NCAA Hockey: 62 Players Selected in the 2014 NHL Draft

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Originally posted at the Hockey Writers. This past weekend, the NHL held its 2014 Entry Level Draft. A total of 62 current and or committed college hockey players were selected in the 2014 NHL draft. Over half of the teams in college hockey were represented during the 2014 NHL Draft, 31-of-59 division I teams had players that were drafted (.525).

Four college bound players were selected in the first round of 2014 NHL Draft. That’s an increase over last year.

In the 2013 NHL Draft, there was one college bound player selected in the first round, Michael McCarron, the former Western Michigan recruit was selected 25^th overall by the Montreal Canadians. After the 2013 NHL Draft, McCarron decommitted from Western Michigan, and signed a contract with the London Knights of the OHL.

NCAA Hockey players to be drafted

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The 2014 NHL Entry Level Draft is on June 27 & 28, 2014. It looks like the Boston College Eagles could have three players drafted in the first round of this year's entry level draft. Over the last couple of weeks, I have been combing through numerous mock drafts from the Mock Draft Database, and it appears that Boston College Eagles recruit Alex Tuch "should" be the first player drafted with college hockey ties. Boston College Eagles recruit Sonny Milano should end up being drafted right behind him.

Alex Tuch – Boston College, range 11-28

Sonny Milano – Boston College, range 14-28

Dylan Larkin – Michigan, range 15-24

Thatcher Demko – Boston College, range 18-29

Nick Schmaltz – North Dakota, range 23-30

Josh Jacobs – Michigan State, range 30

Jack Glover – Minnesota, range 22-28

Jack Dougherty – Wisconsin, range 20-22  

 

Tortorella wants Kreider soon

If I was Jerry York the coach of the Boston College Eagles I would be a little bit worried because an NHL coach is trying to get one of my top/key players from my hockey team to sign a professional contract. That’s the breaks you get sometimes when you recruit top notch blue chip players. According to Rick Carpiniello Torts would like to see Kreider get into their system as soon as possible.

Ranger Report Blog --- “I’m not sure if (he’s ready for) the National Hockey League, and even next year I’m not sure if it’s the National Hockey League if he does turn pro. But I think the sooner that you get into that grind of the American League, if that’s where you start, the better, because that’s where you learn to play the game. It’s a different game than college hockey. And I can understand. I don’t get into the personal matters as far as education. I think education’s important. I think this is a family decision. But as a coach, we want to sink our teeth into him as quickly as possible as far as getting him into a situation, to a Ranger, as quickly as possible.

“I had conversations with Ryan (McDonagh), I had conversations with (Derek Stepan) over the summer, and I had conversations with Kreider also. McDonagh and Step decided to come out, and I think that’s their call, and it’s Kreider’s call also as far as staying in (college). Selfishly for us, we want to get him to us and get working with him immediately.

“And even us, our discussions with him, are we going to hurt him by trying to get him in too quickly? So you’ve got to be careful. So we felt in watching Kreider, and all three of those guys when we talked to them, that we felt they were ready and we weren’t going to hurt them. McDonagh and Step decided to come and they’re playing with us right now. Kreider decided not to, which is fine. I’m sure he learned more going through the Beanpot and all these things, and all the World Championship games and stuff like that. It’s still a good training ground. So you’ve got to be really careful who you’re trying to get to turn pro because you may hurt them as a player, too, if you don’t allow them to develop where they’re at.”

This is what former Wisconsin Badger Ryan McDonagh had to say about playing in the AHL. I find these comments to be very interesting, not really an endorsement for college hockey coming from Torts or McDounagh… I guess I was a little off on my prediction about Ryan McDonagh as well; Goon's World thinks he can make the team out of training camp. [Puck Daddy]

On McDonagh saying his brief time in the AHL was invaluable:

“It’s hard (as a defenseman). It’s hard. That’s the toughest position, and down there everybody’s chasing that little black thing, and just to learn the grind of the gam at that position, the quick reads you have to make—and I think he handled himself very well. We were very patient as far as … he struggled at first and he just kept on coming on, coming on, and that’s why we felt we could make a deal in getting a forward when we were struggling with so many injuries and lacking offense. As I said, we let a pretty good defenseman go in Rozy (Michal Rozsival) because we felt McDonagh was ready to take the next step, and we feel he’s played very well for us here. He’ll go through some growing pains, but he’s played very well.”

What leverage do NCAA teams have?

Bruce Ciskie from the FANHOUSE blog has a really good article on how the NCAA and the NHL need to come to an agreement on deadline to which they will no longer pursue signing their draft choices that are on college teams. I think it's a great idea but I don't think division I college hockey teams have much to bargin with when it comes to NHL hockey teams. Where and what is the leverage?

After a ton of speculation, Chicago signed former Minnesota defenseman Nick Leddy to an entry-level deal July 27. Yes, Chicago has suffered through a salary cap crunch, and they need bodies. But there is no reason to allow these late signings to continue.

The NHL and NCAA need a defined partnership. No, that wouldn't stop CHL teams from poaching, but it would allow for a better working relationship between the NHL and college hockey, a growing entity in the United States that continues to produce more and more professional talent.

More specifically, there needs to be a deadline after which NHL teams can no longer pursue NCAA talent. It might encourage more NHL franchises to send their draft picks to the major junior ranks, but it also gives both sides a defined date to work with. However, any partnership needs a compromise. In this case, the NCAA must get rid of the rule that prevents kids from taking part in training camps.

Any drafted player should have the right to participate in NHL training camp -- at least on weekends, when they don't have to worry about attending classes. Giving NHL teams the ability to invite college players to camp would at least give them another vehicle to evaluate these players, even if they aren't going to be allowed to sign them.

I like what Bruce is saying here and I agree that NCAA hockey players should have the ability to go to their training camps and if they are not signed they should be able to return to their college hockey team without penalty as long as they haven't signed a contract and recieved a signing bonus.

I also have another question that I thinks needs to be asked; do certain NCAA division I hockey teams have a credibility problems with some of the NHL teams and their general managers?

Vandy is returning for senior season.

UND got some very good news today when they found out that junior forward Chris VandeVelde will return to UND for his senior season. I have to admit that I am just a bit giddy with reading this announcement. Also, it would be the first time in a very long time that UND probably won't lose any underclassmen to the NHL/pros. Also, Vandy scored a number of goals at the end of the season with a separated shoulder, that is my definition of tough.

VandeVelde will stay at UND for senior season
Brad Elliott Schlossman --- Grand Forks Herald

The power forward from Moorhead confirmed today that he will return to UND for his senior season, meaning the Sioux are unlikely to lose anyone early.

It has been 10 years since the UND men’s hockey team didn’t lose anyone early to the pros, and this offseason is starting to look eerily similar to 1999.

Back then, a MacNaughton Cup champion team with eight seniors fell short of making the NCAA Frozen Four and watched its leading scorer, among others, graduate.

The most likely candidate to leave school early that summer was 6-foot-3, 205-pound power forward Lee Goren. He decided to return to school and UND went on to win the national championship. Goren was the most outstanding player of the Frozen Four.

Chris VandeVelde can only hope that history will repeat itself.

UND again had a MacNaughton Cup champion team with eight seniors fall short of making the Frozen Four, and it had to say goodbye to its leading scorer, among others.

The most likely candidate to leave was VandeVelde – a 6-foot-2, 205-pound power forward. But today, VandeVelde announced he’s returning to UND for his senior year.

That means UND expects to have all of its underclassmen back for the first time since 1999-00 – which also marks UND’s last national title.