They Raised The Draft Age

[Kaizer]

I like this idea. Since they established 7 years of service deadline to become UFA there'r no reasons to draft 18 years old, especially goalies. And you can be sure more about 19 year player than 18. Draft would become more valuable part of the game.

 

[Mess]

Actually it's not pure speculation- not only has this idea been floating around for awhile at the exec levels but I have heard it stated with some authority (although the intermittent date nor number of incremental years were clear).

But neither is it a 100% certainty.

If it were a direct jump, only the Sept. 16-Dec. 31/1987 players would be available for 2006.

TSN has said they are going to the calendar year next year .. birthdates Jan 1 - Dec 31st for next year will be elligible for the draft so they are losing the Sept 15th date ..

 

[Hiishawk]

TSN has said they are going to the calendar year next year .. birthdates Jan 1 - Dec 31st for next year will be elligible for the draft so they are losing the Sept 15th date ..

Yes. But if they do then that means that effectively speaking the 2006 draft will focus upon Sept. 16- Dec. 31st 1987 birthdates (Kessell, Joensuu). Why? Because those born before Sept. 15th 1987 will go this year and those born in 88 (Jan. 01st onward) will go in 2007.
In short, the legacy of the old Sept. 15th cut-off date will still affect the 2006 draft.

 

[Mess]

Yes. But if they do then that means that effectively speaking the 2006 draft will focus upon Sept. 16- Dec. 31st 1987 birthdates (Kessell, Joensuu). Why? Because those born before Sept. 15th 1987 will go this year and those born in 88 (Jan. 01st onward) will go in 2007.
In short, the legacy of the old Sept. 15th cut-off date will still affect the 2006 draft.

Are you not just shoving the problem 1 year ahead then ??

Why would you not just toss the Sept 16-Dec31 kids missing in this draft into the 2006 draft basically making it Sept 16 2005 to Dec 31, 2006 and year and a bit

 

[Chilly Willy*]

I agree. Just ditch this year's draft altogether.

Yeah, i agree with Jacobv2 on this, why start next season? lets just start it now so the teams can EARN their draft picks instead of doing this one ball two ball three ball crap.

That's just dumb.

 

[Tekneek]

Not that it has happened that often, but it will stop guys from going straight from US high school to the NHL. Granted, over the past 15 years there have probably only been a handful that could do it anyway.

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

I wonder if this is just backing the eligibility date from September 15 to January 1st.

 

[GKJ]

Not that it has happened that often, but it will stop guys from going straight from US high school to the NHL. Granted, over the past 15 years there have probably only been a handful that could do it anyway.

Someone asked me this today...has anyone ever went from high school to the NHL?

 

[MacDaddy TLC*]

Phil Housley, Tom Barrasso, Bobby Carpenter come to mind.

AND Every 18 year old Canadian kid who makes it. I'm sure some of the 20 year olds are just squeaking their way out as well

 

[Dr Love]

Not that it has happened that often, but it will stop guys from going straight from US high school to the NHL. Granted, over the past 15 years there have probably only been a handful that could do it anyway.

That's the idea behind raising the age limit in the NBA. It's not going to do much in the NHL with US HSers.

Someone asked me this today...has anyone ever went from high school to the NHL?

Tom Barrasso.

EDIT: Mac beat me to it. Brian Lawton too. I think Ed Olczyk did too.

 

[Tekneek]

I didn't say it was a prime motivation to do it. I don't really understand the reasons behind it anyway. Even if very few 18 year old players make it into the NHL, what's wrong with drafting them at 18?

 

[joepeps]

The draft age should be set at 20-21 years of age....

Why because then there legal in the states

but most importantly they don't waste there life away without college/university..

There missing out on that experience... Go t school play Hockey with your school then get drafted...

There just getting out of high school and getting drafted

What are they going to do with their lives after hockey or if hockey does't work out for them????

