On Episode 12 of the PuckPedia Hockey Show we welcome Drew Shore, former NHL player turned NHL Agent with Wasserman, now on his own running his own agency and other entrepreneurial ventures.

We start the episode talking about how he got his start playing his hockey (2:00), and how his family with his brothers and parents helped him get started. Drew moved to Vancouver when he was 13 with a billet family because there was not much high-level hockey in Colorado where his family was located (4:15).

Then we talk about his junior career and being selected in the 2nd round of the 2009 NHL Draft by the Florida Panthers (5:30), even though he thought he was going to be a 1st round pick. He talks about being in the locker room when the Florida Panthers’ now owner Vinnie Viola came in and told the players he bought the team and was going to turn things around (6:45).

We get into the decision that went into signing his entry-level contract vs. staying in college and having the opportunity to play with both of his brothers (7:15). We get Drew’s view on the current landscape of the NCAA/CHL and the impact NIL is having on these leagues (9:45).

Then we talk about the end of his NHL career, having a 3-year gap between NHL games, playing overseas in Switzerland and Russia, then playing during the COVID year with the Carolina Hurricanes (11:45). We also get his perspective on what it’s like playing in the AHL and how it’s a lot more mental than physical.

Once his playing career wrapped up we talked about how he decided to go the agency route (15:30). He talked about everything he learned at Wasserman, one of the top agencies in the NHL (17:30). Drew talks about NHL players and how they lack behind the other major sports in personal branding, and why the Brad Marchand and Matthew Tkachuk’s of the world celebrating their Stanley Cup win the way they did is actually good for the NHL, similar to Alex Ovechkin when the Washington Capitals won (19:30).

We discuss why it was bad for the NHL that a lot of the pending UFA’s got signed by their current teams in the recent weeks. Drew has some ideas of how the NHL management staff could do more roster moves to make things more entertaining (22:45), like how we saw the Carolina Hurricanes last season trade for Mikko Rantanen, then trade him away to the Dallas Stars a couple months later when they couldn't reach terms on a new deal. We also touch on the current NHL playoff format and how the league needs to go back to the 1 vs. 8 format.

We talk about Drew going off on his own from Wasserman to running his own hockey agency and other business outside of hockey (30:00). He gives us a deep look on negotiating NHL contracts and a behind-the-scenes look on what happens during these tough talks (32:00).

We wrap up the episode talking about Amalfi, the company Drew started that connects high-level athletes, CEO’s, and business executives to build a community to help others win (37:30).

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