NHL considering moving up the draft age to 19

[PlayfulGenius]

That would be ripe for politicking...seems like a bad idea to me ^^^

[GranteedEV]

Originally Posted by Samonadreau

How would they transition to this. Would they have to skip a draft? If one year it's 18 and the next it was 19 it would just be the undrafted players from the year before.

The NBA did it in 2006.

That was the year Greg Oden and Kevin Durant would have been projected to go 1st/2nd overall and were hyped as the top teenage prospects in a while.

The Raptors drafted first overall for the first and only time in franchise history.

The Raptors drafted Andrea Bargnani.

It was good for the league overall for sure, good for the players. Bad for the 2006 draft.

Overall it's something that's worth sucking up though, because who really benefits from this? Fringe-pro kids who are already worried about getting drafted and signed as 16-17-year olds are the beneficiaries, that extra year could go a long way in getting them establishing a "Plan B" in real life.

[Dion]

OPED Article on why the draft age should be raised to 20

At the end of the day, when changes are involved, every decision comes down to dollars and cents. So what type of effect would pushing back the draft eligibility age to 20 have on the NHL as a business? The biggest seller would be that NHL teams will save money in the long-run by investing in talent with a minimized financial risk. By drafting players at 20, NHL scouts are able to make more accurate projections, thus minimizing the risk of drafting a dud. Forking out signing bonuses to kids that never pan out is a costly endeavour. By eliminating the risk of drafting players that fizzle out within the first few years, NHL teams will be getting more bang for their buck. Financially, the decision to push back the NHL draft eligibility to 20 will also benefit the major junior and NCAA ranks. Marquee players will remain in major junior or college longer, increasing revenue streams and ultimately the brands.

For every sure bet pick like Sidney Crosby, there are hundreds like Ryan Sittler, Scott Kelman, Michael Henrich, A.J. Thelen, Alex Bourret, Sacha Pokulok, and Angelo Esposito; whom were all first-rounders, projected to be destined for greatness, that never played a game in the NHL. The fact is, players peak at different times. Most of the scouting information is gathered on players when they are 16 and 17. So it isn’t uncommon to hear a scout say, “Scotty Superstar is a little small right now, but he will probably grow a couple inches between 18 and 20 and add muscle and then he’ll really be a star.” Or you might hear the same scout say, “Tommy Toughguy over there is big and clumsy right now, but in a couple years he’s going to get his feet under him and he’ll be the next Eric Lindros. You wait and see!” My question to this is why do we have to draft these youngsters and then wait and see? Why not wait and see and then draft them? Even when they are 20, there will still be a projection associated with a pick but the window for failure will be greatly minimized.

http://glassandout.com/2013/06/why-t...-should-be-20/

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Itse

I dislike the idea that it would be harder for the Oilers to pick the wrong guys and ruin the guys they do pick.

They ruin players regardless of how great they might be.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

I don't know. How many 18 year old players actually go North American pro every year? Doesn't seem like a lot. Maybe at most 10?

The NHLPA will probably easily concede this if they can get something else that helps a lot more of their members.

This. The NHLPA doesn't give a damn about 18 year old junior players - they aren't dues paying members. That was pretty much the entire reason why the union agreed to a cap on rookie salaries. The union will be more than willing to throw those kids under the bus (again) if it gets them a solid concession their current members want.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by driveway

I don't see a big need for this.

The issue is it's harder to project how an 18-year-old will develop as a professional hockey player than a 19-year-old. I'm all for increasing the age. It will make the draft, and draft picks, more effective at improving teams. With the relentless decline in trades and impact UFAs becoming more and more rare, the draft is by far the most important part of building a team. Anything to make it more accurate is a good thing.

[Playfair]

[Fire]

Sounds like a silly idea. If an 18 year old is ready to play then they should be allowed to play. Hopefully they get sued big time if they try it.

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Fire

Sounds like a silly idea. If an 18 year old is ready to play then they should be allowed to play. Hopefully they get sued big time if they try it.

The NBA didn't get sued, why would the NHL?

[heep223]

This would decrease the edge from having a top tier scouting and development program. And create even more parity.

[Fire]

Originally Posted by Fire of the Phoenix

The NBA didn't get sued, why would the NHL?

If what Jay Random said was true, the NHL was already sued in the past for trying to do this.

I really don't see the benefit for the NHL to try this. All it does is prevent great young players from being in the league. Yes, it makes drafting a bit easier, but it's the same for every team.

[GGG]

The benefit is that it would decrease the time for rebuilds.

You would be getting impact players Sooners so instead of a 4-5 year cycle it becomes a 3-4 year cycle. Probably a good idea. I would hope it would be implemented over 12 years.

[sharkov]

flames would win the 2016 lottery and get McDavid?

[kn]

If I'm the NHLPA, I agree to it and push for unrestricted free agency at 24. You control the player for a maximum of five years if drafted at 19, four years if drafted at 20.

[ricardodw]

They should take away the draft age altogether. If a team wants to draft someone under 19 they have to take a spot on the pro roster and get a min salary and cap hit of 7-8 % of the salary cap for 4 years.

That way a team can pick a Tavares or McDavid or Cosbybut have to be really sure that he is a generational talent.

stops the generational talents from suing the league for not allowing them to earn a living.

[N-E-B]

Originally Posted by ricardodw

They should take away the draft age altogether. If a team wants to draft someone under 19 they have to take a spot on the pro roster and get a min salary and cap hit of 7-8 % of the salary cap for 4 years.

That way a team can pick a Tavares or McDavid or Cosbybut have to be really sure that he is a generational talent.

stops the generational talents from suing the league for not allowing them to earn a living.

Has a generational talent ever sued the league for "not allowing them to earn a living"? That just sounds ludicrous.

[T@T]

I can see a lot of legal problems with this, labor laws, age of consents, marriageable age is all 18. telling someone they're too young to make a living at 18 will not go over well.

[Harju]

Isn't this the whole Ken Linseman thing from way back when with the WHA? He challenged the NHL in court on the underage draft but ended up signing with the WHA. The WHA tried to prevent the contract and he went to court and it was ruled he could not be prevented from earning a living as he was over 18.
The NHL then decided they better start drafting 18 year olds or else they lose the good young players.

[Locke]

Yeah, I dont see this having much in the way of legs.

I dont see a lot of benefits but I do see a lot of disadvantages.

[Dion]

Originally Posted by Harju

Isn't this the whole Ken Linseman thing from way back when with the WHA? He challenged the NHL in court on the underage draft but ended up signing with the WHA. The WHA tried to prevent the contract and he went to court and it was ruled he could not be prevented from earning a living as he was over 18.
The NHL then decided they better start drafting 18 year olds or else they lose the good young players.

You're thinking of the "Baby Bulls" of the WHA Birmingham Bulls where owner John Bassett signed 6 underage junior players to contracts and played one season for the Bulls. Those being Craig Hartsburg, Rob Ramage, Gaston Gingras, Rick Viave, Michel Goulet and Pat Riggin. All later went back into the draft when the WHA merged with the NHL.

Now that the WHA is being absorbed by the NHL, it is unlikely that many future 18- or 19-year-olds will have a chance to play for pay as the Baby Bulls did this season. The NHL has an agreement with Canada's junior leagues not to draft players until they are 20. "It's an arbitrary age," admits Jack Button, director of the NHL's central scouting program. "When they set up the draft in 1967, that's the age they happened to choose. Maybe we should be looking at experience at the junior level instead of just age, so that a kid who has been playing major junior A hockey since he was 16 becomes eligible for the draft a little earlier. That might be the way to go."

http://www.si.com/vault/1979/04/09/8...rmingham-bulls