The NHL Draft is one of the most anticipated events of the season. Especially for fans of teams that finished the tournament in the basement of the table and now have a high pick (the right to choose among the first). Getting a young talented player in the draft, and especially the first pick, is an opportunity to strengthen and start rebuilding the team.

And the main task of this procedure is to equalize the teams on a sporting basis and maintain competitiveness in the league.

Fans with experience remember that there was a similar talent fair in the KHL. So, in the 2014 KHL draft, Metallurg Novokuznetsk selected Kirill Kaprizov under the first number.

Thanks to the draft, young hockey players received almost greenhouse conditions for starting a sports career in adult hockey. However, the KHL still decided to abandon this procedure.

The draft helped players unlock their potential

The KHL positioned itself immediately after its founding as a league capable of competing with the NHL. To do this, in the domestic championship decided to adapt all the positive experience of overseas colleagues. Including the draft of young talents, which was held in Russia for the first time in 2009.

The very procedure for choosing hockey players was not much like an analogue from the NHL. If overseas they staged a real show out of this event, then the first KHL draft took place in the office and without a festive atmosphere. However, it was an important step that strengthened the position of the domestic league.

The draft gave young players the opportunity to prove themselves, and not wipe the bench or rush between farm clubs, as happens after its cancellation. So, Vancouver forward Vasily Podkolzin made his senior hockey debut with SKA. But his first season cannot be called successful – Podkolzin played only three games for the “army men”, and his playing time did not even reach six minutes per match. Since it is difficult for a young player to get a place at the base of a team claiming the Gagarin Cup, he was forced to play for the youth team and the farm club from the VHL.

Photo: © ska

A similar story is with Vasily Ponomarev, who this season won the Calder Cup (the main AHL trophy). And the forward began his career in adult hockey at Spartak Moscow, where his playing time reached a humiliating 12 seconds per match.

The draft, on the other hand, protected young players from such situations and allowed them to open up in clubs where there was not much competition. The honor of being the first number in the debut “junior fair” went to the pupil of the Chelyabinsk “Mechel” Mikhail Pashnin. The defender was drafted by CSKA Moscow in 2009. The coaching staff of the army team immediately believed in Pashnin, giving him a place in the first team. And in the first season, he spent almost all the matches for the Moscow club.

And the most famous first number of the KHL draft is Kaprizov, who was chosen by Metallurg Novokuznetsk in 2014. In his debut season in the domestic championship, the 17-year-old forward played 31 matches, and his average playing time was 11 minutes. Kaprizov spent several seasons at Metallurg, and when he grew into a full-fledged hockey player, he signed a contract with Salavat. Then the player’s career took off, and now Kirill is rightfully considered an NHL star.

Kirill Kaprizov / Photo: © KHL / Yury Kuzmin

Another example of the positive impact of the draft on the careers of young players is Nikita Zaitsev. The graduate of the Krylia Sovetov was selected in the 2009 KHL draft in the first round under the overall 4th number by Siberia. In the Novosibirsk club, the defender played 192 matches and even rose to the rank of team captain. Then the top defense player was lured over by CSKA. So in transit through the army, Zaitsev ended up in the NHL.

KHL clubs against the draft

A logical question arises: why was the draft in the KHL canceled if it worked so well? The fact is that at the dawn of the “talent fair” the teams could only protect three pupils. The rest of the players could go to a direct competitor. It turns out that KHL clubs spend money on sports schools, invest in young hockey players, but their graduates can be chosen by other teams. Then the league made concessions and expanded the quota to five players who can be protected.

However, this move killed the very idea of ​​the draft. Teams that have a high pick could not choose top juniors. Therefore, the idea of ​​a draft draft was soon abandoned altogether. Although the procedure itself not only gave young hockey players the opportunity to open up, but also increased the level of entertainment in the league, because weak teams were strengthened by the first numbers.

The last KHL draft took place in 2016, and since then, many have spoken out about the need to return the procedure for selecting young talents. Sports agent Dan Milstein, who handles the cases of Andrei Vasilevsky and Nikita Kucherov, also speaks about this.

– I think that in the KHL there must be a draft. But with strict rules. Yes, a team can retain a certain number of its pupils. But it’s unfair when 60 people sign up in one club, and many will not have a chance to play in the KHL in the near future, said Dan Milstein

Russian fans are already tired of the lack of intrigue in the KHL – every year several teams fight for the Gagarin Cup among themselves. In the league, they are still trying to fight for the audience: they have introduced a salary cap and are even thinking about new formats for holding the championship.

In this battle for the attention of KHL fans, it would be worth returning to the draft as well. Then promising players would not be lost on the huge benches of rich clubs, but could strengthen clubs that do not have much competition.