[News] Draisatl back to WHL

[devo22]

Originally Posted by cam_wmh

Can anyone recall a similar scenario? Where an 18/19 year was played past 9 games, but then sent down for the remainder of the season?

in addition to those who have already been mentioned: James Wright made the Lightning out of camp as a 19-year-old, played 48 games in the NHL and then got sent back to the juniors.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p....php?pid=91828

[sureLoss]

Oilers make it official Draisaitl has been sent back to the WHL

[jg13]

"He got 2 points in one game. Better send him down before he gets hot so we can still get that #1 overall pick." - Oilers Management Team

[FlatLandFlamesFan]

So they've shipped out ,(Pits/WHL) 2 of their 2nd line players and replaced them with ?
should have done this earlier , hopefully the P.A. trade falls through and he has to stay here LOL

[JJ1532]

Well done to the Oilers for sending him down to the WHL. Too bad its only 28 games too late and its probably done significant damage to his development, plus precluded him from going to the WJC's with Germany. Atta boy Oilers, keep on doing what you're doing.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by jg13

"He got 2 points in one game. Better send him down before he gets hot so we can still get that #1 overall pick." - Oilers Management Team

Nah, the dumb (and not totally unexpected) Oilers move would've been for them to think the 2 points was a sign that he was now developing just fine in the NHL, and keep him here.

The best (and most teams would say obvious) move was to send him back at the beginning of the season. But this is still the right move.

[Lil Pedro]

Classy of the Oilers to send him back after the World Junior Tournament, I'm sure he didn't want to participate in that event at all.

What a joke of an organization

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Lil Pedro

Classy of the Oilers to send him back after the World Junior Tournament, I'm sure he didn't want to participate in that event at all.

What a joke of an organization

He's already been twice and rumour is he asked the oilers to say no because he didn't want to go

[saillias]

Yup I guarantee there's no 19 year old or 18 year old in the NHL who says "Yes, please GM X, send me to the WJs"

It's just another hockey tournament to them. They're playing in the bigs, they want no part of it. Draisaitl has played in the World Championships for Germany and people think he should be sent to the WJs. Think about it....

[codynw]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

He's already been twice and rumour is he asked the oilers to say no because he didn't want to go

Yea, but I'm sure if he had known they were going to send him back he would have liked to play.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

He's already been twice and rumour is he asked the oilers to say no because he didn't want to go

Very few young players in the NHL would like to give up their NHL roster spot to play in the WJC. It's a tournament that only Canadians care about.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by codynw

Yea, but I'm sure if he had known they were going to send him back he would have liked to play.

Doubtful in my mind.

[pylon]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Very few young players in the NHL would like to give up their NHL roster spot to play in the WJC. It's a tournament that only Canadians care about.

Yup. It is another one of TSN's force it down your throat until you love it experiment that went well. Just like the CFL. They created massive false hype for so many years, they made it 'UnCanadian' not to tune in. In reality, if TSN wasn't looking to fill a programming hole around the holidays, the tourney would be just as watched as the Spengler cup or the other world championship that Ryan Smyth played in 37 times that nobody watches or cares about.

Edit: And 'Dr. Drai' has been officially sent down.

[SHOGUN]

Several months too late.

[Resolute 14]

It isn't just Canadians who care about the world Juniors. 600,000 Swedes watched the 2012 gold medal game in Calgary - despite being a 2AM local start, in a country with barely a quarter of our population. People care.

But it really is unlikely that many players would voluntarily choose to give up an NHL job to go. Draisaitl certainly would have gone had Edmonton done the right thing in October and send him back, but given he was still on the Oilers roster, nobody could blame him if he didn't want to go. Especially given his pending demotion has been rumoured for well over a month now. He probably hoped he could catch fire and keep his NHL job.

[DOOM]

Originally Posted by pylon

Yup. It is another one of TSN's force it down your throat until you love it experiment that went well. Just like the CFL. They created massive false hype for so many years, they made it 'UnCanadian' not to tune in. In reality, if TSN wasn't looking to fill a programming hole around the holidays, the tourney would be just as watched as the Spengler cup or the other world championship that Ryan Smyth played in 37 times that nobody watches or cares about.

Edit: And 'Dr. Drai' has been officially sent down.

You're wrong

The tournament is quite popular in Europe also.

[DOOM]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Very few young players in the NHL would like to give up their NHL roster spot to play in the WJC. It's a tournament that only Canadians care about.

That is not correct.

You're wrong

The tournament is quite popular in Europe also.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by DOOM

That is not correct.

You're wrong

The tournament is quite popular in Europe also.

Is it really? Are you trying to say it's front page headlines in Europe like here? The only time there's ever big crowds is when it's in Canada.

[btimbit]

As big as in Canada? Probably not. But it's not like Canadians are the only ones that care

[devo22]

I can't comment on Sweden or Finland etc, but in the German speaking countries, nobody really cares about this tournament. It's the exact opposite of Canada - the World Championships is important and popular, but the WJC largely go unnoticed. Even the Spengler Cup is bigger around here. And let's not forget that Draisaitl already played in the men's WC last year ... I imagine he had no interest in going to the WJC at all.