Capitals general manager Brian MacLellan not a fan of June draft
Washington Capitals general manager, along with many other GM's around the league, is hoping the league decides against having this year's draft in June.
“I think most of the managers would like it to happen in a natural order,” MacLellan said Wednesday on the Two-Man Advantage podcast.
“There's a natural order of business, there's a rhythm to it. Some teams use that time to reset their roster, it's a way to manage your roster and cap situation for next season, it's a way to make trades. A lot of decisions are based on how you concluded your previous season. So, if you go into the playoffs and maybe a weakness is identified or you weren't as successful as you were (hoping) and you need to make changes and the draft seems to be an area where you can accomplish those things before next season.”
MacLellan did however acknowledge that he understands where the league is coming from with wanting to continue on with a June draft as well.
“I also understand this is a business, it's a league business,” he said. “The commissioner and the league have some business decisions to make, there's national rights holders, there's a national audience that's looking for some content and there's an opportunity for the league to sell our draft, to introduce the draft to people that don't normally watch it possibly. So I think there's probably a little tug of war. … The commissioner will make his decision and we'll work with that. We'll work within the guidelines he sets out.”
MacLellan's comments come after Detroit Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman said last week he also hopes the NHL pushes back the draft date. It is likely many general managers around the league feel the same way, for the exact same reasons MacLellan listed above. At this point, the NHL is still planning on having the draft in June but with pressure from teams around the league may consider pushing it back.
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MAY 18, 2026
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| G | A | PTS | ||
| Zachary Bolduc | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Phillip Danault | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kaiden Guhle | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Lane Hutson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Suzuki | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Alexandre Texier | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Anderson | - | - | - | |
| Zach Benson | - | - | - | |
| Bowen Byram | - | - | - | |
| Alexandre Carrier | - | - | - | |
| Cole Caufield | - | - | - | |
| Kirby Dach | - | - | - | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | - | - | |
| Ivan Demidov | - | - | - | |
| Josh Doan | - | - | - | |
| Jakub Dobes | - | - | - | |
| Noah Dobson | - | - | - | |
| Jake Evans | - | - | - | |
| Jordan Greenway | - | - | - | |
| Konsta Helenius | - | - | - | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||