Jacob Trouba will make his NHL debut tonight

Submitted by Clarence Beeks on
Jacob Trouba will make his NHL debut tonight in Buffalo. The Jets still have a shot at a playoff spot, so this should be a great opportunity to make a difference early.

justingoblue

April 22nd, 2013 at 7:31 PM ^

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_NHL_Entry_Draft

In hockey, a player doesn't have to go through the process of revoking eligibility/hiring an agent that the NBA and NFL require. Trouba left the team (I think about two weeks ago?) and immediately signed with Winnipeg and probably an agent based on his nineth overall selection in 2012.

In the NHL, players have a more passive entry to the draft than in basketball or football (more like baseball than either other league) and can remain in school after being drafted, since the teams draft rights and don't expect to sign that season. Once a player decides to leave the NCAA, the team has thirty days to sign them to a contract.

taistreetsmyhero

April 22nd, 2013 at 8:02 PM ^

So he was drafted last year, declared that he was going pro, and is now playing for the team that drafted him during the same season?

Would an analog for basketball have been Burke being drafted two years ago by say the bucks or whoever, now declaring last week, and playing for them in the playoffs this week? Cuz if so....they need to get on that!!!!

Fhshockey112002

April 22nd, 2013 at 8:06 PM ^

You have the concept correct, yes players drafted in previous years join teams later in the season when rosters are expanded for playoff races.  However, if a player plays in more than 5 games this season it burns 1 year of his entry contract.  This is why Winnipeg waited for Trouba to make his debut. They plan on playing Trouba 2-3 games, letting him see NHL speed and players, and not buring his contract year. 

 

justingoblue

April 22nd, 2013 at 8:26 PM ^

The NCAA, NBA moving in hockey's general direction, I mean. Trouba was drafted (in the top ten) by Winnipeg last year. I believe there are usually discussions with the team about what the preferred option for the player is. For example, Patrick Kane wasn't going to play in the minors at all, Trouba probably needed a year or two at most and both sides were comfortable with him playing for M (although the AHL may have come up as an option), and then other guys need more substantial development and will more or less be told to get coached up by Red for 4-5 years.

In basketball terms, this is like Burke being selected in the second round last year and having whatever NBA team salavating at having him at that price now, while someone might have the rights to sign GRIII as a first round pick but wouldn't be willing to do it this year and tell him to wait in the NCAA. Meanwhile a guy like Stauskas might be taken in a hypothetical fourth or fifth round and the Bulls or whoever aren't counting on him at all for 4-5 years.

gwkrlghl

April 22nd, 2013 at 8:32 PM ^

You'll pretty regularly see Michigan hockey players go right from the seaon's last game into the AHL or ECHL and sometimes work on graduating while they're with their new team. Pretty rare for a Michigan player to jump straight to the NHL. I've never seen it before. I'd guess Jack Johnson did it but I haven't heard of anyone else

kdhoffma

April 23rd, 2013 at 1:13 PM ^

There have been a few.  I can remember Denny Felsner doing it in the early 90's,  Finished his senior year and went straight to the Blues to play a few games before the season ended.  Of course he saw only a limited number of NHL games in his career after that. 

Clarence Beeks

April 22nd, 2013 at 7:45 PM ^

Well, that's what I get for taking NHLNetwork's word for it. He skated in the warm up, and was supposed to play, but didn't take the ice for the beginning of the game. With that in mind, I apologize for starting the thread, but at the time I wrote it he was listed as in the line up for tonight. I'm not sure what happened, but he was actually supposed to play tonight.

G0B1U3

April 22nd, 2013 at 11:17 PM ^

No, you're allowed to have a certain number of guys skate in warmups, and then the number is cut down for game time. There are a couple of reasons for why they would do it. One it could just be for shits and giggles, give him a chance to get out there in front of the crowd, or sometimes teams do that when they are uncertain about another player, for injury or something, so they put both out and then choose one.