What if teams played more teenagers?!?!?!

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

Registered User
Jan 5, 2018
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Buddy and I had this conversation last weekend , interesting to see more input.

What if the draft age was moved to 19 and teams played more players right out of the draft? Would the NHL product suffer or excel? Pushing the draft age back to 19 would also allow fans to know their prospects better before they hit the NHL, might bring more attention to the draft and bring more exposure to the Junior and NCAA ranks. For sure the NCAA ranks because more kids would be playing in the NCAA in their draft year vs right now when its a rarity unless you are a late birthday or a re-entry prospect. I personally think the draft being pushed back to 19 is coming sooner or later! Thought it would be an interesting topic to toss around on here! GO!!!
 

Icebreakers

Registered User
Apr 29, 2011
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This isn't good for the top prospects. Imagine McDavid playing 4 years in the OHL before he had a chance to play in the NHL.



There's nothing wrong with going back to junior to develop.
 

TwoPiece

Registered User
Jul 24, 2018
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Buddy and I had this conversation last weekend , interesting to see more input.

What if the draft age was moved to 19 and teams played more players right out of the draft? Would the NHL product suffer or excel? Pushing the draft age back to 19 would also allow fans to know their prospects better before they hit the NHL, might bring more attention to the draft and bring more exposure to the Junior and NCAA ranks. For sure the NCAA ranks because more kids would be playing in the NCAA in their draft year vs right now when its a rarity unless you are a late birthday or a re-entry prospect. I personally think the draft being pushed back to 19 is coming sooner or later! Thought it would be an interesting topic to toss around on here! GO!!!
No.
 

izlez

We need more toe-drags/60
Feb 28, 2012
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3,462
Would the NHL product suffer or excel? Pushing the draft age back to 19 would also allow fans to know their prospects better before they hit the NHL
Gotta be honest.... If my team doesn't already have drafted players on Skelleftea AIK and Zlin ZPS HC, there is a 0% chance that I follow those teams at all.

This would have the exact opposite effect you wanted... and I've talked about other leagues adopting the NHL way. I'm a big NFL fan, but I don't watch college football. But if my NFL team drafted the sophomore QB out of USC and he's playing 2 more years at USC, you better believe I'm watching every USC game.
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

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Jan 5, 2018
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146
This isn't good for the top prospects. Imagine McDavid playing 4 years in the OHL before he had a chance to play in the NHL.



There's nothing wrong with going back to junior to develop.

There is going to be the rare real generational talents that maybe this doesn't apply but 99/100, another year of junior prior to draft year wouldn't harm any players development. I also think teams would make less mistakes in drafting if it was pushed back a year. The current draft age seems archaic to me.

Gotta be honest.... If my team doesn't already have drafted players on Skelleftea AIK and Zlin ZPS HC, there is a 0% chance that I follow those teams at all.

This would have the exact opposite effect you wanted... and I've talked about other leagues adopting the NHL way. I'm a big NFL fan, but I don't watch college football. But if my NFL team drafted the sophomore QB out of USC and he's playing 2 more years at USC, you better believe I'm watching every USC game.

I don't really think you can compare the NHL to the NFL, two completely different animals.
 

lifelonghockeyfan

Registered User
Dec 18, 2015
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Lake Huron
NHL teams play their best players. Just about all teenagers aren't NHL good, hence the reason they are not in the NHL.
The courts ruled in favour of 18 year old draft, so that isn't changing. The NHL has adopted their rules where teenagers (most) do not play in the AHL. This was to protect the development system of junior hockey so all the star junior players would not be in the AHL.
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

Registered User
Jan 5, 2018
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NHL teams play their best players. Just about all teenagers aren't NHL good, hence the reason they are not in the NHL.
The courts ruled in favour of 18 year old draft, so that isn't changing. The NHL has adopted their rules where teenagers (most) do not play in the AHL. This was to protect the development system of junior hockey so all the star junior players would not be in the AHL.

Not saying there isn't positives in keeping things that way they are either... Just asked the question. Also NHL teams are not playing their best players.. prospects are constantly getting pushed back from NHL spots for veteran players with less talent. Key minutes will be taken away from Kunin, Greenway and Eriksson Ek this season because Minnesota went and signed Hendricks, Fehr and Read.... its a mindset, IMO throughout the NHL management that young players cannot be trusted. So many young players get buried into 4th line roles when they have never played that role in their lives, it hampers their skills and takes away their confidence. IMO Luke Kunin has never played on a 4th line in his life, if he makes Minnesota out of camp and is healthy, its hard to imagine himself playing anywhere but 4th line minutes? What does that accomplish with a talent like that?
 

