Fans roasted the NHL for predictably jumping on the NFT craze after it already died down

When most of the other major American sports leagues zig, the NHL doesn’t zag. It waits, deliberates, wondering if zagging is even worth the trouble. And it’s this kind of mentality that hurts the league’s growth and health despite stewarding one of the most exciting sports around.

So it’s no wonder the NHL would dive into the NFT (Non-Fungible Token) fad after already losing its trendy luster.

According to a report from The Hockey News’ Sal Barry. the league is making a newfound wholesale investment in NFTs. Two whole lines of digital collectibles will be backed by the league. This is a far cry from the NHL, and some teams merely dipped their toes into the water when NFTs initially became a thing in 2020.

More from The Hockey News:

“Until now, there have only been a handful of hockey NFTs. These were endorsed either by individual teams or players but not backed by the NHL or NHLPA. Jack Eichel, Auston Matthews, Tyler Seguin, Thatcher Demko and Matthew Tkachuk all appeared on NFTs in 2021.”

The main reason NFTs never became more than a flash-in-the-pan is because of cryptocurrency’s overall nosedive of late. The NHL trying to take advantage of its novelty after many people have already moved on is so predictable. This league wouldn’t know about being on the cutting edge if it smacked upside the head.