Yzerman heads into his second NHL Draft at the helm of the Red Wings, with Round 1 set for 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Rounds 2-7 will begin at 11:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, Oct. 7. The Red Wings earned the No. 4 pick in the first round - their highest pick since 1990 - and currently have six of the top 65 picks in the draft.
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Yzerman will conduct the draft from a large conference room, with much of his management and scouting staff scattered, including across Canada and Europe. They'll be in regular communication via the electronic vices that we have all become so familiar with. There will be a lack of palpable buzz and excitement that the draft annually presents on location in an NHL city - particularly in the first round - but Yzerman and his team are prepared for the changes.
"This morning, we did our own bit of testing, walking through the technology we'll be using," said Yzerman. "The league is running through it with our IT people to make sure we're running it how they want it to run, and making sure it's operational. I'm very comfortable that it should work out really well.
"We've got a nice spaced-out conference room, and it will be a little quieter in there," Yzerman said. "It will be a little less hectic. Particularly in Round 1 when the building is full, the fans are chanting and there is a lot of buzz in the building. With a lot of people around, it can be very distracting. I kind of like this (virtual) format. You do not have the ability to quickly catch the eye of a general manager, but we've got multiple phone lines. You can get a lot done quickly."