Sportsnet: Elliotte Friedman on Saturday Headlines said there are GM meeting this week, and although there’s nothing major expected, they can be talking about with the ability to send a 19-year-old player to a development league, just like the AHL, as a substitute of back to junior.
** NHLRumors transcription
“Okay, so this week, the GM meetings are in Toronto on the day after the Hall of Fame inductions, and never expecting anything huge necessarily out of them. This is normally the setup for the meeting, the larger meeting in March.
But you recognize, one in every of the things I’ve sort of been hearing is, as a part of the brand new CBA between the league and the Players Association, there can be the chance, providing it may be negotiated with the Canadian Hockey League, to send one player, one 19-year-old, to the American Hockey League as soon as next season.
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Now, in September, the coaches and the GMs met, and the CHL was there, and the CHL spoke rather a lot about, you recognize, ‘Please don’t hurt our game. We’re still one of the essential feeder leagues within the developmental system for the NHL, which numerous people do agree with. And we wish you to grasp that, you recognize, we want those 19-year-olds. They’re essential to us.’
That said, I believe that there are some managers on the market who need to know, can they even have more flexibility? Is there a possibility that it might be like if, say, you could have two or three of multiple first round picks, what number of years can we see a team get two or three first round picks because they’ve players that the contenders want. Or perhaps you could have a couple of 19-year-old who’s physically mature?
I don’t know where it’s going to go, Ron. I don’t know if that’s going to be allowed to occur. The PA would have a say in that, too. But one thing I’m definitely hearing is teams, especially now we’re within the wild west phase of development of junior hockey in North America. Players are in all places. They’ve more control and more say than ever, which is not any problem. But I believe the teams with their 19-year-olds, they wish to feel that they will have more control over saying, if we wish them within the AHL, we will get them there. So we’ll see if it goes anywhere.”
Ron MacLean: “I should mention Elliotte, you and Kyle on 32 Thoughts, essentially the most recent podcast, talk rather a lot concerning the story that broke this week about potential USHL absorption into the CHL or the Quebec League. In order that’s good listen if you desire to hear that.”
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Friedman: “And I believe, I believe one thing too about that’s, it’s very clear one in every of the things the CHL team said to me this week, it’s very clear the NHL considers the health of the USHL to be essential. And I believe there’s some people anxious about it, and so I believe the NHL feels very strongly that the USHL must be protected.”
MacLean: “And Zane Parekh at Calgary is an example as a part of that conversation, and he got hurt last night.”
Friedman: “Yeah, so he can’t return. He can’t go to the American Hockey League, they usually don’t wish to send him back to juniors. They are saying he’s too good.”
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