McKenzie: NHL wants to go older in draft

[ColoradoHockeyFan]

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie.asp

Click to read more...

 

[nyr7andcounting]

Good. Not a big difference in a sport like hockey where a pick almost never, ever, plays in the league that year anyway. Plus, most guys that do make it to the NHL do so when they are in their early 20's.

Plus, it would solve the entire problem of the 05 draft. Don't have to determine the order without standings and don't have to run a draft through conference call.

 

[Scoogs]

Wow.. the answer to the big riddle of the 2005 draft was so simple. Move the age up so that Sidney isnt a problem.

 

[Aaron Vickers]

Wow.. the answer to the big riddle of the 2005 draft was so simple. Move the age up so that Sidney isnt a problem.

Not a new idea by any stretch of the imagination, and it's definitely been talked about at meetings.

 

[blitzkriegs]

Wow.. the answer to the big riddle of the 2005 draft was so simple. Move the age up so that Sidney isnt a problem.

Beyond Crosby, it' more that this reduces a teams economic waste by having to pay players who in all likelihood will not make an impact in the NHL during their ages of 18 and 19.

Yes, there are exceptions to the norm, but looking at the so-called investment money teams put into propects vs. the return a team gets by actually having that player play in the NHL and make a contribution, it's the teams that are on the short side of it.

Yes, it's also a form of R&D, but moving up the draft year will not adversely affect the on-ice product, just shifting of $ in wallets.

 

[Scoogs]

If this ends up being the case, and Crosby's draft year is next year.. Its going to be fun watching teams tank to get a good shot at him.

 

[Cawz]

http://www.tsn.ca/columnists/bob_mckenzie.asp

So does the NBA.

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/news_story.asp?ID=121866

"With the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expiring June 30 - two days after the draft, commissioner David Stern is pushing hard in labour talks for having the age limit raised to 20.

Union director Billy Hunter has said publicly that the issue is negotiable, leading many to assume a change is likely."

I dont know if the 2 decisions will affect each other or not (considering both scenarios could be being discussed at about the same time)...

 

[Munchausen]

Some sanity back in the game, after all. Best solution, and I do hope they are going all the way with this idea and have Crosby become eligible for next year's draft only, along with all his draft class.

I'd like to see the drafting age brought back to 20yo, but pushing it by 9 months is a welcomed start. If we can avoid the insanity of the bush league mega lottery, even better.

Quite frankly, I never thought the NHL had the balls to do this. Kuddos to them if they follow up.

 

[Munchausen]

If this ends up being the case, and Crosby's draft year is next year.. Its going to be fun watching teams tank to get a good shot at him.

The 4 team lottery, even if not a perfect system, is there precisely to prevent teams of doing such a thing.

 

[Thornton97]

The 4 team lottery, even if not a perfect system, is there precisely to prevent teams of doing such a thing.

I would suspect teams would happily tank just to get the greatest percentage in the lottery to get the kid.

 

[nyrmessier011]

If this ends up being the case, and Crosby's draft year is next year.. Its going to be fun watching teams tank to get a good shot at him.

Yea that's what I was thinking. But this is why they wouldn't phase it for this draft. The BOG loves the idea of putting 30 teams in a bin (ie, rigging the draft so he goes to a large market) so they wouldn't move it up for this draft I don't think.

 

[Johnnybegood13]

What they want and what they get are 2 different things,if an 18 year who's good enough wants to turn pro and play there's nothing the NHL can do to stop him. This has allready been threw the courts for kids wanting to turn pro. Including hockey!

 

[Crazy_Ike]

Yeah, that's right. Even if the NHLPA goes for this, it will fall apart as soon as an 18 year old kid wants to bust it. Making the draft age older is discriminatory even if it's actually good for players AND the game (which it is).

 

[Sixty Six]

What they want and what they get are 2 different things,if an 18 year who's good enough wants to turn pro and play there's nothing the NHL can do to stop him. This has allready been threw the courts for kids wanting to turn pro. Including hockey!

Maurice Clarret... if its in the CBA it wont be a problem, especially if it is phased in

 

[Hockeyfan02]

This has allready been threw the courts for kids wanting to turn pro.

Yeah it has. Then it was ruled upon and it was ruled upon in favor of the NFL and Maurice Clarett and Mike Williams sat out a year and are now in this years draft like the ruling in the NFL's CBA states (3 years after the HS graduation). Clarett and Mike Williams were only 2 years out of HS.

 

[loudi94]

This would also improve the Junior game as well. Players wouldn't be able to coast through the rest of their junior career after being drafted.

