EHM The Blue Line

I obviously missed this, but when and why were the draft picks shrunk down from 9 picks to 7? It doesn't really matter, 8 and 9 were usually worthless anyway, but still curious.

It was part of the new CBA. As for exactly why, I'm not sure

Yeah, I'm not sure exactly why either but I think it is probably due to changes in team salaries with The Cap and with the new rules for signing drafted prospects. I'd have to look that up but I remember reading that the rules for when you have to sign a foreign player or lose his rights has been chopped down pretty drastically. So, possibly an 8th or 9th pick would be kinda pointless as they'd be so far down the priority list you'd end up rescinding their rights anyway