> From:         Ralph Baer <[log in to unmask]>
>
> There have already been a couple of posts about incoming Freshamn
> being selected in the recent NHL draft.  I can add one more name,
> Mark Murphy, frosh-to-be at RPI, was chosen in the 8th round by
> Toronto.
>
> I am confused.  (So what else is new? :-) )  I thought that incoming
> freshman could not be drafted unless they declared, but this would
> make them not eligible to play in college.  Is it connected with their
> age perhaps?  Does anyone know why these incoming freshamn could be
> drafted, but many more could not?
 
Add me to the "Confused" Club.  I admit to not paying a lot of attention
to NHL draft rules, BUT my guess is that you are right about it having to
do with their age, and the players drafted are not 18 year-old freshmen.
It is my understanding that any 19-year-old is eligible whether he declares
himself or not, so any player overlooked as an 18-year-old last year
(like Ryan Kraft and Casey Hankinson, MN sophs born in 1976, drafted in
or about the 8th round this year) can be drafted this year.  Any
19-year-old freshman (say, someone who'd spent a post-HS year in the
USHL) could be drafted.
 
I think my guess here is supported by the fact that none of these players
are going higher than the 7th or 8th round, so they ARE probably
players who were eligible last year, but overlooked.  We could only
prove this if we had the ages of all the drafted recruits, though.
 
I hope I did more than just add to the confusion...
-Pam