Ralph Baer posts:
 
>It is interesting that the three RPI Freshmen that Jayson chose
>(Healey, Tapper, and Brownlee) were not NHL draft picks, while the
>three that he did not choose (Aldous, Battaglia, and Masotta) were NHL
>draft picks ... it does show that qualities that the NHL thinks are
>important do not always correspond to those that are important at
>the college level.
 
More than anything, it shows that an 18-year-old draft is a crapshoot.
The shortening of the NHL draft (from 12 rounds to 11) and the influx
of available Eastern Europeans has definitely cut into the number of
college-bound players who are drafted, but it is still often the case
that the biggest kids go before the most skilled - scouts look
for guys who will 'fill out' and count on the players' skills
improving in the four or five years it will take him to make the
NHL.
 
Some examples?
 
James Mackey, Yale '94/Boston Bruins pick who didn't get a regular
shift until his junior year. 6'4, 230.
 
Chris Patrick, Princeton '98/Washington, didn't play in a game for
Princeton this season. 6'5, 200.
 
Joel Prpic, SLU '97/Boston, 7 pts as a freshman (although he has
already shown signs of improvement). 6'6, 210.
 
Corey Machanic, UVM '94/Rangers, an undistinguished career for the
Catamounts. 6'3, 210.
 
Meanwhile, plenty of small, highly skilled players come into the
college ranks every year without getting drafted. Martin St. Louis
and Eric Perrin are two prime examples. It is rare for an NHL
club to risk a pick on a player under 5-10, and getting rarer.
Defenseman won't even get a sniff unless they are over 6 feet and
200 pounds. That doesn't necessarily explain the RPI situation,
since  Eric Healey, Patrick Brownlee and Brian Tapper are not
undersized - but it factors into the equation when you look at
all the drafted players in college hockey. Generally, I don't really
pay attention to a freshman's draft status unless he went in
the fourth round or higher. Most of those players have something
special to offer right away. The fifth to sixth rounders usually
have some raw talent, and the seventh rounders and below are usually
6 footers who are projected to keep growing/filling out.
 
There is also the 'late bloomer' category of players who don't show enough
to get drafted at 18, take a post-graduate year or play minor junior
for a couple of seasons and wind up being impact players as 19, 20 or 21
year-old freshman. Greg Bullock comes to mind.
 
Some coaches make a living on finding players who
are overlooked at 18 but want to go to college right away - and then
develop into studs once they get on campus. The Ivy League has plenty
of players who fall into this category, most notably Randy Wood. He's
turned out to be a pretty solid NHLer despite not really doing anything
for Yale until his junior season.
 
Geoff Howell
The Trenton TImes
Drop the Puck