Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Idea:
A 'bubble hub' for each division where each team runs a modified taxi squad:
- can be more of a 'campus' lifestyle since these aren't established NHLers
- CHL and AHL players
- ~4 spots per team for underage players, determined via a draft (teams fill positional needs, get the opportunity to evaluate and build a relationship with prospective draft picks)
- perhaps a 4v4 format to save costs and to mitigate the physical disparities between men vs. boys? Might need some other rule modifications to ensure safety?
- 'hub' period starts 2-3 weeks after NHL season starts, and concludes a full playoff by the end of the NHL season)
- involve CHL and AHL coaches/staff to keep those operations alive
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This is actually a very interesting idea and would really put an emphasis on organizational depth. I would love to see how that would look over the course of a season.
You could even have rules like some European hockey or soccer teams have where a certain number of players need to be 23 or under at any given point. It would blend player development into the parent club more as well.
There isn't going to be a perfect solution for playing a full season with COVID in the background, but this could be a good compromise and an interesting experiment.