TSN Dreger: 2021 Draft may get pushed to 2022

[gstommylee]

This idea screw Seattle out of a year of prospect development.

 

[Oilslick941611]

so screw CHL players then... Cause they have no options in NA until they are 20 to really advance their careers due to that CHL, NHL agreement.

there would obviously be adjustments made.

 

[ijuka]

This would be a great opportunity to permanently increase the draft age to 19, they might not have such an opportunity for decades after this so they should jump on this opportunity. 18's too early and many teams lose out on valuable assets due to it.

 

[gstommylee]

if 95% of the drafted players from 21 draft aren't NHL ready, it wouldn't make any difference if they push the draft back a year. Those 95% of the players drafted (21 draft) still (imo) won't ready if the 21 en-try draft is punished back into 2022. You really end up punishing the player out of a year out of further development.

 

[gstommylee]

This would be a great opportunity to permanently increase the draft age to 19, they might not have such an opportunity for decades after this so they should jump on this opportunity. 18's too early and many teams lose out on valuable assets due to it.

Why is it great. Why should you punish 18 year olds and make them wait even longer. CHL players that are 18 and 19 are already punished enough by not being allowed to play in the AHL until they are 20 years old.

 

[Guttersniped]

When people say majority of kids aren’t playing or some variant, what they really mean is the WHL and OHL aren’t playing. Every other league is playing or has played.

Well there are other North American juniors that have barely played and USHS-Prep too, though a lot more of those kids are simply screwed.

Yeah, if they haven’t played then late bloomers fall threw the cracks and players outside of the top elite become iffy.

The draft would end up being dominated by players who have played, particularly the European pro leagues.

But do NHL teams want to heavily draft European pro leagues at the expense of North American juniors? The NHL’s strongest ties are to the NA development leagues and I doubt they want to leave those prospects at a major disadvantage.

 

[DoingItCoolKiwi]

Why do people want to change the age to 19? Who cares how accurately teams can draft, I'd much rather get to witness an extra year of the truly elite players like McDavid who dominate the league at 18

 

[Deadly Dogma]

I like it, I will be following hit rates amongst the 18 and 19yr old draft.
I have a feeling its not going to make as much of a difference as many expect

 

[NoQuitInNewMexico]

They just punished the Coyotes for cheating with combine testing or whatever it was they did. Even if there is a short best-on-best tournament, the process of getting information about those OHL/WHL guys is going to be a complete circus. I don't think having a double draft in 2022 has that many downsides. It's hard to explain to the fans - like, it's just a confusing, kludgy fix - but the fans know they don't get to see most of the players until a few years from now anyway.

 

[gstommylee]

I like it, I will be following hit rates amongst the 18 and 19yr old draft.
I have a feeling its not going to make as much of a difference as many expect

If they arent NHL ready now what makes them be any more NHL ready a year later? Is it worth the loss of a year of more advance development just to have draft age be 19? Nevermind. There might be some upset 18 year olds CHL players that may get lawsuit happy lawyers that will sue the NHL for anti-competitive practices either in the US or in canada.

 

[BStinson]

Soccer players are usually not drafted and are in some cases signed for millions long before the age of 18. MLB players can be drafted out of high school and many are. International players in the MLB can also be signed earlier for example the Jays signed Vladdy Jr at 16. The NBA rule was created essentially to give the NCAA a monopoly on top end players for at least a year, and in most cases players oppose the rule, there have been rumblings that it will be abolished in the coming few seasons.

The one and done policy in theory is to allow extensive looks at prospects because not every straight out of high school pans out. For every Shaq, Kobe, and KG there’s a Bender, Curry, and Brown. I can see the argument for the rule either way and there’s still poor drafting such as Anthony Bennett that doesn’t matter either way. You’re always going to be able to point to the financial gain but some elite players will play in Euro/Chinese leagues until they’re 19 in this case. Similar to what Matthews did in his draft year.

I don’t follow baseball even remotely nor do I think they’re the league to model anything. I know the top prospects do get hyped up at age 16-17 as I remember when Bryce Harper was on the cover of a couple magazines at 15 because he could hit 500ft homers and had the jaw of a cave man.

The just of my statement is really getting to the root of why people think it would be a bad idea of pushing back the draft to have two back to back. Do they think the average fan watches drafts or follows prospects extensively? Do they want these prospects playing on their NHL club immediately (look at Hughes/Kakko’s first year or AL this year).

 

[newdimension]

I see no reason why they still can't hold the draft this year... and then add 2-3 extra rounds to the 2022 draft, which could be helpful for anyone that gets passed over this year. I know draft days are long, but a few extra rounds wouldn't hurt too much.

 

[Bonin21]

I see no reason why they still can't hold the draft this year... and then add 2-3 extra rounds to the 2022 draft, which could be helpful for anyone that gets passed over this year. I know draft days are long, but a few extra rounds wouldn't hurt too much.

Why? Every year good hockey players go undrafted. In the 7th you're in a crapshoot anyways. They still have the same chance to make it to the NHL as the 7th rounders if they work hard and want it badly enough.

