Quote:
Originally Posted by FAN
I agree with your points except the bolded part. I would bet that almost every elite level prospect and their parents would have contemplated entry into college or university by the time they have been identified and drafted into Major Junior. It's a very much an informed process nowadays. By the time I entered high school, I have thought about university. I would assume that most kids entering high school nowadays would have thought about going to university or college. It would be silly to assume that high level prospects have never given the university or college route some thought by the time they are identified and drafted into Major Junior.
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Maybe you are missing my point, or maybe I didn't state it very clearly. My point os not that prospects have not opted out of the college route, it is rather that the CHL presents their only option to play elite level hockey as a 16–17-year-old: an option that is unavailable at the college level. I believe that a primary contributor to the higher number of "high-end" prospects graduating from the CHL compared with NCAA is not a product of prospects CHOOSING the CHL over college so much as it is the product of the CHL being the ONLY good choice for 16-year-old players. Again, if NCAA eligibility were the same as the CHL, I think it is reasonable to expect a dramatic shift in the numbers to their favour. But as the system is currently structured, by the time young players are ready to go to college, a high number of the elite prospects are already preparing to make the move directly from Juniour to the NHL. When was the last time a top-five draft pick coming out of the CHL opted to spend +3 years in college at the expense of one more year of Juniour, or a NHL roster spot? Has it ever happened?