The Daily Traub

Yet again another Michigan Hockey commitment has defected to the OHL.  Defenseman Connor Carrick is not the first person, nor will he be the last.  It isn’t always the OHL that is at fault, as the QMJHL and WHL have done just as much.  It drives me literally insane when kids who are committed, decommit during the SUMMER before they are supposed to end up on campus and go the CHL.  I understand that these kids need to do what they think is best, but I think a major, major reason is that most of the NHL teams that pick these kids influence them to leave.  The biggest issue here is that this scholarship is burned for the next year and Michigan or another school cannot go out and add another player.  A player that would feel happy and blessed for an opportunity to play college hockey, and not one that thinks he is entitled to the opportunity.  Carrick is a 5th round pick of the Washington Capitals, and I could sit here and spew statistics about the probability of success for a player to make it to the NHL from being drafted in the 5th round, but that would be wrong.  Statistics and probability of success do not apply to the NHL draft like they do with the NBA or NFL Drafts.  The players that are picked are typically 18 years old and they haven’t finished developing yet.  Carrick could develop into the best defenseman in the entire draft; highly unlikely, but still probable given the Long Term Athlete Development in hockey.  Each athlete is entitled to their own shot, and no two players are the same, so you should try not to group them together in such a general manner.

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