Field of Dreams

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Oct 10, 2011
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Port Credit
Moving the draft age to 19 would substantially increase the information available to scouts thereby decreasing the uncertainty of prospects. Less high picks would bust and less high end talents would be found in the later rounds. This would increase the parity in the league.

We have to ask ourselves:

Is even more parity a good thing?

How do we explain to Vancouver or Edmonton fans that next years draft will be exclusively undrafted prospects from last year?

How do we get the players on board with having to be on ELC and RFA later into their prime?
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

Registered User
Jan 5, 2018
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146
I could get on board with raising the draft age to 19 as this would allow for more experience in the junior leagues.

Agreed, I think it would improve Junior and NCAA hockey across the board.. Probably cannot happen before the next CBA is done unless they amended the CBA until its time for the next one. I don't think it would effect the european leagues much as a lot of those draft picks return to Europe for a year or two after they are drafted. Only issue I see is the KHL, although they might be on board with it because they would be able to keep their players an extra year. Like a previously stated, teams would make less scouting mistakes, largely watching these players for two years and also the growth development as well.
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

Registered User
Jan 5, 2018
360
146
They could skip the draft during the next lockout, making the following year the first time 18-year olds are ineligible.

Not that I support this idea.

Its possible, people forget, 18 and 19 year olds are eligible for the draft now and re-entry prospects, have to think if they move the draft age to 19 then there would be a re-entry year taken off, at least for North American prospects...
 

Wackster

Registered User
Apr 5, 2017
187
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Quebec city
Gotta be honest.... If my team doesn't already have drafted players on Skelleftea AIK and Zlin ZPS HC, there is a 0% chance that I follow those teams at all.

This would have the exact opposite effect you wanted... and I've talked about other leagues adopting the NHL way. I'm a big NFL fan, but I don't watch college football. But if my NFL team drafted the sophomore QB out of USC and he's playing 2 more years at USC, you better believe I'm watching every USC game.

That is an excellent point... never thought of it
 

SnuggaRUDE

Registered User
Apr 5, 2013
8,950
6,481
Raising the draft age to 19 would be better for the game. It won't meaningfully change NCAA/CHL hockey since very few eligible players don't play in one of those two leagues.
 

TheWhiskeyThief

Registered User
Dec 24, 2017
1,625
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A few years back I did a study of ESPN’s top 100 football recruits and their subsequent progress after 5 years

1/3 were out of football before using up eligibility
1/3 were depth players
25% were starters, but went undrafted
9% were drafted, half of them went early

But with the NFL, physical development is so much more important than hockey(though there are h/w ratios to be met in order to be effective at an NHL level) that drafting is a different beast. The number of players who could jump into the NHL at 19 isn’t much different than those who do it at 18, a few percentage points.

Pettersson will be interesting to see, because as highly skilled as he is, physically he still looks a year away. Saw him on TV the other day in street clothes and while you could tell he’s been in the gym, putting on enough functional weight is always gonna be challenging for him. Dude is just skinny.

Eric Lindros could’ve played in the NHL at 17, but players like him are few and far between.
 

UNITEDSTATESOFHOCKEY

Registered User
Jan 5, 2018
360
146
A few years back I did a study of ESPN’s top 100 football recruits and their subsequent progress after 5 years

1/3 were out of football before using up eligibility
1/3 were depth players
25% were starters, but went undrafted
9% were drafted, half of them went early

But with the NFL, physical development is so much more important than hockey(though there are h/w ratios to be met in order to be effective at an NHL level) that drafting is a different beast. The number of players who could jump into the NHL at 19 isn’t much different than those who do it at 18, a few percentage points.

Pettersson will be interesting to see, because as highly skilled as he is, physically he still looks a year away. Saw him on TV the other day in street clothes and while you could tell he’s been in the gym, putting on enough functional weight is always gonna be challenging for him. Dude is just skinny.

Eric Lindros could’ve played in the NHL at 17, but players like him are few and far between.

I agree, but at the very least moving the draft age from 18 to 19 gives teams a better chance at finding players that can contribute down the road, less mistakes could potentially be made if you are seeing a player for 3 seasons beyond their CHL/USHL draft year instead of 2! the extra year certainly wouldn't hurt anyone or any league! There will be the rare 18 year old that has outgrew Junior or NCAA hockey but that's the case in every major sports prospect system!
 

Thebesthockey

Registered User
Aug 6, 2013
3,921
882
start by rewriting the CHL/AHL/NHL agreement
aweful development path for a player not good enough for NHL and too good for CHL but is sent back

i understand they want to protect the chl market but modify the rule: say 1 prospect per year/per team is allowed to curcumvent the rule or somethin to that effect
 

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