Quote:
Originally Posted by Enoch Root
Part of the reason it hasn't happened a lot in the past is that there were fewer quality players taking the NCAA route.
Now that there are more, it is happening more and more often - pretty much annually.
It doesn't happen at all with CHL players, therefore there is an imbalance that needs to be addressed.
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So, in 2012 there was Schultz, last year it was Knight, and then there is Kevin Hayes this year. There have been a handful of other players with little in the way of legitimate NHL prospects, but beyond them these three represent the bounty that has been caused by this "imbalance." Again, if it starts happening with bonafide blue chip draftees on a consistent basis, then there is indeed an issue. But as it stands now, the players who are good enough to make an NHL impact are almost always signed by the end of their juniour year by the team who drafted them. That is not likely to change, and by extension, it further means that it is not likely to be any more significant a "problem" in the future than it is today.