 

[Tekneek]

Can't we expect these players to be responsible for themselves? Why does the NHL need to be concerned with their education? It isn't their problem. Any player is free to decide to attend college if they can actually get accepted to one. Problem with players coming out of the Canadian Hockey League (WHL,OHL,QMJHL) is that they are ineligible for NCAA hockey, so they cannot go to any US colleges and play competitive hockey. That limits them all to finding slots at Canadian universities. Good luck with that idea. I don't see it happening.

 

[AdmiralPred]

The draft age should be set at 20-21 years of age....

Why because then there legal in the states

but most importantly they don't waste there life away without college/university..

There missing out on that experience... Go t school play Hockey with your school then get drafted...

There just getting out of high school and getting drafted

What are they going to do with their lives after hockey or if hockey does't work out for them????

For a lot of guys, college isn't for them either.

Many US guys go to junior get drafted and play for a college for 2 years and then make the jump to the pros at age 20 or 21. Or they just try to make the jump to the pros if they don't go to school.

Also, what do you mean by legal? In the US you have to be 21 to drink and gamble otherwise 18 is the magic age

I'm all for the 19 year-old draft age, heck 18 is fine by me too. Thing is that hockey, traditionally and especially today, is not like US football or basketball. The means to get to the pros are far more diverse and from more diverse locals not to mention many 18 and 19 year-olds have proven able to compete in the NHL.

EDIT: Iknow, the same argument can be made for basketball and football players also.

 

[Vic Rattlehead*]

What about Frolik? Will he be eligible next year or the year after?

 

[BigE]

What about Frolik? Will he be eligible next year or the year after?

Born: February 17, 1988

He will not be 18 by January 1st, 2006 and therefore not eligible for the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

 

[Tawnos]

I hope the NHL gets sued by the first 18 year old not eligible for the draft and turned down when he contacts teams to sign as a free agent.

 

[Hatter]

Damn! a whole 'nother year till I can watch Kessel.

 

[HockeyCritter]

http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/news_story.asp?ID=130343&hubName=nhl

At the bottom of the advertisement

- The entry-level system will limit those players to $850,000 a year in salary (which it was 10 years ago) with bonuses not as easily reachable as the previous deal. The maximum possible amount in bonuses is $4.5 million although it's unrealistic for almost anyone to reach all the lofty targets. The age for draft eligibility will also be raised from 18 years to 19 years.

Unfortunately it looks like it won't happen this year ------

 

[HockeyCritter]

I hope the NHL gets sued by the first 18 year old not eligible for the draft and turned down when he contacts teams to sign as a free agent.

They wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on.

 

[habsfansam]

Then what happens after next year? Wouldnt all the players turning 19 be drafted already?

If I were running things and we absolutely HAD to have the draft this year, I'd do this slowly by shifting the eligibility dates by a few months each year... then by 4 years from now we'd be drafting 19yr olds. I agree that this will make next year the absolute worst draft class ever!

I've seen in some places where they are only drafting 7 rounds... could this be the reason?

 

[Tawnos]

They wouldn't have a legal leg to stand on.

How about precedent? The NHL lowered it's draft age to 18 in 1980 because the 18-yr olds WON the right in court..

 

[MaV]

I'm still saying this: why not let the 18 year old be drafted only in the first round? That would make the transistion so much more easy. For 2006 they could have 1988 born players available in 1st round and let's say before May 1st '88 in all rounds. Then get it fully going in 2007 by having '89 born players in 1st round, and '88 born or older in all rounds.

 

[Buffaloed]

I didn't say it was a prime motivation to do it. I don't really understand the reasons behind it anyway. Even if very few 18 year old players make it into the NHL, what's wrong with drafting them at 18?

The motivation is to save money, by removing some of the uncertainty from the process. The older a prospect is, the easier it is to make projections about his future. The period between the ages of 18 and 19 seems particularly critical with hockey prospects. Theoretically, there should be a lot less first round busts with a 19 year old draft. Teams should have a better idea on which draft choices to offer contracts to, and how much they should offer.

 

[txomisc]

I hope the NHL gets sued by the first 18 year old not eligible for the draft and turned down when he contacts teams to sign as a free agent.

I think we saw what the courts would think about this with the NFL.