections (Although part of that could be blamed on basketball’s lack of a decent minor-league farm system).

But in hockey, you have two days and one night to see each team add roughly seven or eight new constituents to its organization. A select few will break into The Show without delay while others will sign on to ripen in the AHL or in Europe. And the rest will return to their current amateur team with a more encouraging sense of what lies ahead for them.