 

[VictorLustig]

Just let the players decide if they want to be eligible or not this year.

 

[gstommylee]

Just let the players decide if they want to be eligible or not this year.

Its funny while NHL and NHLPA have a say and yet the potential drafees that could be drafted has no say what so ever.

 

[koteka]

The one and done policy in theory is to allow extensive looks at prospects because not every straight out of high school pans out.

It also lets the kids have a year to play in the incredibly popular NCAA tournament and come into the league as celebrities generating more hype and ticket sales, jersey sales, etc. If you are drafting with let’s say the #8 pick, drafting the kid who led his team on an exciting NCAA tournament run will put more butts in seats than drafting some high schooler that only true basketball draft nerds know.

 

[jcs0218]

To those of you saying cancel the draft and change the draft age to 19, good luck convincing the teams that suck this year to give up their lottery ticket just because.

Exactly.

It isn't fair to teams this year who suck this year to lose getting a pick that will help their future.

 

[Tetsuo]

Exactly.

It isn't fair to teams this year who suck this year to lose getting a pick that will help their future.

I would only be for it as a Wings fan if the new 19-year old 2022 draft uses the aggregate point percentage of all teams over both this season and next and has no lottery.

 

[jcs0218]

I would only be for it as a Wings fan if the new 19-year old 2022 draft uses the aggregate point percentage of all teams over both this season and next and has no lottery.

Wouldn't you prefer two top 5 picks though?

You could get both Power and Wright, instead of only getting one of them and having to wait until pick #33 to draft again.

 

[Tetsuo]

Wouldn't you prefer two top 5 picks though?

You could get both Power and Wright, instead of only getting one of them and having to wait until pick #33 to draft again.

Oh absolutely, but I would prefer to 100% get Wright over having a chance at getting Power and Wright, given that Detroit already has Seider.

That said, I'm not in favor of changing the age of the draft for skaters at all, but I think it actually makes a lot of sense to change the age of goalies to 22 or something. Maybe we would actually see more goalies go higher in the draft if they were picked at a more age-appropriate time in their development. I've always found it weird that goalies are drafted at the same age as skaters given the vast disparity in the timelines.

 

[BStinson]

It also lets the kids have a year to play in the incredibly popular NCAA tournament and come into the league as celebrities generating more hype and ticket sales, jersey sales, etc. If you are drafting with let’s say the #8 pick, drafting the kid who led his team on an exciting NCAA tournament run will put more butts in seats than drafting some high schooler that only true basketball draft nerds know.

Yeah, marketing benefit for the NBA and also helps the player because if they suck they still have a scholarship to fall back on.

 

[IHaveNoCreativity]

A majority of the kids ARE playing though.

Not enough of the top guys, and scouts can’t get viewings for the CHL.

 

[Guttersniped]

Oh absolutely, but I would prefer to 100% get Wright over having a chance at getting Power and Wright, given that Detroit already has Seider.

That said, I'm not in favor of changing the age of the draft for skaters at all, but I think it actually makes a lot of sense to change the age of goalies to 22 or something. Maybe we would actually see more goalies go higher in the draft if they were picked at a more age-appropriate time in their development. I've always found it weird that goalies are drafted at the same age as skaters given the vast disparity in the timelines.

What? I completely disagree. Also there were nine 20 year old goalies the AHL last season. And Eleven 21 yo, fourteen 22 yo and thirteen 23 yo. The NHL doesn’t develop goalies? It’s not that hard to identify goalie talent, it’s just a very competitive unforgiving position with few spots available in the NHL.

You don’t even need to draft older players because you can just give them a contract. They’re already in another professional leagues. Why would they shun the top amateur goalies in North America?

In the NHL last there were two 20 yo (DiPietro) one 21 yo (Hart), two 22 yo (including Samsonov), eight 23 yo (including Blackwood, Hill, Kahkonen, Nedeljkovic). These guys were picked in the first few rounds and here they are. What’s the issue?

Why do we need more goalies picked in the 1st round? It’s usually better to pick them in the 2nd and 3rd round unless they’re extraordinary talents. Elite offensive is the easiest to identify and project, there’s a reason it dominates the 1st round.

I disagree that you shouldn’t bother drafting goalies in earlier rounds though, that late round picks or undrafted finds is enough these days. I would not feel comfortable counting on that. Talent evaluation is pretty good these days and you want a goalie to develop sooner than later, so they’re under team control longer. (But no, their draft age won’t be extended for this reason either because the NHLPA won’t enslave goalies further for the teams’ benefit.)

 

[nowhereman]

What's the point in pushing the draft? As it stands, few kids slip through the cracks but most of the talent is drafted in the first round anyway. In the end, it's not a perfect science but it's close enough to add intrigue and challenge teams to be on their game. IMO, the draft serves it's purpose as is.

 

[BobbyClarkeFan16]

Cancel the draft for 2021 and declare the players undrafted free agents. A free for all so to speak. That's the fairest way to do this.