from Kevin Paul Dupont of the Boston Globe,

The annual NHL Draft remains a go, on the books for July 23-24 in Montreal, but some league GMs feel as if the annual talent pull would be better if rolled ahead to later in the year (November or December) or scrubbed entirely, in which case the Class of ’21 would fold into what everyone hopes will be a 2022 draft staged in June (per standard NHL programming).

The case for postponing: Many leagues — college, junior, and European — have had schedules disrupted or scrubbed this season because of the pandemic, leaving scouts challenged to get full reads on the incoming stock.

The case for going ahead as planned in July: Some portion of the 18-year-olds will have submitted solid work this season and they’re ready and eager to learn their destiny, even if only a handful have a shot at landing an NHL job in 2021-22.

As of Friday, of the 217 selections in the 2020 draft, only the Senators’ Tim Stutzle and the Rangers’ Alexis Lafreniere had played this season. Only seven picks in the 2019 draft had logged 10 games or more.

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