The NHL will not defer the 2021 draft and it will proceed as scheduled in July, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, in line with comments from deputy commissioner Bill Daly last week.
It had previously been reported that a number of teams were hoping to have it pushed to a later date and possibly even into 2022.
Daly said during a press conference last Thursday the draft will “more likely than not” occur in July.
“It’s certainly an imperfect situation but we’ve been dealing with imperfect situations since at least March 12 of last year,” he said.
Part of the concerns around the date stem from COVID-19-related restrictions around the world, which have led to the postponement of leagues and limited scouting and player development.
Other issues reported by Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman in February during a Headlines segment of Hockey Night in Canada included:
“Among the concerns are: If you move the draft back, will players still have to wait seven years until unrestricted free agency?” Friedman said. “Will they be able to move down to six? Also, if you’re drafted out of the CHL, you’ve got to have two years until you re-enter the draft. Will that be kept the same or will it be dropped down to one? These are the kinds of issues that they’re going to have to solve and I think it’s going to be a big challenge.”
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