The NHL draft session, whose format will change in 2025 for a decentralized auction, would take place at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles next June, according to ESPN.
Journalist Greg Wyshynski writes that the draft would take place in the amphitheater next to Crypto.com Arena, home of the Los Angeles Kings, on June 27-28.
Commissioner Gary Bettman has not yet confirmed the league’s intentions.
The last time the amateur auction was presented in LA, the Edmonton Oilers selected Taylor Hall first overall. It was June 2010.
Reproducing a formula already implemented within the NFL, NBA and MLB, the 32 NHL teams will make their selections from their own respective buildings rather than traveling to a single location.
With the exception of the two years marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, the NHL had always preferred to invite everyone to the same place for the draft since 1963.
It is currently unknown whether hockey fans will be admitted to the draft at the Peacock Theater for the first year of this new operation.
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