Washington Capitals prospects could play in NHL sooner than expected
Photo credit: NHL
NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly held their annual Stanley Cup Finals media availability on Wednesday and spoke about the possibility of the NHL making revisions to the current CHL player transfer agreement.
The media availability was held ahead of game 1 of the finals between the Oilers and Panthers.
During the approximately 30 minutes that Bettman and Daly fielded questions, The Hockey News' Ryan Kennedy asked about the current NHL-CHL player transfer agreement, to which Daly replied with an update about possible revisions.
"Obviously, what we have is an agreement with the CHL currently that if an 18- or 19-year old drafted player, who is signed, isn't good enough to play in the NHL, they have to return to the junior leagues."
The complete wording of the agreement says that prospects drafted from either the OHL, WHL, or QMJHL cannot be reassigned to the AHL or ECHL until they have turned 20, or completed four seasons in the CHL.
Washington Capitals prospect could join NHL soon
Though the current agreement is intended to protect the interests of the CHL, it has often prevented elite players from moving to the pros, despite having already maximized their development in junior hockey.
Where the Capitals are concerned, two of their top prospects have had to deal with this situation. Hendrix Lapierre, the team's 2020 1st-round draft pick, was returned to the QMJHL for most of the 2021-22 season, after having played six games in the NHL for the Capitals.
Andrew Cristall, Washington's 2nd-round draft pick in 2023, was forced to return to the WHL this past year, even after he was one of the final training camp cuts for D.C, and having a 40 goals, 111 points season with Kelowna.
Currently, Caps have two drafted CHL prospects signed to entry-level deals that would be eligible to move to the pros early, should the revision be made before next season.
2024, 1st-round pick Terik Panascak, and 2024, 3rd-round pick Eriks Mateiko, both 19 years old heading in next season for WHL's Prince George Cougars, and QMJHL's Rimouski Oceanic, respectively. NCAA expanded their collegiate eligibility to CHL athletes. Now it's the NHL's turn to allow the young elites to turn pro.
| POLL | ||
JUIN 6 | 24 ANSWERS Washington Capitals prospects could play in NHL sooner than expected Should the NHL revise the CHL agreement to allow players younger than 20 to turn pro? | ||
| Yes | 15 | 62.5 % |
| No | 9 | 37.5 % |
| List of polls | ||
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