BLOG: Bettman, Daly Talk Lottery, Draft, 20-21 Season

Following the announcement of the NHL's Return to Play Plan, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly talked to media about today's announcements.

Deputy Commissioner Daly discussed the factors that led to the decision to hold the draft following the 2020 Stanley Cup Playoffs, and not hold a draft before the return to play.

"There was a lot of debate with respect to the possibility of moving the draft up and staging the draft before the resumption of play," said Daly. "We brought it to the clubs and there was not a strong consensus one way or the other, quite frankly on whether we should do it. And certainly, I think the people who were opposed, felt strong about being opposed to it."

"Some of the factors, and probably the most significant one we gave the most weight to, was the lack of the ability to use the draft as an opportunity as a jumping off place for performing your next year's roster, resetting in the off-season like many of our clubs do."

When asked about the changes to the draft lottery, Daly explained why the League changed things around.

"One of the things that went into the decision to create a new lottery system was for the advantage of the seven clubs who aren't resuming play," said Daly. "We thought the draft lottery was a way to create excitement, create a way for those teams to engage with their fan base, get some certainty early on and not go into a kind of long slumber of creating noise and buzz over summertime."

Daly also discussed the possibility of different off-season plans for teams in the playoff, and teams not in the playoff, including the Devils.

"There may very well be different offseason roles because we've never been in this type of situation before and unique situations, sometimes necessitate measures. We'll see how to approach that, they will be sensitive those issues will make the best decisions."

When Commissioner Gary Bettman was asked about fans for the 2020-21 season, he was optimistic and is hopeful that fans could return, but noted that is a decision for a later time.

"We were planning on having a 2020-21 season, that's fallen always and our hope is that we'll be able to have fans there. If it turns out that things beyond our control like COVID-19 and government regulations, then we'll have to deal with at that time. But much like we're completing this season, we believe it's going to be important to play next season and again our hope and expectation is, we're going to be doing it when we start, which will be later, with people in the building."