I received a very interesting text message the other day from a scout on a QMJHL team.
It simply read;
“All kids coming back from USA.”
I’m afraid the rest of that conversation is off the record.
Obviously, the rumour mill is running rampant right now, but with all the uncertainty surrounding the horrific COVID-19 pandemic one could speculate that some young Canadian’s playing south of the border could potentially return home and play in the QMJHL.
What does that mean for this year’s QMJHL draft?
Will some QMJHL teams land highly touted players that weren’t expected to report in favour of the school route?
How many player’s could in fact be returning home?
Are players eligible to be drafted again?
Do players have to be on a team’s protected list?
How do compensation picks work?
This is from a 2014 article published by the league regarding compensation selections.
Compensatory draft pick
In order to benefit from a compensatory draft pick, the team must make a written request to the Commissioner before the established date to remove players from the admissibility list for the next entry draft.
If the team uses the compensatory draft pick, the player will be put back on Central Scouting’s list for the next entry draft.
Should the same compensatory draft pick be awarded to more than one club, the order of selection between said clubs will be the same as the previous annual entry draft.
The team that chooses to take its compensatory draft pick of the QMJHL will have the opportunity to draft in the first round, five picks later than its selection.
Example: Pick #1 of the first round of the previous entry draft for pick #6 of the first round of the next entry draft.
Here’s the link to the full article: https://theqmjhl.ca/changes-in-qmjhl-rules/
Obviously we could see highly touted 17 year olds being selected again in the first round of this years draft and we could also see players sign and report if the team kept the player on their protected list.
Could this drastically impact certain organizations draft boards and plans moving forward?
If high profile players return what does that do to the draft order?
Time will certainly tell, there’s no question excitement is building around the 2020 QMJHL Draft.
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