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Down on the farm

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BlackIce:
I don't know how many of you are aware, but


(1) The Caps website now has complete up-to-date statistics on all active prospects.  Click on "team" on the top banner, then click "on the farm" and click on the name of any player whose information you'd like to see.  This is miles above what was available in previous years, in terms of both content and user-friendliness.


(2) There are very interesting developments with two of the Caps' draft choices from this past June, #1 Connor McMichael and #3 Aliaksei Protas.  Protas is killing the WHL this year, accumulating 1.5 points per game, and McMichael is off to an almost unfathomable start in the OHL, averaging almost 2.5 points per game.  Protas is a big, 3rd line center type (6'6", 210 pounds at age 18) while McMichael is an obvious candidate as an eventual top-6 player.  The interesting thing about the two of them are that they are both still 18 AND, this is the crucial thing, have January birthdays.  Those birthdates are crucial because it means that neither of them can play in pro hockey next year other than in the NHL; otherwise, they must remain in Canadian junior hockey.  If these two keep going even remotely close to the way they have so far and continue to dominate their leagues, it would seem almost pointless for them to play junior hockey next season -- they'd have nothing left to prove at that level.  BUT, their only alternative is to make the Caps roster.  What happens to these two over the next 10 months is going to make for some interesting study.

alta:
so next season these two must be in South Carolina or Hershey? Although, depending on how the Seattle draft goes there may be a roster spot in Washington

BlackIce:

--- Quote from: alta on Sunday December 01, 2019, 05:36:05 PM Eastern ---so next season these two must be in South Carolina or Hershey? Although, depending on how the Seattle draft goes there may be a roster spot in Washington

--- End quote ---


No, they CANNOT be in SC or Hershey.  As I understand it, the birthday cutoff is Dec. 31.  They are born after that, and so will turn 20 after the end of 2020.  That means that not only are they fully eligible to play in Juniors next season, they can play pro hockey ONLY in the NHL.


If they were born on or before Dec. 31, they would have been able to play juniors next year only as one of a team's 3 special exceptions.  Otherwise, they could be signed to a pro contract and play in the hockey minor leagues (i.e., ECHL or AHL).


As I understand it, the Seattle draft is not until after the 2020/2021 season.  Yes, a Caps forward could be taken in that draft and open a spot on the roster.  But another thing to understand is that 1st and 2nd year pros do not have to be protected from the draft.  They are automatically exempted from being drafted, so the club doesn't need to include either of them on its list of protected players.  The thing is though, there could also be many other reasons besides the expansion draft that a forward spot opens up on the Caps roster -- injury, the team choosing not to resign someone or not being able to sign someone due to salary cap considerations, etc.

4 Caps:
It is unfortunate that neither are eligible to play in Hershey next season but I don’t see either one making the Caps roster next season.  They will really waste another year in juniors.  I wonder if they could play for a team in Europe.  I doubt whether the European teams are bound by the agreement between the NHL and the CHL.  McMichael probably would not want to play in Europe but Protas would probably jump at the opportunity. 

alta:
that's a bad rule that needs changing, very few players can make the jump from juniors to NHL

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