 

[DW3]

So does the NBA.

http://www.tsn.ca/nba/news_story.asp?ID=121866

"With the NBA's collective bargaining agreement expiring June 30 - two days after the draft, commissioner David Stern is pushing hard in labour talks for having the age limit raised to 20.

Union director Billy Hunter has said publicly that the issue is negotiable, leading many to assume a change is likely."

I dont know if the 2 decisions will affect each other or not (considering both scenarios could be being discussed at about the same time) ...

NBA and NHL are apples and oranges, especially here in middle US. Living in here in Ky, most everyperson could tell you who Lebron James is but would be hard pressed to name a hockey player other then Wayne or Mario.

Even the drats are totally different. The NBA has guaranteed contracts for the top ten picks, most of whom get more money before stepping on the court then some of the bigger superstars of the NHL.

David Stern is trying to raise the draft age to stop the influx of high school "phenoms" who skip college altogether to go straight into the high $$$ NBA.

 

[VanIslander]

Making the draft age older is discriminatory even if it's actually good for players AND the game (which it is).

Discriminatory? not in the moral sense. What's the ethical issue? Every sport sets an age at which players can be drafted. There is no natural age. It's set by the rules of each league.

 

[Cawz]

NBA and NHL are apples and oranges, especially here in middle US. Living in here in Ky, most everyperson could tell you who Lebron James is but would be hard pressed to name a hockey player other then Wayne or Mario.

Even the drats are totally different. The NBA has guaranteed contracts for the top ten picks, most of whom get more money before stepping on the court then some of the bigger superstars of the NHL.

David Stern is trying to raise the draft age to stop the influx of high school "phenoms" who skip college altogether to go straight into the high $$$ NBA.

Ya, but NHL and MLB are apples and Hyundais, and yet the baseball union wanted the NHL to steer clear of a cap, so that MLB wouldnt be the only major sport without a cap.

Everything affects everything, just to what extent varies. I'm sure each league looks at the other leagues to see how their scenarios play out. But I more thought it was interesting that both of these draft revisions came out within the same week.

 

[Flukeshot]

I like the idea of having birth year determine draft eligibility. Overall however this really doesn't move the age limit higher by all that much. The phase in years that McKenzie described are kind of cheesy and I hope the league would not do it that exact way.

Moving it only 1/2 month back in the first year is really odd. And it would stink of the NHL catering to the Crosby hype. Is that to say that if Crosby's birthday was not in August but in July, they'd be willing to move it 1.5 months back in the first year? The 2006 and 2007 draft classes would each potentially be weaker and certainly not as deep as they only have 8 months worth of players in them while 2005 would maintain just under a full year.

It should be about 9 months each at:

2005= Sept 16th 1986 to May 31st 1987
2006= June 1st 1987 to Feb 28th 1988
2007= Mar 1st 1988 to Dec 31st 1988
with 2008 being good to go.

Hell they should really piss everyone off and just make the 2005 draft for 1986 born players only. And yes I know that most of them were drafted in 2004. 3 months worth of newly eligible players and a bunch of left overs from the year before. Then they'd be good to go to the new system for 2006.

 

[Flyguy_1ca]

absolutely a good idea! It would make the draft itself much more interesting. Now, not only would the top 3 players in the draft immediately be able to step into the NHL, but virtually the entire 1st round would make the NHL right away if 20 year olds were drafted. Great idea

 

[EroCaps]

Genius.

Hockey players are drafted way too early to begin with.

I would applaud this idea.

 

[futurcorerock]

Theoretically, this could help deepen drafts. Nowadays you have drafted players coming from Europe, United States High School, NCAA, USHL, and the CHL at varying ages in a given draft. When you put an age minimum a bit higher, you have more elite players who are going to contend at say, age 20 to be drafted by NHL teams.

Also, this weeds out "dud" prospects who might just have an awesome year and never pan out.

The only argument against, is that some players can certainly run with the rest of the NHL at a young age. Case-in-point would revolve around 2/3 of the Rocket Richard award winners being 19 and 21.

 

[Weary]

Theoretically, this could help deepen drafts. Nowadays you have drafted players coming from Europe, United States High School, NCAA, USHL, and the CHL at varying ages in a given draft. When you put an age minimum a bit higher, you have more elite players who are going to contend at say, age 20 to be drafted by NHL teams.

How are you going to get more that contend? After the first year's super draft, the number of players drawing interest will be the same. A given player's stock may have risen or fallen -- but it won't add any depth.

 

[Ola]

Moving the draft age back is a given, if its possible?

Wouldn't it be illigal to prevent a 18 y/o to play in the NHL?