NHL Draft coverage in the U.S. for years would "simply be a simulcast of a Canadian network like TSN," but rather than just air Sportsnet’s coverage of this weekend's event, NBCSN "decided to mount its own original program covering the draft on Friday night," according to Greg Wyshynski of YAHOO SPORTS. To do so, NBCSN has "decided to draft TSN talent for analysis and breaking news." Liam McHugh will host along with Pierre McGuire, TSN reporter Bob McKenzie and draft analyst Craig Button, while Kathryn Tappen "will anchor coverage from the floor of the BB&T Center." TSN's Darren Dreger "will handle reporting duties, providing information on potential trades and developing storylines." Dreger and McKenzie are "part of the upper echelon of hockey news-breakers," along with Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and Nick Kypreos. NBC Sports Group Senior VP/Production & Senior Coordinating Producer Dan Steir said that the net "will be tracking trades throughout Friday’s broadcast, although in most cases the news hitting the air will be substantiated stories rather than rumors that consume social media." McKenzie has more than one million followers on Twitter, but said that his inside news "will hit NBC’s airwaves first." There will be an "expected shift in the news that McKenzie and Dreger break." For TSN, "anything and everything" Maple Leafs "was the focus." With NBCSN "doing its own thing, McKenzie anticipates that the franchises we constantly see on the network will be the ones they focus on" (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 6/25).
