Genghis Keon
Registered User
Nilsson Schmilsson said:No way. He'll be drafted, but he'll play elsewhere until he's 20. At 20, he'll see his first full-time NHL action. Any team that does different is idiotic.
I don't know if it's different under this CBA (assuming it gets ratified), but Crosby would be getting drafted out of the CHL, so presumably the team that drafts him will lose his rights if they don't sign him before two years (making him eligible for the 2007 draft). So if you don't sign him and don't play him, do you really think he's going to sign with the team or do you think he'll take his chances, go #1 in the draft again and then immediately sign with the new team that drafted him? I don't think he's going to stick around with a team that's not letting him pursue his dream of playing in the NHL. If the team signs him and doesn't keep him around (because they'd rather have him play at 26 and 27 than 18 and 19), there's probably little to no chance that he resigns with them and he might even request a trade if he's being jerked around like that (let him sit out and rot, if things come to a head and worst comes to the worst, you say? Not exactly a brilliant way of keeping him in your lineup for as long as possible which was the original goal).
Don't kid yourself. He's going to play at 18 and odds are extremely favourable that he's going to make an immediate impact (especially with the new rule changes). Most GMs aren't going to still be with the team in 7 years anyway (I don't know the average lifespan of NHL GMs, but I think it's well under 7), so I don't think many are going to look 7 years down the line for a player who's expected to make an impact right away anyway (and if they stow him for a year or two, that number goes up to 8 or 9 years down the road). If they do look 7 years into the future, they'd probably rather make sure Sidney stays as happy as possible to increase the odds that he would resign. In the case of a guy like Crosby, it makes absolutely no sense to make him wait. However, like others have said, playes like Hartnell, Bouchard, Burns, and maybe even guys like Nash--guys who could stand some more time in juniors or the minors to better prepare for the NHL--are probably a different story.