NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman Reveals who is in Line to Replace Gary Bettman as NHL Commissioner
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman recently revealed that Bill Daly is the most likely candidate to replace league commissioner Gary Bettman.
As things stand currently, it does not seem like Bettman is going anywhere. However, it is noteworthy that the man is 72 years old. He will want to retire at some point and it could be coming up in the next couple of years.
It is an exciting proposition for hockey fans. After all, Bettman is virtually universally hated around the league. He always gets a chorus of boos from events where fans are in attendance.
He's constantly facing criticism, most recently for declining television ratings which is obviously bad for growing the game, which he claims is among his top priorities.
With that being said, replacing him has been on the mind of many for a long time. Unfortunately though, fans might be disappointed to learn who is in line to replace him.
This is what NHL insider Elliotte Friedman revealed to us yesterday.
Daly has not been in the NHL for as long as Bettman, but still he has been deputy commissioner for nearly 20 years.
As such, he is deeply ingrained within Bettman's vision for the league and as such we can probably expect more of the same when he takes over.
That means more unpopularity and more criticism. Daly has not been immune to criticism himself and has largely been associated with the worst aspects of Bettman's direction with the league.
For example, one particularly bad look for the league has been their stance on CTE, which remains a problem to this day.
Hopefully, if Daly does eventually take over he will actually make some significant improvements.
At this point that is necessary for the long-term health of the league as other leagues continue to outgrow the NHL.
