With the NHL following the NBA and NFL’s lead, commissioner Gary Bettman will announce the first-round picks for the first time at the 2025 NHL Draft, which will be held June 27-28 in Los Angeles, the league announced Saturday.

Previously serving as master of ceremonies at the draft, the 72-year-old Bettman will take over the role previously held by each team. This is the first NHL draft with team staffs participating from their home cities rather than in person. Top prospects will attend the draft and will meet with Bettman when their names are called.

“And remember, the clubs asked for this,” Bettman told reporters at the Los Angeles Kings’ home game against Utah Hockey Club on Saturday. “I wasn’t looking for any more exposure. I have more than enough. But this is what the clubs told us they wanted, and we’re going to try it. And we’ll see after this year whether or not everybody likes it better.”

Following the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL draft was an in-person event the last three years, including last year in Las Vegas at the 18,000-seat Sphere.

“It wasn’t practical to keep going back to the Sphere for a whole host of reasons, including what it cost,” Bettman said. “It was extraordinary. We spent multiples, maybe exponentially, of what we normally spend for a draft. But if we were going to finish off the way we did it under the old format, we were going to do it as big as we could.”

As for who might go No. 1, defenseman Matthew Schaefer of Erie in the Ontario Hockey League is among the front-runners, along with right wing Porter Martone of Brampton in the OHL and centers James Hagens of Boston College and Michael Misa of Saginaw in the OHL.

–Field Level Media