Players, coaches and GMs reportedly at odds with the NHL over the upcoming draft.

The National Hockey League may be eager to get back into the thick of things but it sounds like some of the players, coaches and general managers may not be so thrilled at the prospect of going back to work so quickly. 

According to a report from Boston Hockey Now there has been some significant pushback against a group of influential NHL owners who have been looking to get the league back on schedule by holding the upcoming 2020 NHL Entry Draft in June of this year. That is a bold move given that the National Football League is at the time of this writing in the midst of its own draft, having elected to hold it online given the health concerns at this time. This scenario proposed by the owners however would not see the draft held online and would instead see the league have some form of a live draft, although no doubt it would have to be a very limited format. 

An NHL source has informed Boston Hockey now that this idea has been met with some opposition within the league.

“You’ve got some within the league offices and the hawks amongst the owners pushing for whatever they can do to get things back to normal and recoup some of the losses and then not just the players, but their coaches and GM’s saying slow down, there’s a lot to think about here,” the source told BHN. “The pressure’s on to save what money they all can but one seems willing to risk more than the other.”

“Forget the fact that so much of what can still happen in the draft will be determined by the outcome of not just the season but also the playoffs. …this is nuts,” the source said. “They [the league] think they can just dictate this but it’s not that easy.”

No doubt fans would love to see things go back to normal as quickly as possible and I would count myself among that group, however there are serious health concerns with these situations now and it will remain to be seen if it truly is a realistic option moving forward.