The NHL Draft Got Weird: Wizard Of Oz Screens, Disneyland, And Farmwork

This has to be one of the most bizarre NHL Drafts of all time.

That statement has nothing to do with the players in the draft, but rather the whole production itself, because there were so many wild moments that, if the NHL was going for that kind of thing, mission accomplished.

Let's start with the elephant in the room, which ironically has to do with the 32 teams that weren't in the room.

READ: ISLANDERS SELECT MATTHEW SCHAEFER WITH THE FIRST PICK IN THE NHL DRAFT AND IT GOT EMOTIONAL

This year, the NHL decided to take a page out of the NFL's playbook and hold a decentralized draft. The argument was that it would speed things up … and it didn't really do that.

Plus, it robbed us of those moments when you see some commotion at one team's table as they get on the phone to cut a draft day deal with another.

And, worst of all, it gave us this bizarre Wizard of Oz screen, known as the NHL Draft House.

It got awkward.

Alright, I get why some pushed for a decentralized draft. I like staying home, too, but that NHL Draft House needs to be retired.

It probably should've been retired immediately after the Boston Bruins' first pick , which they used on Boston College's James Hagens.

Then there were some things I just flat-out had not seen before.

Like when the Ducks said, "Hey, Roger McQueen; you're going down to Disneyland," and whisked him to Anaheim via helicopter.

I mean … cool, but why does this feel like a college trying to woo a recruit into committing? 

Also, I'm not entirely convinced this wasn't a ruse by ESPN-parent company Disney to work in a series of Disneyland commercials.

Although it was rather fitting when Roger McQueen got to meet Lightning McQueen.

Then, finally, there was something else I had never seen, but frankly loved, and that was when Nashville Predators draft pick Brady Martin was like, "Meh, I've got work to do on the farm; I'm not flying out to LA."

Honestly, that's the kind of guy I want on my team. He's not going to get distracted by shiny things. 

The glitz and glamor of the draft? Nope, he has fields to seed.

This is the kind of guy who knows how to commit to the task at hand … until he skips a team meeting to milk cows or wrench on a tractor.

That said, I think a country boy like Brady is going to love playing in Nashville.

So, it was certainly an interesting draft, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but as I said earlier, we need to re-centralize the draft because that NHL Draft House was no bueno.