The NHL's proposal to change its draft format is apparently a popular one among its 32 teams.

The vast majority of the league's clubs voted to decentralize the draft, sources told Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Under the proposal, the NHL Draft would operate similarly to those of the NFL and NBA, with prospects still gathering in one place while team personnel stay in their home markets, according to The Athletic's Chris Johnston.

Tuesday was the deadline for teams to indicate whether or not they're in favor of the idea, which will be discussed further at the general manager meetings in November and then among the Board of Governors in December, per Friedman.

The plan is reportedly for the new format to begin in 2025.

Teams backed the change for several reasons, including the quick turnaround between the draft and the start of free agency on July 1, the cost involved in sending a full contingent to the draft, and "some teams felt their plans were being discovered because tables were too close and things were overheard," Friedman added.

The league reportedly sent a memo to the clubs informing them of the majority support for the idea after sending one last week requesting the votes.

It's still unclear where the 2024 NHL Draft will be held. Earlier this month, it was reported that the league was considering having it at The Sphere in Las Vegas.

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It’s the end of the road as they know it, and they feel fine! Canucks go 3-2-0 on their first sojourn of the season and are 4-2-0 overall, so Matt and Blake go over all the unfamiliar feelings of optimism from Canucks Nation, and we hear from Rick Tocchet after last night’s game as well. They breakdown the night that was for a guy like Nils Höglander, the duo of Hughes-Hronek, and the fact the team didn’t even surrender 20 shots.

Chris Faber enlightens with his thoughts on the game in Nashville, but also a thrilling OT win for the baby ‘Nucks, and another big goal from Vasily Podkolzin. 

Frank Seravalli then stops by for his review on the execution of Frozen Frenzy in the USA, the future of outdoor games, and the three unbeaten teams that still remain in the NHL. Presented by Applewood Auto Group.

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Arizona Coyotes defenseman Matt Dumba ripped into the NHL after the league rescinded its decision to prohibit Pride tape, questioning why the ban was in place to begin with.

"Why is that even a thing?" he told The Athletic's Eric Stephens. "Why did they have to do that in the first place? You'll never get the answers from them. You'll never get the answers for that. That's just something I've come to understand. They don't have answers for a lot of things that they do. They follow and try to save face."

"The league's going to do whatever it wants to do and they don't really think about the meaning behind things," he added. "I think they try to lay it out in whatever format it works out best for the league."

A co-founder of the Hockey Diversity Alliance, Dumba has previously called out the NHL for its lack of action when it comes to social causes. In August 2020, the rearguard said the league is "always last to the party on these topics" when criticizing its response to the police shooting of Jacob Blake, a Black man, in Wisconsin.

The league sent a memo to all 32 squads earlier in October prohibiting the use of Pride tape on sticks for the season. That decision came after a select few players opted out of wearing Pride jerseys and decals last campaign.

Dumba's teammate, Travis Dermott, became the first known player to defy the Pride tape ban on Saturday, and the league reversed course just three days later.

"After consultation with the NHL Players’ Association and the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, players will now have the option to voluntarily represent social causes with their stick tape throughout the season," the league announced in a brief statement Tuesday.

Dermott called the NHL's reversal "amazing."

"It's just given the players their voice back," he said, per Stephens. "If everyone wants to wear it, if one guy wants to wear it - no one is going to be forced to wear it - but now just having that voice, I think, really speaks volumes into what the league thinks of us, what the league thinks of the community, and really backs up their line that hockey is for everyone."

Several players voiced their displeasure with the Pride tape ban when it was still in place.

Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar said he could understand the NHL's position, but added that it put players in a tough spot. Toronto Maple Leafs blue-liner Morgan Rielly said he wished players had the right to be more involved, while Philadelphia Flyers forward Scott Laughton said he would "probably" still use the tape despite the ban.

Though Pride tape is back on the table, players are still not allowed to wear specialty jerseys during warmups on theme nights, including Pride night, Hockey Fights Cancer, and military appreciation celebrations.

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The Carolina Hurricanes will be without defenseman Brett Pesce for the foreseeable future.

"I was hoping he'd be a day or two away, but that's definitely not the case," head coach Rod Brind'Amour told team reporter Walt Ruff on Wednesday. "Way more than (week-to-week). It's not good."

