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The NHL has officially postponed its scouting combine, entry draft and awards show -- each scheduled for June.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 25, 2020
With each additional day that passes, the likelihood that the 2019-20 season gets played out gets a little smaller.
The NHL has officially postponed the scouting combine, the entry draft and the awards show. Never mind the 2019-20 regular season, playoffs and Cup finals, I’m now worried that the 2020-21 season is already behind the eight ball now that the scouting combine and the NHL Draft have been postponed.
Is there any other good news? No.
The NHL Entry Draft might be determined by a playoff between the non-playoff clubs. From a purely entertainment standpoint, I think it’s great. If I’m Detroit, and I just completed 85% of a season that saw my club win 17 games out of 70, I will probably have a hard time with it.
RECALL 2005
Remember the great Sidney Crosby draft? Teams which hadn’t made the playoffs in three years prior got three lotto balls. Missed two of three years? Two balls. One of three? One ball. All the balls dropped, and the Penguins got to draft first overall. They selected some kid from Rimouski, it’s worked out OK for them so far.
Under this format, the Oilers would get a couple of cracks at the top pick.
Can’t count the Oilers out of a lottery.