At what age does a player stop being young in your books?

[Birko19]

I can accept that up to 25, if you did not get what was projected, you're most likely not getting it past that point, though there are some rare exceptions like Martin St. Louis, Markus Naslund, Todd Bertuzzi, etc.

I should also say that I'm probably willing to extend that age by 2 years or so for dmen and goalies because they take longer to develop.

 

[Daximus]

18-24 is what I would term a players youth.
25-31 is what I would term a players prime, which likely includes their peak.
32-36 is what I would term a players plateau, which likely includes their decline.
37+ is a players twilight.

Unless you are Jagr. Then 18-19 is youth, 20-38 is prime and 38+ is the rebirth.

 

[CashMash]

Depends on context.

If it's a player yet to truly break out, after 24-25 I start considering them old. If they are a player who has already broken out, I think 26-27 is pretty young, though already in their prime. 28 starts feeling like they are no longer young for me.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Under 25. 25-30 is in their prime. 31-35 is declining. 35+ is old

Pretty much this.

 

[Hotlanta]

Well my beer league hockey skills started declining around 24, so I am going to say 24, and ignore the bad diet, pre game beer, and sheer laziness.

Depends on the players skating and IQ in my opinion.

Low IQ/Fast - 26F/D - I think these guys need the longest to adapt, their entire game is built around speed, and the gap just got smaller. They need time to completely change their game and usually bust.

High IQ/Fast - 24F/D - Need time to figure out if they are a Bang or Bust prospect.

Low IQ/Slow - 22F/D - By 22 you will know what you have.

High IQ/Slow - 24F/26D - I think these guys need time to adapt, because they have to adapt their game from being small town star players to effective role players.

But essentially 24-26, when their 1-3 year bridge contract after their ELC is up.

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

 

[MMANumminen]

32-33

 

[Dr Jan Itor]

25 years old or 3 full seasons.

 

[Inkling]

24 popped into my head and I'm not sure why I chose that number. Perhaps it was Team North America at the World Cup. Also soccer has the concept of U23 teams for the Olympics which are actually 23 and under. That seems to be a significant number in sports.

 

[GordieHowsUrBreath]

26

still prime but not young anymore

my 26th birthday was when i started hating my birthday, that was when i started to think of myself as "old" even though there were no signs of age

i'm 34 now and just strained a bicep tendon, i'm definitely getting old and it's scary

 

[KingTux]

23 for forwards, 25 for defenseman, 27 for goalies

 

[Redline]

24 years old.
250 gp they become experienced players.

 

[aufheben]

Depends on the position and type of player.

 

[Sensinitis]

After about 250-300 games of NHL experience.

I have a different definition of young

 

[BenchBrawl]

I'd say under 28 is young for a NHLer.

For a human in general, I'd say under 40 is young.

 

[izzy]

26 is not young

 

[OvermanKingGainer]

Forward - 24
Defense - 27
Goaltender - 30

 

[ZJuice]

25.
That's when I started growing chest hair

 

[Hynh]

Depends on context. If you're judging a lineup I'd say anyone 25 and under is still young but if you're hoping for a player to get it together I'd limit it to 22 and under. If a player hasn't cracked the NHL by then they better be European or be playing college hockey if you want me to take them seriously.

 

[Sojourn]

Different skills age differently than others, different positions age differently than others, etc., etc.

...but this is generally how I see things too.

I definitely think you need to adjust for position. A 25 year old forward, to me, is not as "young" as a 25 year old defenseman. Once a forward hits about 25, for most cases, I start to stop expecting offensive improvement. Development past that point seems more about refining their game, and becoming more complete as a player.

For a defenseman, at that age, I straight up think they can still improve their overall game, and maybe some of it comes from how defensemen contribute offensively and their ability to read plays and see the ice. I think the position benefits more from the experience, maturity, and intelligence that can really start to develop at that age.

 

[TheReelChuckFletcher]

25-30 is the prime of an athlete's career. Anything below that is a young player, and it's like that for pretty much any sport except gymnastics and swimming, which generally have earlier physical peaks.

If your goal is not to be an athlete, you're young until you turn 40, at least in my eyes.

 

[Alexander the Gr8]

Most men reach the peak of their form around 26-27. Your body is as strong as it ever was, and you have more maturity than when you were 20.

 

[Dondini]

For me especially with higher end talents:

Young is 18-22,
Peak is 23-26
Still in prime (27-31)
Noticeable decline from peak (32-35)
Old( usually she'll of former self (36+)

Imo you want a player in their mid to late twenties. Usually a player will peak offensively around 25 and usually 27-31 a player will be at their best for their all around game. Somewhere in there is the sweet spot (usually)

 

[Syckle78]

24,idk why just seems like that's the random cut off for me.

 

[authentic]

30 I suppose. Late twenties is your physical prime. Your combination of strength and stamina will never be better than in the 25-30 range, in most cases. Stamina peaks 18-24, and strength usually 28-34. 25-28 is the sweet spot for most athletes.