Playing in Europe could certainly be appealing for those players who feel like they might be unlikely to see NHL action anyway in the 2020-21 campaign. In theory, NHL teams could value engineer their prospect pools into tiers, and separate those tiers based upon the likelihood of a player making an NHL impact this season. It might make sense for teams to try to find temporary homes for European players outside of their top tier.
Based on the six loans I mentioned, it would seem that some NHL general managers have already seen this writing on the wall. With the uncertainty swirling around the North American leagues, it might be worth it to send certain prospects into situations with some certainty even though they may have played last season in North America.
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I am for it. It would not only be a great experience and exposure, the competition level overseas could potentially give some players that much needed experience to elevate their game. With an additional NHL team coming up in 2021/2022, there are 23 more NHL spots to compete for.
NHL teams may loan prospects overseas next year