Pesce has missed two games with a lower-body injury. He's collected a goal and two points in five contests this season.

The 28-year-old is in the final season of a six-year, $24.15-million contract he signed with Carolina in 2017. He's set to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2023-24 campaign.

The Hurricanes also remain without star forward Andrei Svechnikov, who has yet to make his season debut while recovering from a torn ACL sustained in March.

Carolina is 3-4-0 to start the season and ranks fifth in the Metropolitan Division.

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Chicago Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson is over moral victories. So he's asking more of his team in the early days of his second season behind the bench.

"I'm kinda at the point, I'm tired," he said after the Blackhawks' 3-0 loss to the Boston Bruins on Tuesday. "One year is enough of, 'We're a hardworking team.' I think we want to push for more this year. I think we start off with a good intention, but I find the other teams - not outwork us work ethic-wise, I wanna say the hardness of the work. Physical one-on-one battles."

Richardson plans address the issue with battle drills.

"They don't like that, but if you don't do it in game, you have to do it in practice," he said.

Chicago hired Richardson prior to the 2022-23 season and the Blackhawks went on to finish in last place in the Central Division with a 26-49-7 record. The tank job was a success as the Windy City won the draft lottery and claimed Connor Bedard with the first overall pick.

The Blackhawks are 2-5-0 on the 2023-24 campaign, but they've faced some pretty stiff competition and rank second in strength of schedule at this point in the season, according to The Athletic's Dom Luszczyszyn. Chicago has already squared off against the Vegas Golden Knights, Pittsburgh Penguins, Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche and the Bruins twice.

Richardson isn't using that as an excuse for his team's record, though.

"We have to learn from what we're losing against and instill that in our game and play harder," he said.

The Blackhawks are mired in a three-game losing streak in which they've been outscored 12-3. Richardson said he and his coaching staff are going to ensure doubt doesn't "sneak" into their rebuilding team's dressing room.

"We're going to push them and say that we're with them here, but tonight and last game, we're not going to accept that," he said. "It's not that it's unacceptable ... We are a team that maybe isn't there yet, but we have to find ways to make improvements and be determined, not discouraged.

"You can be discouraged tonight, the game's over and (be) disappointed, but that should drive you and fuel you. It shouldn't make you tense up and worried and concerned on the ice."

The Blackhawks are staring down yet another tough matchup. They'll take on the Golden Knights on Friday in Vegas.

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As the elder statesman of the Ottawa Senators, Claude Giroux is advising his young teammates to stay calm after dropping back-to-back games to their Atlantic Division rivals.

"As frustrating as it is, we have 76 games left. ... It's not time to hit the panic button," the veteran forward told reporters after the Senators' 6-4 loss to the Buffalo Sabres on Tuesday. "But it's time to keep working on our game, keep finding ways to be consistent for 60 minutes. If we do that, we're going to win hockey games and a bunch of them."

He added: "We know what we're capable of. ... It hasn't been a lot of games, but we've shown that we can play the right way and find ways to win. We've just got to be consistent in it."

After starting the season 3-1-0, Ottawa closed out its five-game homestand by surrendering a combined 11 goals in defeats against the Detroit Red Wings and Sabres, two squads that are also looking to end lengthy playoff droughts.

The Senators were down 5-1 heading into the third frame versus the Sabres, but Vladimir Tarasenko, Josh Norris, and Mathieu Joseph all scored in a 3:23 span late in the period.

The comeback attempt would stop there, though, as Tage Thompson settled things down for Buffalo with an empty-netter.

"It just wasn't good enough," Senators rearguard Jakob Chychrun said of his team's dramatic finish. "Good on us for sticking with it there in the third and making a push, but we can't put ourselves in those situations."

Like Giroux, Chychrun also believes cooler heads will prevail for the Senators.

"We have a lot of emotional guys in this room that care a lot and want to win," he said. "I think we wear our hearts on our sleeves a lot in here, and it's important to stay even-keeled in these moments.

"It's early in the year, we're not going to win every single game, but we need to really learn the lessons (from) some of these nights where we don't have our best stuff and move forward with it."

Ottawa next plays the New York Islanders on Thursday.

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