from Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic,

“I think it’s a very intriguing change,” veteran Oilers GM Ken Holland told me Monday. “The most important people in the draft, in my opinion, are the fans and the kids who are getting drafted. They’ll all continue to be in the same city. And this would allow NHL teams to be in their offices not only preparing for the draft but also free agency.”

Lou Lamoriello, the dean of GMs, is unequivocal in his support.

“Yes, I’m for it,” the Islanders GM told me Monday.

He supports it for a few reasons, the first being the stress on the calendar that week.

“Last year, you’ve got the draft the 28th and 29th, you’ve got qualifying offers due on the 30th, and you start talking free agency on the 1st,” Lamoriello said. “So in a period of four days, you’re trying to get pretty important information and decisions crammed in. And you’re taking the risk of weather, the risk of travel interruptions, all of the things that you really can’t control.”

much more ($), plus Holland on the Oilers,

“Well, obviously we expected to be better than 1-3-1,” Holland told The Athletic. “It’s early, but we’ve put ourselves in a hole to open the season. It’s up to us to dig our way out.

“We’re going to be without Connor here for a few games. It’s an opportunity for us to really dig in as a group and find some ways to win some hockey games and get back in the mix.”