Wednesday, the NHL general manager meetings wrapped up in Florida and several big chunks of news were released.
The first noteworthy piece of information is focused on what the NHL appears unlikely to do during the Vegas Golden Knights’ expansion draft. NHL general mangers voted not to make public each team’s protected list in June.
The NHL also discussed with GMs whether or not they would reveal each team's protected list ahead of expansion draft. GMs said No. (con't)
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 8, 2017
So unless it changes, appears league won't make public each team's protected list in June.
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 8, 2017
The NHL’s official comment reads thusly.
For those who have asked, here's an NHL spokesperson's statement on the public release of teams' protected lists for the expansion draft. pic.twitter.com/TiChf2lsDV
— Craig Morgan (@craigsmorgan) March 8, 2017
This is an absent-minded decision for a bunch of reasons.
- Vegas fans, and hockey fans in general, get no insight into how their management values talent.
- It turns an entertaining event into a snore-fest.
- The league is essentially shunning weeks of free promotion and discussion about itself in the media.
- The lists are going to get leaked anyway.
Sean McIndoe summed it up best.
Gosh, it's almost as if GMs worry about shielding themselves from criticism and scrutiny far more than what's actually best for the league.
— Down Goes Brown (@DownGoesBrown) March 8, 2017
This bit of news follows Gary Bettman’s out-of-touch opinion two years ago that hockey fans don’t crave an official resource like Cap Geek, which lists all players’ salaries.
“I don’t think it’s a resource we need to provide because I’m not sure fans are as focused on what players make as they are about their performance on the ice,” Bettman said according to Puck Daddy.
Other news includes:
Bill Daly says the NHL's salary cap is projected to be $75.5M-$76M next season, but adds it will depend on inflator negotiations with NHLPA.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 8, 2017
The NHL is looking at changing bye week to having 15 teams off at one time, 16 the next. First two games would be vs. teams coming off bye.
— Chris Johnston (@reporterchris) March 8, 2017
Swedish officials had a polite but clear message for GMs today: leave their young players in Sweden to develop. They don't want them in AHL
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 8, 2017
Colin Campbell says the GMs decided today not to tweak the offside rule on Coach's Challenge video review (skate in the air). Status quo
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 7, 2017
