With The Recent Success Of The Flyers’ And Other Teams’ Underage Prospects, Is It About Time The AHL Drops The Age Requirement For Good?

The COVID-19 virus caused some of the CHL’s leagues to shut down for either part or the full season left a great deal of prospects with nowhere to play. With the American Hockey League (AHL) acknowledging this and allowing for some leniency this season on this now over 40-year-old rule or agreement which was set forth shortly after the National Hockey League (NHL) decided to reduce the draft eligibility from 20 to 18 years old has made for some pretty exciting games in the minor leagues this season. 

All those years ago when the NHL decided on this age change the Canadian junior leagues were worried that now that the NHL teams were allowed to draft and sign their players two years earlier that their franchises would find it hard to stay both competitive, and lucrative with the earlier departure of their star players. So, the NHL made an agreement with the CHL that states: If a signed player is 18 or 19 years old and drafted from one of their leagues but is not retained by the NHL (does not stay up with the big club), then they must be reassigned back to the respective CHL club that they last played for. This rule came with some other stipulations as well: If a player from one of the Canadian leagues is 19 years old already and will have his 20^th birthday before December 31^st, he will be allowed to play in the AHL.

However, for ANY other league around the world, this is not the case: If a player from anywhere in Europe is drafted and later signed and cannot not quite make it in the NHL, his club can choose to either send him back to the league/team that he was drafted from for another season or place them in the AHL at just 18 years old. Same goes for someone drafted from the collegiate ranks: If they are willing to relinquish the rest of their NCAA eligibility to be able to sign a 2-way contract, or strictly an AHL minor league deal, then they, too, could play in the American league at just 18 years old. 

This writer can see why the CHL would still want this deal in place moving forward in order to protect their product- but by doing so they are doing their players a great disservice. As always, the CHL still produces some of the best hockey players this world has ever seen, but what if everyone coming from there is not Mario Lemieux who, in his draft year, scored 133 goals, and 149 assists, for 282 points in just 70 games played and could easily make the transition to the NHL the next season? Even though every player coming up can’t be like Mario and go through juniors like a kid playing EA Sports NHL 2021 on Rookie mode, there are some elite prospects in today’s game that are simply too good to benefit from having to return to the junior ranks and are still not good enough to make an immediate jump to the NHL ranks. Guys like: 

• 18-year-old Quinton Byfield: Drafted 2^nd overall by the LA Kings in last year’s draft out of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) after scoring 82 points in 45 games played. Byfield is now having a phenomenal year for their AHL-affiliate the Ontario Reign and is now set to make his NHL debut very soon.
• 19-year-old Jamie Drysdale: Selected 6^th overall by the Anaheim Ducks in last year’s draft from the OHL. Who as a defenseman, scored 47 points in just 49 games played last year for the Erie Otters was not able to make the Ducks roster out of camp. However, because of his play with their AHL affiliate the San Jose Gulls this season (and injuries that occurred to others on Anaheim’s blue line), he has since been called up to the Ducks and has now played in almost 20 games this season.
• 19-year-old Cole Perfetti: Drafted 10^th overall last season by the Winnipeg Jets. Scored an incredible 111 points last season in the OHL. Which he has been able to do much of the same for his club’s AHL-affiliate the Manitoba Moose this season as well.
• 19-year-old Seth Jarvis: Drafted 13^th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes from CHL’s Western Hockey Leagues (WHL) Portland Winterhawks. He scored 98 points in just 58 games played last year. Jarvis did not make the Canes roster opening night, but was having quite the year for their AHL-affiliate, the Chicago Wolves, scoring at a rate of 1.22 points per game (PPG) before being forced to return to the junior ranks once the WHL returned to play.     

But enough about other teams’ guys. The Flyers have their own players who are benefiting from the AHL’s welcomed bend in this rule. Their 1^st round pick Tyson Forester who the Flyers selected 23^rd overall in last years draft from the Barrie Colts of the OHL, is now 19 years old, signed, and out there lighting up the AHL with 9 goals and 5 assists for 14 points in 16 games played for the Phantoms this year. 

