Never Do This Again

If you had plans to watch the NHL Entry Draft tonight, you needed to prepare yourself like you were going to watch the complete Lord of the Rings trilogy. The NHL's plan to decentralize the NHL Entry Draft came with all sorts of promises of speeding things up and making things better, but the exact opposite thing happened as the final network sign-off for Round One's selections happened four hours and 28 minutes after the whole mess started. It's unfathomable that it could take four-and-a-half hours to call 32 players to the Peacock Theater stage when they were sitting less than 100-feet away, but the NHL made it happen on this night. For those 32 players, dreams do come true - it just takes 4.5 hours.

For all the special moments seen tonight - how do you not like Matthew Schaefer? - the entirety of the Draft was agonizing in the length of time it took for things to happen. The "Facetime" interviews between players and management after players were selected was one of the worst parts of the entire evening despite the NHL being hopeful that it would bring some greater interest and insight as to why the players were chosen. For as much as the NHL was looking to make things better, they may have gone in the opposite direction.

Personally, I like what the New York Islanders did in Round One with the selections of Schaefer, Kashawn Aitcheson, and Viktor Eklund. For everyone who may worry that the loss of Noah Dobson may set this team back in the short-term, it's very clear that GM Mathieu Darche has a plan to rebuild the Islanders through smart management and good player evaluations. This isn't going to be an overnight fix, but Darche appears to have a plan for the Islanders moving forward.

No offence to the Anaheim Ducks, but seeing the theatre of drafting Brandon's Roger McQueen and then flying via helicopter to Disneyland is something I never want to see again. I get that there's some fun in having McQueen meet Lightning McQueen from Cars thanks to Disney's initial involvement with the team, but we've moved past the Disney tie-ins. McQueen's going to be a big-time player for the Ducks, so treat him professionally. Leave the Cars references at Disnleyland.

Big congratulations to Carter Bear, a Manitoban, on his selection by the Detroit Red Wings with the 13th-overall pick. Despite suffering a partially torn Achilles tendon on March 9, the Red Wings saw what they liked from the big, scoring winger and put him in red-and-white. Let's hope he stays healthy and can be a long-time contributor for the Red Wings and make Peguis First Nation proud of all he does!

I was a little surprised that the Winnipeg Jets went with a defender in Boston University's Sascha Boumedienne, but there's no denying the kid's talent on the blue line. If the Jets are adding another weapon on their blue line, they'll need to start clearing out veteran players who no longer fit the plan. Boumedienne looks like he could be another special player, and I suspect he'll be in the conversation for roster spots in a few years. That's something that should excite Jets fans!

Again, waiting until the ten o'clock hour to see the Jets choose their player was painful. I can't imagine what it was like for players sitting in the seats at the Peacock Theater, and we heard the Sportsnet crew crack jokes about line-ups at the bathrooms. Clearly, this style of draft won't work in the future for most teams, fans, and players, so I'm glad the NHL has already committed to going back to the old format. At least seeing the GMs mingling with one another gave hope that something might be in the works. This year, not so much.

Perhaps the biggest winner on the night was former Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds forward Brady Martin who stayed home to help work on the farm. He didn't need a suit, he wasn't forced to sit at the theatre for hours, and he was still picked fifth-overall by the Nashville Predators. Martin's draft strategy was the best plan on this night as he skipped four-and-a-half hours of "just get to the next pick"!

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!