Los Angeles forwards Tyler Parker and Marcus McCrea both signed with the Everett Silvertips of the WHL. Both are pretty big forwards with a lot of potential that play a "WHL-style" game. Parker was very impressive at this summer's Select 15 Festival, which Everett always scouts.
Still, it seems a bit strange to me that a kid would sign a contract and close the door on his other options when he won't even be playing in the WHL this year.
Michigan-born '91 forward Myles McCauley attended Plymouth Whalers camp, but left prior to Plymouth's exhibition games to maintain his college eligibility. He's received some college interest from schools in Michigan.
It sounded like Northeastern commit Andy Bathgate wasn't at Belleville Bulls camp, but he is listed on their roster. Belleville has an exhibition game tonight, so it should be interesting to see if Bathgate plays.
Elliot Olshansky dissects an interview ex-Cornellian Tony Romano gave to the London Free Press. To paraphrase what Romano said: Cornell focused on defense and systems. He's putting his entire future into making the NHL, which, by the way, focuses on defense and system play.
To go further, how many 6th round NHL draft picks are now top 6 forwards in the NHL? The list I came up with is pretty slim: Pavel Datsyuk, Mike York, Jussi Jokinen, and Trent Hunter. Needless to say, if Romano does make it at the NHL level, it's far more likely to be on a lower line, dumping and chasing and playing good defense. Needless to say, Romano's logic isn't holding up here.
Finally, in the comments, someone pointed out the list of 30 drafted college players that didn't sign NHL contracts as a negative for college hockey. My question is: Why? Does every CHL player that is a late round draft pick sign a big NHL contract? I doubt it. At least those collegiate players will go to an NHL camp as a free agent with the knowledge that if things don't work out, either now or a year or two down the line, they have a very nice four-year degree to fall back on. It's a lot nicer than having to choose between trying to make it in the AHL or going to CIS.
Still, it seems a bit strange to me that a kid would sign a contract and close the door on his other options when he won't even be playing in the WHL this year.
Michigan-born '91 forward Myles McCauley attended Plymouth Whalers camp, but left prior to Plymouth's exhibition games to maintain his college eligibility. He's received some college interest from schools in Michigan.
It sounded like Northeastern commit Andy Bathgate wasn't at Belleville Bulls camp, but he is listed on their roster. Belleville has an exhibition game tonight, so it should be interesting to see if Bathgate plays.
Elliot Olshansky dissects an interview ex-Cornellian Tony Romano gave to the London Free Press. To paraphrase what Romano said: Cornell focused on defense and systems. He's putting his entire future into making the NHL, which, by the way, focuses on defense and system play.
To go further, how many 6th round NHL draft picks are now top 6 forwards in the NHL? The list I came up with is pretty slim: Pavel Datsyuk, Mike York, Jussi Jokinen, and Trent Hunter. Needless to say, if Romano does make it at the NHL level, it's far more likely to be on a lower line, dumping and chasing and playing good defense. Needless to say, Romano's logic isn't holding up here.
Finally, in the comments, someone pointed out the list of 30 drafted college players that didn't sign NHL contracts as a negative for college hockey. My question is: Why? Does every CHL player that is a late round draft pick sign a big NHL contract? I doubt it. At least those collegiate players will go to an NHL camp as a free agent with the knowledge that if things don't work out, either now or a year or two down the line, they have a very nice four-year degree to fall back on. It's a lot nicer than having to choose between trying to make it in the AHL or going to CIS.