[T@T]

Originally Posted by driveway

I actually have no problem with the rules as they stand. I think they're really good actually, particularly compared to Basketball or Football where being drafted into the pros immediately ends a players NCAA career (in the case of Basketball, simply declaring for the draft ends your NCAA eligibility, I don't know why).

4 years from the time of being drafted is a totally reasonable amount of time to give a young man the opportunity to grow as a player and make a determination about their own career. Can you imagine if you had been selected by a company, pretty much at random, right out of high school and they were able to demand you work for them once you finished your Bachelor's? You'd be furious.

There's what, one player a year for whom this is an issue? Two?

Meanwhile, teams simply don't 'invest' anything other than time into their NCAA prospects. The absolute maximum a player can accept from an NHL team is 48 hours of expenses at one development camp per team. Any other attendance, travel, lodging, food, etc. has to be paid out of the player's pocket or they lose NCAA eligibility. Hell, they can't even accept the hat and jersey they're given on draft day without losing amateur status.

Teams are all aware of the rules, they know the risks and rewards of drafting players who are likely to go the NCAA route and the only people who really 'suffer' in any way are fans, and what the hell are we really talking about. Oh no, a guy who has never played a single second of NHL time won't play for us, darn.

I could see maybe, maybe something like a compensatory pick to be taken at the end of the round after whichever round a player was drafted in circumstances like this as being a reasonable sop to fan's and team's complaints. So, Nashville would get a compensatory pick at #121 for not signing Vesey, but really, I think the rule as written is totally fine, and I have no issues with it.

Pro sports isn't just about the player, the draft exists for a reason, teams spend hundreds of thousands of $$$ a year on scouting only to see one of their picks have a nice 4th year season and bolt to another team.

It's a crappy system period!