Walsh: I haven't talked to any GMs who want early June draft

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Agent Allan Walsh says none of the NHL general managers he's spoken with support the idea of holding the draft in early June.

"I have not talked to one GM who likes it, and I talk to almost all of them," the agent said Thursday, according to The Associated Press' Stephen Whyno.

"The draft serves a lot of different purposes in giving GMs the tools to build their roster for the next year, apart from just drafting seven rounds of players," he added. "The cap teams - the (Toronto Maple Leafs and Tampa Bay Lightning) - are going to have to move at least one big contract to make it work. And the time to do it is at the draft. But you can't do it under a first week or second week of June scenario when you don't know if the season is canceled or whether we are really going to come back and play."

On Wednesday, Washington Capitals GM Brian MacLellan said of the draft that he believed the majority of his contemporaries "would like it to happen in a natural order."

Detroit Red Wings GM Steve Yzerman was more direct about the matter when asked about it April 30.

"My thought is: Why would you do that? Why would you need to do that?" he said, later adding, "I haven't heard a good reason why we should do it prior to the end of the season if we do conclude the season over the course of the summer."

Earlier in April, NHL commissioner Bill Daly confirmed that the league was considering holding a virtual draft in early June even if the season remains paused amid the coronavirus pandemic, though he noted it was one of several options being considered.

The league postponed the 2020 draft in late March, less than two weeks after halting the current campaign. It has yet to decide when the rescheduled - and potentially reformatted - event would be held.