the league would assess the option of increasing the age of eligibility of players
When Elliotte Friedman speaks or tweets, fans pay close attention to what she is saying, and with good reason. The analyst is one of the most plugged in the media world when it comes to hockey. During the transaction deadline, the Twitter account of Friedge, like those of Pierre Lebrun and Bob McKenzie, becomes very popular during the trade deadline.
Outside of trade deadline, the’insider is very interesting to follow because of the inside information it gets about developments in the NHL. Negotiations between the Players Association and the league, contract negotiations between a GM and his player, the management of the team ; you understand my point.
Friedman, Burke and Marek on Hockey Central talking about perhaps raising the draft age. One idea that has been put out there is a 19-yr old draft, but you can select 18-yr olds only in the 1st RD. Friedman believes teams would want a 19-yr old draft.
– NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) September 12, 2020
During a panel discussion with Sportsnet panelists Brian Burke and Jeff Marek, Elliotte Friedman gave an interesting piece of information regarding the NHL Draft. According to information obtained by the analyst, the league is considering the possibility of raising the eligibility age of the prospects, excluding the first round.
Currently, it is possible for a team from the Bettman Tour to select young players of 18 years old. Some 17-year-old hopefuls can even be chosen, regardless of their date of birth. We only have to think of the first choice of the Canadian in 2018 Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who had been selected when he was still only 17 years old. He was also one of the youngest of his vintage.
What should we understand from the information obtained by Friedman? On the one hand, drafting older players would allow younger athletes to develop further before making the leap into the professional ranks. Due to the salary cap, more and more teams are using young players in their training and for this reason sometimes burn them.
What do you think of the possibility of drafting 19-year-old (or future) players rather than 18-year-olds?
