The NHL has a Zoom call with all 32 general managers and head coaches Tuesday afternoon, according to insider Pierre LeBrun.
The meeting kicks off at 1 pm ET, pulling every front office and every bench boss into the same virtual room at once.
That is not how the league did things last year.
In September of last season, the NHL brought everyone together in person in Detroit for this exact meeting.
This time around, the league decided to skip the travel and keep it online, according to LeBrun's report Monday morning.
The NHL has a Zoom call/meeting with all 32 GMs and head coaches today at 1 pm ET. This meeting was held in person last September in Detroit but it was decided to do it online instead this year, easier for everyone involved.
The stated reasoning is simple. It is easier for everyone involved.
Easier, sure. But does a Zoom call carry the same weight as 32 GMs and coaches sitting across from each other in one room?
Why the league ditched the in-person format
There is no official explanation beyond convenience, and the league did not detail what pushed the change from a physical sit-down to a screen.
What we do know is the format flip itself. A boardroom in Detroit swapped for individual boxes on a laptop grid, the way most of corporate North America already operates.
It is a small logistical call on paper. Fewer flights, fewer hotel rooms, fewer schedules to coordinate across 32 organizations spread from Florida to Seattle.
But league-wide meetings like this one typically set tone for the season ahead, covering points of emphasis, officiating standards, and rule interpretations that touch every roster in the sport.
Whether that message lands the same way through a screen as it did in a Detroit conference room last September is the real question here.
For now, all 32 teams are working from the same set of instructions heading into the year, delivered from wherever each GM and coach happen to be sitting Tuesday at 1 pm ET.
-
Should the NHL bring back the in-person GM and coaches meeting next year?
Also read on Markerzone.com:
Mike Babcock's Oilers era is already starting in a way nobody expected
