Bob Mckenzie tweeted this afternoon that American Jack Eichel- projected currently to go second overall in the 2015 draft to Conner McDavid- is considering coming over to the OHL. Eichel wants the chance to go head to head with McDavid in their draft seasons.
The first hurdle for Eichel to get over is the fact that his rights are owned by the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. As Bob tweeted the only way for a player to go from the QMJHL to the OHL is to be placed on waivers by the QMJHL team and then go unclaimed through the Q and then picked up on waivers by an OHL team. A player of Eichel’s caliber is unlikely to be waived by Saint John and even if he is I find it hard to believe he will go unclaimed.
The
second issue would be what team(s) would he be willing to play for. Since he wants
to go head to head with McDavid that would mean a Western Conference team, preferably
one in Erie’s division (the Midwest Division). However if Eichel were to be
placed on waivers Sarnia would have first crack at him as they have the worst
record. If for whatever reason he did not want to play in Sarina his other options
would be the four (non-Erie) teams in the mid-west division. If it were up to
me I would want to go play on the powerhouse London Knights. They have consistently
been one of the top teams for years; they have one of the best coaches in Dale
Hunter, and have produced a substantial number of NHL players.
The CHL has never had a situation like this before, where a superstar caliber player wants to change leagues. A similar situation to this occurred with Matthew Peca. His rights were owned by the OHL and he wanted to go play in the QMJHL for Patrick Roy. His transfer was blocked because another OHL team claimed Peca. The similarities are obvious here but Peca was nowhere near the star Eichel is (Peca was a 7th round selection by Tampa Bay in 2011).
Eichel
may not know this but he has all the leverage in this situation. He is a superstar
that both the CHL and NCAA would love to have.
Leagues need star talent to survive; they help grow markets which in
turn bring in more money for the league. They help attract sponsors and help
drive interest in the league. Thinking about this it makes sense, how many of
you could say who had heard of or followed the Halifax Mooseheads before Nathan
Mackinnon and Jonathan Drouin arrived there.
This
situation I see as very similar to John Tavares when he was 14. My professor in
my Sport Economics class mentioned that Tavares threatened to go to the USA and
play if he was unable to go into the OHL as a 15 year old. The OHL in this
situation recognized they could lose a potential star so they made a whole new
rule to accommodate him; exceptional player status. This is the situation I see
happening with Eichel. If he is really serious about coming to the OHL, I believe
David Branch will do everything in his power to get Eichel into the OHL even if
it means creating a new rule.
The
potential gain of getting Eichel into the OHL is massive. It offsets any losses
that would occur to the QMJHL. This is a huge opportunity for the CHL to steal
one of the best from the NCAA and I believe David Branch will make it happen.
Comments are appreciated and encouraged. I appreciate the
feedback. Thanks.
No comments:
Post a Comment