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As a condition of its expansion deal, newcomer Las Vegas is likely in line for a league event in the coming years. But Sin City, with its glitz and glamour, seems like more of an All-Star site and a terrific opportunity for the NHL to bring its biggest names and brightest lights to its newest city to help the Golden Knights make a splash in their infancy. Again, that should remove some of the competition for the Canucks to host the draft for the first time since 2006.

Photo by Arlen Redekop / Province

The timing of the 2019 draft is intriguing — and makes perfect sense — because Vancouver and Victoria have already been tabbed as the host cities for the World Junior championship that year. Several draft-eligible players would be on display in this province during that tournament and would then be front and centre again later that spring.

With the focus on prospects and the importance of youth to NHL teams and their fans growing each season, the draft has become so much more than a chance for organizations to stock their talent pools. It’s now a hockey convention spanning several days with managers, coaches, agents, players and their parents all converging in the same city.

And with that many hockey people all gathering in one spot, trade talk and speculation runs rampant. With the draft occurring a week before free agency, it’s commonplace to see teams making moves at the draft or laying the groundwork for deals to come.

Last June, the P.K. Subban-for-Shea Weber blockbuster and the Taylor Hall-for-Adam Larsson deal both went down just days after the draft. While the triggers weren’t pulled in Buffalo, you know that those trades were discussed there. And the last time the Canucks hosted the event, the team acquired Roberto Luongo from Florida for Todd Bertuzzi the night before the draft began. Who knows what the 2019 draft may offer in the way of drama, but it’s almost a certainty in today’s NHL that sizeable deals will be made on the draft floor.