NHL drops major 2024 NHL Entry Draft announcement

At the beginning of the season, it was reported that the NHL was looking at de-centralizing the NHL Draft. That means that teams would not have to all be huddled at tables next to each other for two days as they make their selections and trades. Last year, the NHL held the draft in Nashville and there had been no set location for the 2024 draft that was to be held in June.

Today at the Board of Governors meetings in Seattle, it was announced that the NHL will be having one last centralized draft at The Sphere in Las Vegas. It will be held on June 28th and 29th. According to Pierre LeBrun, the NH shelled out some major cash to be able to host the event at Las Vegas' newest attraction.

For those unaware, the NHL had been looking to de-centralize the draft due to a few complaints from teams. The first being how close it is to free agency, combining that with travel to and from the draft, and teams felt that they were unable to spend the time they wanted to in evaluating teams and players. The second was from a cost standpoint in terms of travel and hospitality for large numbers of staff.

A de-centralized draft means that teams will not send staff to the draft location, which, as you can imagine, will save franchises a LOT of money over the long haul.