Tuesday, March 29, 2011

No Sure Thing


No Sure Thing

As college seasons end, many of college fans’ favorite players take their talents to the next level – some sooner than fans would like.

While many of those leaving early make us proud – and often return to campus to earn their degrees – it does not assure many players of a fast track to the NHL. To illustrate this point, we took a look back four years at the group of 31 players who left college hockey early after the 2006-07 season.

That group included some tremendous pros, including Jonathan Toews, Erik and Jack Johnson and Cory Schneider. Each of those players was a first-round NHL draft pick.

Discount the first rounders who signed early in 2007 and only nine of the 22 players who left early have played as many as 15 NHL games in the four years since their departure. Undrafted players have found the road even tougher: eight of 11 players who left school early to sign free agent contracts haven’t played 125 NHL games, and only one – Maine’s Teddy Purcell – has surpassed 70 career NHL games.

Here’s the list of 2007 early departures, along with the time they spent in school, games they have played in the NHL (as of March 28) and draft status.

EARLY SIGNEES AFTER THE 2006-07 SEASON NCAA Yrs. NHL GP Draft
O’Brien, Jim OTT/MIN 1 6 1st
Schneider, Cory VAN/BC 3 32 1st
Skille, Jack CHI/WIS 2 88 1st
Lee, Brian OTT/NoDak 2 126 1st
Johnson, Erik STL/MIN 1 220 1st
Johnson, Jack LA/MICH 2 275 1st
Niskanen, Matt DAL/UMD 2 290 1st
Toews, Jonathan CHI/NoDak 2 295 1st
Cogliano, Andrew EDM/MICH 2 321 1st
Paukovich, Geoff EDM/DU 3 0 2nd
Goligoski, Alex PIT/MIN 3 192 2nd
Raymond, Mason VAN/UMD 2 267 2nd
Weller, Shawn OTT/CLK 3 0 3rd
Matsumoto, Jonathan PHI/BGSU 3 13 3rd
Quick, Jon LA/MASS 2 174 3rd
Mitchell, Torrey SJ/UVM 3 198 4th
McKenzie, Jim OTT/MSU 3 0 5th
Santorelli, Mike NSH/NMU 3 108 6th
Gordon, Andrew WSH/SCSU 3 12 7th
Jones, David COL/DART 3 161 9th
Dingle, Ryan ANA/DU 3 0 FA
Pinizzotto, Steve WSH/RIT 2 0 FA
Fox, TJ SJ/UNION 2 0 FA
Campbell, Darcy CBJ/UAF 3 1 FA
Greentree, Kyle PHI/UAF 3 4 FA
Piskula, Joe LA/WIS 3 5 FA
Smith, Trevor NYI/UNH 2 7 FA
Smith, Derek A. OTT/LSSU 3 9 FA
Wagner, Steve STL/MN ST 3 46 FA
Letestu, Mark PIT/WMU 1 68 FA
Purcell, Teddy LA/ME 1 184 FA