- The 2027 NHL Draft is set for June 25-26 and stays decentralized
- One NHL executive torched the league’s call within minutes
- Read below for the format details, the venue question and the 2027 class
The NHL is running its draft the same way again next summer, and at least one executive is done playing along.
Cam Robinson of EliteProspects passed along a reaction he got from an NHL executive minutes after the league confirmed the format would not change:
“Great, let’s keep pretending this is good for the product.”
Word of the dates broke a little earlier. Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic reported Tuesday that the 2027 NHL Draft will be held June 25 and 26, with the league confirming it will stay decentralized for a third straight year. Round one goes Friday the 25th, with the remaining six rounds Saturday.
A decentralized draft keeps all 32 front offices in their home cities. Prospects and league staff gather somewhere else while the first round plays out, so nobody is walking up to a table on a draft floor.
League executives voted the change in back in October 2023, and the idea grew out of the 2020 and 2021 drafts that went virtual during the pandemic.
Opinion inside the sport has been split ever since. Some team people like the shorter travel and the smaller circus. Others think the league gutted one of the best days on the calendar to save a few flights.
Where it happens is still an open question. The NHL has not named a host city yet, and the last three have bounced around: The Sphere in Las Vegas in 2024, the Peacock Theatre in Los Angeles in 2025, then KeyBank Center in Buffalo this past June.
Whoever gets it will be handing out a strong class. Michigan-bound defenseman Landon DuPont sits atop most boards, with Russian winger Nazar Privalov and Saint John forward Alexis Joseph right behind him. We ran through 10 prospects who boosted their stock at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup last month.
DuPont will hear his name called from a stage. His future general manager will be sitting in an office a few time zones away.
