Could the 2021 draft be moved back?
Sportsnet: The 2021 NHL draft is scheduled for July 23rd and 24th. There are many draft-eligible players who haven’t played at all this season.
Chris Johnston said on Headlines that there is some talk of a prospect tournament this spring. Scouts could be invited or they could watch through video.
There are some teams looking to move the draft back.
“I think there are teams out there that would be interested in seeing the draft moved back to December or January instead of this July,” Friedman said during Saturday’s segment. “And I think there’s also a couple of teams … the possibility of doing two drafts next June — a late ’02 and an ’03 draft on one day, and then maybe a few days later, an ’03 and an ’04 draft.
“I don’t know what the decision is going to be, but these are some of the ideas that are coming back to the league.”
Blue Jackets and Jets always a match and the Canadiens may not have been close
Sportsnet: Chris Johnston doesn’t think the Montreal Canadiens got to a point where they were competing in the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade talks.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
“I don’t believe they really got to a stage where they were competing here because you’re talking a Nick Suzuki, plus, plus, kind of package to seal the deal.
So the fact that Winnipeg had Laine, had that situation there, made this a match in heaven.
I should say secondly to come out of this. I think where it goes next, is the team that is able to make the player happy, and take care of them contractually, will probably end up being the one we look back on in time as winning the trade because both Laine and Dubois are going to need contracts here in the near future.”
Elliotte Friedman adds that both Columbus Jackets and Winnipeg Jets knew dating back to the draft that they could do this deal.
“So anytime these two teams talked about these players, they said, ‘if we’re going to do it somewhere else, it’s got to beat what we can get from the other team here.’ And nobody could ever do that.
I think when it got to Thursday and the way Dubois played and the Blue Jackets just decided we have to do it. They took one final trip around the league and nobody was gonna beat what Winnipeg and Columbus could give each other.”