We can’t forget the Flyers’ 4^th round pick this off season from the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs, 18-year-old Zayde Wisdom. He has been equally as good for the Phantoms this year, bringing that hard-nosed brand of hockey that Philadelphia fans have come to appreciate scoring 7 goals and 4 assists for 11 points in 19 games played. 

Because of this decision by the AHL this season to allow underage players into the league, all of the above-mentioned players have been able to further develop their games this season with some even managing to crack their respected club’s NHL roster already- after just a short learning curve in the AHL. Whereas, if it weren’t for COVID closing down or delaying their leagues, these players would have been forced to return to the junior ranks and left to dominate over a bunch of 15- and 16-year-old players. 

While this usual trend looks impressive (scoring 50 goals and well over 100 points in the juniors in a single season), as a “over-ager” after not quite being able to make the cut to suit up for their NHL team opening night, there’s not much benefit from playing against kids far below their skill level. 

 Case in point: The Flyers’ 2017 1^st round pick, Morgan Frost. He was obligated to head back to the OHL’s Soo Greyhounds after being drafted where, in back-to-back seasons, he dominated; Scoring over the 100-point mark twice. Since turning pro, he has struggled to adapt to the rigors of the NHL game, getting injured multiple times. Where, if he were allowed to play with the Phantoms of the AHL after being drafted, this offensively-gifted prospect may be been able to work with those coaches to put a little more emphasis on his strength and conditioning (given his diminutive size) that would have possibly gotten him ready quicker for the next level. Instead, he was being exploited; Used to simply put pucks in the back of the net (something he already excelled at) for the Greyhounds.  

The Flyers’ 2017 2^nd round pick Isaac Ratcliffe is another perfect example of this. At 6’6 and over 200 pounds, this man-child was sent back down to the Guelph Storm for two consecutive seasons to play against boys after being drafted. As impressive as his stats from that time may be (especially in the 2018-2019 where he scored 50 goals and amassed a ton of points) this writer believes, after not being able to make the Flyers roster that forced time in the juniors may have curtailed his progression. Once a so-promising offensive prospect, Ratcliffe just tallied his first goal on the year for the Phantoms, a feat that took him 15 games to do.  

These higher-end prospects need to be challenged and given the chance to learn the tools necessary to advance their game and become a true professional. I believe that it should be the teams’ decisions to decide whether it would benefit their prospect more to stay and play in the AHL or send them back to the junior ranks. This AHL season- like very few before it- has been nothing less than exhilarating to watch! These prospects (above mentioned, and many more) have been able to provide a spark to their AHL teams and have been able to excel as a professional, improving upon their own game at the same time. 

Often, the AHL has gotten the raw deal: If a prospect is good enough to make it to the NHL right out of the gate he does so. Others may take advantage of the NHL slide rule (or trial period, if you will) which allows these young players to play in up to 9 games in the NHL before it is to count as a full year of contract eligibility. If these players show promise they stay, if they do not meet expectations they are sent back to their junior clubs. The majority of the time, this leaves the AHL with a bunch of career “in-betweeners”. These guys may be good enough to get called up for a short stint when a player or two gets hurt on the NHL roster only to be returned to the AHL when that player gets better. 

There needs to be a better stepping stone for these players as they are progressing their way out of the CHL and into the professional level. The times of prospects from the CHL having reigned supreme over all others trying to make their way to the NHL are changing. More and more players are being selected and thus making a quicker transition to the NHL from the United States National Team Development Program (USNTDP), the NCAA, the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL) of Russia, Swedish Hockey League (SHL), and the Liiga of Finland. The CHL needs to swallow their pride and break this antiquated agreement made so long ago in an effort to allow their star players to continue to cultivate their skill set at a higher level (the AHL) and therefore make a smoother transition into the NHL.