No, he can’t. It’s part of the process to be granted exceptional status. Otherwise he would be denied. Probably why Savoie was denied status out west.
This isn’t quite right.
The Western Hockey League conducts a Bantam draft (2004 birth years). They already drafted the 2003 birth year players one year ago.
The OHL conducts a minor midget draft (2003 birth years).
Two completely different scenarios.
In other words, Matt Savoie does not need exceptional player status to become eligible for the upcoming 2019 WHL draft. He’s going to be the #1 pick and this has been known for a very long time.
So why did Savoie even apply for exceptional player status out west? If he’s already WHL draft eligible, why bother?
Simple: the WHL only allows just-drafted players to suit up for 5 WHL games in their first season.
Savoie wanted that WHL regulation waived for him.
That was a very big long shot from the start. Hockey Canada handles exceptional player status applications on behalf of all 3 CHL leagues. In every other case since Tavares, the applications have been from players who wish to be drafted one year early. This is something Hockey Canada can rule on by following set procedures and player evaluation methods.
But none of those procedures applied to Savoie. He wanted Hockey Canada to waive an internal WHL Regulation, and Hockey Canada has no authority to do that.
The WHL just will not allow a kid that young to undertake the kind of lengthy bus trips (Manitoba to BC to Oregon and then back again, often for 10+ consecutive days) that are part of the typical WHL experience. They never have and I can’t see them ever bending on this.
Wright's application in Ontario was much more basic and traditional. All Hockey Canada had to ultimately determine is if he could be drafted.
Is Wright obliged to report to whatever OHL team selects him? Of course not. No drafted player is required to do so. There’s already a system in place to deal with what the OHL calls “defective” picks.
Having said this, you’d be hard pressed to find an OHL team that does not routinely reach out to a prospective draft picks, usually through their agents, well in advance of the draft. Kingston already knows where Wright stands and the reverse is also true. Wright has more leverage right now than most people realize: a supposedly generational player who could completely change a franchise’s financial outlook. I hate to be crude here, but he’s a licence to print money, just as McDavid was in Erie. The only question is whether the Mint ends up located in Kingston or somewhere else.