LAS VEGAS — Saturday marked eight years to the day NHL commissioner Gary Bettman awarded Las Vegas the league’s 31st franchise.

Little did Bettman think on June 22, 2016, that Las Vegas would boom as a hockey town.

The Golden Knights have been at the epicenter of almost all the NHL’s major events since. They’ve hosted an expansion draft and an All-Star Weekend, taken part in two Stanley Cup Finals and participated in their first outdoor Winter Classic this year.

The Knights can now add the NHL draft to their list. The two-day event is coming to The Sphere on Friday and Saturday.

“Our hockey group is excited because it’s another opportunity for us as an organization to show off Las Vegas and what a great hockey town it’s become,” Knights president Kerry Bubolz said. “That is a really phenomenal opportunity.”

This is the second time in three years Las Vegas is hosting the draft of one of the four major men’s professional sports leagues. The NFL drew more than 300,000 fans over three days in April 2022.

The NHL won’t bring in as large of crowd. But the league hopes it will make up for that by providing one of the most unique viewing experiences for a draft ever.

The NHL draft will be The Sphere’s first televised event since the venue opened Sept. 29. The league plans to make it one to remember.

“It has been extremely interesting,” NHL chief content officer Steve Mayer said. “In one way it’s been daunting. And in another way, it’s been so cool. It’s such a different venue.”

How we got here

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