Quote:
Originally Posted by MegaErtz
You just raise the draft age by one month each year for the next thirty years. The NBA and NFL don’t allow players to be drafted out of high school, so I’m curious to know why it would be illegal for the NHL to do it.
Yes, we’ll miss out on the odd eighteen year old phenom once every few years, and will have to wait for him to enter the league at 21 or 22 years of age. So what? It’ll make draft picks worth way more.
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It isn't illegal by law. The CBA is what sets the draft limits. The NBA used to draft players out of high school until the CBA set that there had to be one NBA season completed after the player graduated (or intended grad class if they didn't complete high school).
The NFL's CBA states there has to be three seasons completed after graduating from high school.
Why those leagues have it set that way I'm not entirely sure. There has been suggestions every now and then for the NHL to raise the draft age but it never gets any traction. So many kids leave home at the age of 16 to play junior hockey that many of them are capable of joining the pros at 18. On the flip side, many are not. What is the best course of action to determine who needs to wait without limiting those who are ready? Not something I'm interested in deciding.