NHL Expansion Draft Ruined By People Doing Their Job

I've been looking forward to the NHL Expansion Draft this entire season. And thanks to reporters who are simply doing their job, it's been ruined.

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Okay, maybe I'm being a bit dramatic, but I'm truly disappointed in what's transpired. The Expansion Draft is happening at 8PM tonight, and is going to be broadcast on ESPN2. This was supposed to be ESPN's debut in their new agreement, and the first chance for the two sides to show off their commitment to exciting hockey coverage in the future.

Unfortunately, a number of reporters began to receive "scoops" and "intel" on who the Kraken would be choosing, and promptly took to Twitter to report their findings. By 3:18PM, I had compiled a list of 24 players, all of which who had been rumored or confirmed to be taken this evening. That left just six teams with players yet to be announced, and more reports streamed in as we continued our show.

Look, I do not fault the reporters in this situation at all. If I was given that type of information, it would've been tweeted faster than you can say "with their first selection, the Seattle Kraken choose." This falls on the league, plain and simple.

So, if you're the NHL, you're telling me you couldn't find a way to avoid this type of league? You couldn't put a gag order on the league, forbidding sources from telling this information to the media? The NHL and ESPN have a lot of money on the line in this contract, and the league has a great opportunity ahead of it to grow the game and grow the fanbase.

They let this opportunity slip out of their hands, however, and it's led to a disappointing beginning for the Kraken, ESPN, and the new generation of fans you were hoping to create.