First, the good news: There have been no internal discussions as to how to handle the 2013 NHL draft order in case the lockout wipes out the entire season, according to an NHL source involved in the CBA negotiations. Even as frustration builds over a potential lost season, the hope from those negotiating is that it still won't come to that.
But if it does, decisions will have to be made as to how to determine the order of a draft some view as generational. Does your team need a franchise forward? Nathan MacKinnon could be the answer. And then there's Seth Jones, an American defenseman with legitimate star power, who will push MacKinnon all year to be the No. 1 pick.
Determining which teams get the chance to select these potential game-changing players, however, is not so straightforward -- particularly if the season is ultimately lost to the lockout.
To see opinions from inside the NHL on how the draft order could be determined if there is no season, become an ESPN Insider today.
- Senior NHL writer for ESPN The Magazine
- Wrote for Atlanta Journal-Constitution
- Wrote for The Sporting News
ABOUT THIS BLOG
Craig Custance
Craig Custance joined ESPN in September 2011 as an NHL reporter for ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Insider and ESPN.com. A graduate of Michigan State University, he lived for nearly a decade in Georgia working for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution where he spent time covering the late Atlanta Thrashers. He was the only Thrashers beat writer to get the team to the playoffs.
From 2008-11 he was the national hockey writer for the Sporting News, writing regularly in print and online. A member of the PHWA, he's a proud voter for the major NHL awards and can occasionally defend his selections.
Like hockey, he left Atlanta to return north where he currently lives in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, with his wife Cassie and their three kids.
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