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Thursday, June 20, 2024 | 2 a.m.
The NHL is back in Las Vegas. For the first time since the 2022 All-Star Game, the league has chosen Vegas to host two of its premier events.
The NHL Awards serves as the de facto puck drop of the three-day stretch of events starting June 27, when the ceremony is held locally for the first time since 2019, at Fontainebleau Las Vegas.
Sphere will then host a one-of-a-kind NHL Draft the next two days. It’s the first sporting event Sphere has hosted and a going-away party of sorts for the draft as a big, centralized event.
“The NHL is proud to bring the first sports event and the first live television broadcast to Sphere,” NHL senior executive vice president Steve Mayer told NHL.com. “Together with the amazing team at Sphere, we plan to deliver an NHL Draft like no other.”
Here’s what you need to know about the NHL’s premier event in one of Vegas’ most unique venues.
Attending the draft
The NHL wants to create a high-energy environment
by packing the 17,600-capacity Sphere, and pushed ticket sales consistently during its Stanley Cup Final broadcasts.
Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and range from $35 to $319 for Friday night’s first round and $35 to $143 for Saturday’s second through seventh rounds.
The first round starts at 4 p.m. local time. The second through seventh rounds kick off at 8:30 a.m.
The awards ceremony at Fontainebleau is more exclusive, but limited tickets are available through Ticketmaster and range from $85 to $125.
How will it look?
All eyes will be on how the NHL utilizes Sphere’s world-class production capabilities. The NHL Draft will be the first sports-related event the venue has hosted, potentially opening up opportunities for professional leagues like the NFL, NBA and Major League Baseball to use the venue for its future events.
“Sphere continues to establish itself as a premier destination for some of the most highly anticipated events in sports and entertainment,” executive vice president of marquee events and operations for MSG Entertainment Joel Fisher told NHL.com.
“We’re pleased to welcome the NHL Draft, and look forward to showcasing Sphere’s next-generation capabilities both in person and around the world via the first live television broadcast from the venue.”
A clear first pick
There’s little doubt Boston University center Macklin Celebrini will go first overall to the San Jose Sharks.
It becomes a little cloudy after that with a logjam of talented prospects considered promising though not generational.
The Chicago Blackhawks pick second while the Anaheim Ducks will be on the clock for the third pick.
Celebrini recorded 64 points in 38 games in college this year and had eight points in five games with Team Canada in the World Junior Championships.
The hometown Golden Knights will be looking to find their own difference-maker a little further down as they hold the 19th overall pick.
Multiple options for VGK
The Golden Knights may have a first-round selection this year, but don’t hold their own top pick again until 2027 after dealing their 2025 and 2026 first-rounders for Tomáš Hertl and Noah Hanifin, respectively, at last season’s trade deadline.
That means the pressure is on to nail this year’s selection—especially considering they don’t pick again until the sixth round, another result of their aggressive trading strategy.
They should have plenty of choices, and draft experts are split on whom they should target. Five of the foremost possibilities are Trevor Connelly (The Athletic and FanSided), Adam Jiříček (ClutchPoints), Stian Solberg (MyNHLDraft), Jett Luchanko (The Score) and Michael Brandsegg-Nygård (ESPN).
The 18-year-old Connelly stands out as one of the top overall prospects and best American skaters in the draft, but he could tumble down draft boards out of character concerns.
In March 2022, he posted a photo of his friend posing with a swastika made out of children’s books. He has since apologized for posting the photo.
Last centralized NHL Draft?
The draft is set to be the last centralized edition of the event for the foreseeable future. The league has announced that after the 2024 draft, teams will stay in their home cities instead of converging on one location.
“We were very comfortable, and still are, with the format that we’ve been using,” NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said. “It’s different than anybody else uses, and we kind of liked it.”
“This was an organic proposal that a number of clubs suggested, and we said we’re not going to fight it. We’ll take a poll of all the clubs and the overwhelming majority want to make a change.”
The draft may therefore lose its big-event feel, but at least it’s going out on a high. Sphere should provide a fitting farewell spectacle.
This story appeared in Las Vegas Weekly.
