
NHL prospects unfazed by new draft format: ‘It’s something special’
LOS ANGELES — Matthew Schaefer has watched the NHL draft plenty of times.
A player gets picked and is congratulated by family members before heading on stage to shake a dozen hands from the organization that just made his dream a reality.
The 2025 edition will be different.
The league is set to hold its first decentralized draft in a non-pandemic environment — a format that will see teams make selections remotely instead of all being in one place on the draft floor.