It’s not even really the degree, a lot of these guys aren’t finishing their 4 years at these schools. I sincerely doubt they’re finishing in 2-3 years while also playing NCAA sports. Even Parayko needed some time online after he turned pro to finish his degree, and that was noted as an exception to the rule.
No, the lure of playing in Hockey East is a big enough draw to get all these kids risking their draft status over it. The allure of the Beanpot trophy is real. It’s a terrific and competitive conference with a rabid fan base, and our scouts just DROOL over the players that end up there. It’s a microcosm of guys who like to play hockey “the right way.” It does well for players who are physical, and big dmen who can move the puck. It’s a league that breeds guys that we like, and if their decision to go there causes them to fall in the draft order, all the better for us.
To me, it’s a market inefficiency in draft rankings. Guys in lower leagues who want to go to NCAA schools, particularly Hockey East schools, are typically (not always) ranked lower than guys who are in the CHL or foreign leagues. Playing hockey more or less full time. If you can resist being seduced by early results, investing in players who will take years to develop can really pay off. Just look at Boston right now, they’ve got a ton of guys out of college that are contributing in a big way.
So, for a guy like McBain who has more than proved himself in international competition, but plays his club hockey for a bad team in a bad league, his underrated-ness is potentially our benefit. The same things were said about Poehling last year as are being said about McBain now, and Poehling is killing it at St Cloud right now. Habs scouts love him.
Idk, I don’t really care what league you play in as a kid. If you can play, you should play for us! If the draft was full of perfect information and drafters were completely unbiased, then we never should have ended up with Thomas or Kyrou or Kostin or Husso or yadda yadda yadda. BArmstrong has been great at exploiting inefficiencies in the draft market. Just like everyone else here, I trust his judgement, and whatever he wants to do I’m cool with.
... still hate the Trenton Bourque pick though