Gary Bettman and the NHL Announce Details of Next NHL Draft After Controversial Event This Year
The details on the 2026 NHL Draft have been announced by Gary Bettman, but unfortunately for fans, a controversial feature has remained.
The 2025 NHL Draft was full of intriguing talent that could change the future of some NHL teams, but unfortunately, the event wasn't one that was received well by fans around the league, with countless complaints online about it.
For the first time in NHL history, the draft was decentralized, leading to awkward interviews, poor timing and an event that was widely hated by fans given how poorly things were run.
The NHL Draft is Expected to Remain Decentralized, Despite Fan Outcry
Unfortunately, the NHL have recently revealed that the draft will stay the same moving forward, but without some changes, the NHL risk completely tanking what was once a key event on the league calendar.
Now, we know where on the calendar the 2026 event will take place, as NHL President of Content & Events Steve Mayer revealed to The Fourth Period that it will take place between June 26 & 27 a year from now.
Unfortunately, we don't yet know the host city for the event, but if the NHL fail to learn from their catastrophic mistakes from a year ago, the host city won't matter as the event will be hated once again.
For now though, the focus should be on the players in that draft, with this being considered one of the most loaded classes in recent memory, and for the league to do right by them, the hope is that some changes come ahead of what could be a historic event for the league if handled correctly.
