Tuesday, March 29, 2011
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 |