Proposal: Crazy Notion to Give the Leafs an Edge

[johnny_rudeboy]

I'm referring more to being poached via the draft. It wouldn't make sense to develop players and then have someone else draft them.

You mean like every other team not in the NHL?

 

[jhmiddleton81]

The AHL needs to allow exceptional status 18 year olds to play in their league.

100% agree, it is a really stupid rule, like what benefits are Strome and Marner getting by staying in the OHL and lighting it up again? The only good thing is they get to play world juniors against the best in the world. I honestly wish we could send those kids to American Colleges, which is a much more physical league, and has a much larger influence on gaining strength than the CHL

 

[Drew75]

100% agree, it is a really stupid rule, like what benefits are Strome and Marner getting by staying in the OHL and lighting it up again? The only good thing is they get to play world juniors against the best in the world. I honestly wish we could send those kids to American Colleges, which is a much more physical league, and has a much larger influence on gaining strength than the CHL

This is the crux of the issue. IMHO - too many (though still not a lot) of kids are either rushed to the NHL before they are ready, or sent back for a wasted year in Junior where they are not being challenged enough.

There are three (3) elements to a player being ready to play in the NHL. 1) skill. 2) physical maturity, and 3) mental maturity.

Some kids have the skill, but the lack of physical and / or mental maturity would make it detrimental to their development to bring up too early.

Whether it's AHL exceptional status, the ECHL, or sending them to Europe - there NEEDS to be another option where the team drafting these kids can keep them challenged without stunting their development or risking them in a higher league than they are ready for.

I still think the Leafs owning an SHL team would be beneficial - you wouldn't lose kids to the draft, as it's VERY rare for an undrafted 17 year old to play in the league (they tend to play in the junior leagues).

It IS possible to sign an undrafted talent (19 - 24 YO) in the SHL and lose them to another team, but that same risk exists regardless of having a team - at least if they play for our SHL team, and it's a great experience (well run, good facilities, etc) - we would AT LEAST probably get an inside track on signing them, PLUS more insight into character, off ice habits, etc than the other teams would have.

 

[IWD]

You mean like every other team not in the NHL?

Different situations.

 

[Warden of the North]

The AHL needs to allow exceptional status 18 year olds to play in their league.

The reason 18 year olds dont play in the AHL is because their Jr teams want them to draw crowds to the rinks. They have an agreement in place to ensure this happens.

The AHL im sure would like it, but its not in their hands. Its in the hands of the NHL and CHL

 

[garyjones93]

So in regards to the CHL rule for under 20. Why not just make the NHL team have to pay the CHL team money if they choose to take their prospect out of the CHL before they are 20. To those saying each team can have one player at a time that was drafted out of the CHL that can play in the AHL right away. And the NHL team also compensates the CHL team.

To the Point I don't think it would work because you spend all this money then 29 other NHL teams offer contracts/roster spots to those players. The only way this could works is if they players rights are owned by the Toronto Maple Leafs organization but don't count toward the 50 Contracts.

Easiest way to make this work is sign an Affiliation agreement with a SHL team and financially compensate other SHL teams to move your prospects to the affiliated team. They then can give you scouting reports on their/other SHL teams players.

So really no point to own one.

I think that's a good idea. I'd also be inclined to buy an OHL, WHL and QMJHL team and have those organizations report back to us on the league, bantam drafts etc. vastly expanding the scope of understanding minor leagues in different regions.

This was something Else I was thinking, why don't teams buy and run OHL, WHL, QMJHL team. Or the NHL buyout the CHL and distribute one team from each league to an NHL team (or give them a choice, some teams may not be able to afford/want it)