For some reason almost every time media types, fans, and the like mention the Expansion Draft they tend to follow their statement up with a complaint that it’s not being aired live on television. Well, it’s time for me to explain why it’s not happening so you don’t make the same mistake.
First of all, the timeline allows for Las Vegas to submit their selections over a three day period. On June 17th, 2017 all 30 current teams must submit their list of either 9 or 11 (1G, 3D, 7F or 1G and 8 skaters) players they will protect from the Expansion Draft. At that point, Las Vegas has 72 hours to comb over the names and pick one player from each of the existing franchises. In other words, the process isn’t going to happen in a nice 120 minute span with four 3 minute long commercial breaks per hour.
Next, Las Vegas is entering the league alone. Therefore, they are not selecting players against another team like previous expansion drafts in 1992, 1993, and 2000. Vegas is competing with the clock, not another expansion franchise.
