Crap, I was wrong about Murray

As it turns out, an oversight in my ability to discern the SJHL and the SMHL have minimized the CBJ's options with Ryan Murray this year.

I had read where Ryan Murray played his 2008-2009 season with the Moose Jaw Warriors presumably of the SJHL, which is a tier I junior hockey league in Canada.  Ryan Murray did play with the Moose Jaw Warriors in 2008-09, however the Moose Jaw Warriors are a Midget AAA team that play in the SMHL.  So, what's the difference between playing a year of Midget AAA or Tier I junior as a 15 year old?  It's actually quite tremendous when you're a 19 year old drafted by the worst team in the league.

See, the CHL and the NHL have sort of a 'transfer agreement' in place.  In case you didn't know, the CHL is a Major Junior hockey league across Canada and (last I checked) four states in the USA. The CHL is the largest development pool for the NHL.   The CHL is one body consisting of three leagues:  The WHL, OHL, and cake eating QMJHL.  Players are drafted into those leagues in various ways.  Like the NCAA in the exploitation of teenage athletes, the CHL doesn't lie and focuses on making millions through the development of U20 players whose goal is professional athletics.  The NCAA hipocracy doesn't like competition and almost all forms of participation in so much as being listed on a CHL team ruins your NCAA eligibility.  There is one way you can play for a Major Junior team and maintain your NCAA eligiblity, but it is next to impossible for that to happen.  Anyways...

Using Host Families to Exploit Teenage Boys since 1975

What the NHL and CHL have in place is an agreement that any player selected from the CHL in the NHL Entry draft cannot be sent to a minor league affiliate unless one of the following two criteria has been met:

1. The player has played or used four years of eligibility in Juniors

• Playing 25 games whether it be regular season or playoffs consumes a year of junior eligibility

2. The player will turn age 20 by Dec 31st of the season they are participating in.

• If Ryan Murray turned 20 by Dec 31st 2012, the CBJ could sign him and then send him to the AHL instead of returning him to his junior team if the CBJ do not feel he's ready for the NHL.

This prevents the NHL from taking mature and capable 19 year olds from the sweat shops of CHL arenas.  Before you start trolling this post, these rules only exist between the CHL and NHL for players drafted while on a CHL team.  While uncommon, you can be drafted by the NHL before playing for a CHL team.  And, you don't have to play in the CHL to be selected in the NHL Entry Draft.

Now, Murray did play parts of four seasons in junior hockey.  However, his first year 2008-09 he only played 5 games.  I mistook Murray's 40-odd games with the Moose Jaw Warriors as a full season in Jrs, satisfying the agreement with the CHL.  It was not a season in Jrs and does not count.  Unless there is a change in the agreement between the CHL and the NHL as a result of collective bargaining, Ryan Murray will only be able to play in WHL or NHL next season.  At this time, the AHL is not an option.

What I said in my "Welcome to the AHL" post does not change.  You will not help Ryan Murray develop by having him play as a 3rd pair defenceman on the worst team in the league.  Nor is it fair to ask the boy to be a 2nd pair contributor no matter how willing he may be to do so.  He needs 22-25 minutes a game playing against men to develop.

I still feel the AHL would be a perfect place for Murray to spend this season.  I still believe that Murray has outgrown the WHL but the Blow Jackets aren't where this kid should spend 2012-2013. 

Maybe Ryan Murray can be the poster child for 19 year olds who have outgrown playing against 17 year olds in the CHL.  Perhaps a new agreement can be reached where the minimum age for AHL eligibility is moved to 19, or maybe a 135 game minimum can be instituted instead of a 4 season minimum.  Regardless, Ryan Murray will get little benefit from another season in Juniors or the Jackets would be throwing away cap space to sit this kid on the bench 45 minutes a game.  But hey, this is Columbus, why not?

Don't feel bad Murray, I've played 5 seasons in the CHL.  I may be on board for a 6th!

Welcome to the AHL Ryan Murray

Welcome to the AHL Ryan Murray.  Well, if I were the GM anyways that's where I'd put him.  Why? Because I don't think he's NHL ready?  No.  It's because I don't think he's ready to be the 5th or 6th defenceman on what's sure to be a repeat performance of the NHL's worst team.

I applaud the Blue Jackets for selecting Ryan Murray.  A few posts ago "My 2012 Draft Recommendation.." touched on how the Blue Jackets needed to pick a kid beyond his years in poise and mental toughness.  I also suggested he score 30 goals, but the point of the post was that the Jackets pick a player that was an out of the box professional, 'wise in his years', and would give us honest but positive interviews.  That kid was Ryan Murray when it came time for the Blow Jackets to draft.

If you truly are a jackets superfan and you're learning hockey along the way, ask yourself this:  who does Ryan Murray play with in 2012-2013?  Your top four defenceman are Wisniewski, Johnson, Tutyin, and Nikitin.  Do you put Murray with Methot or Martinek?  Surely you don't give Nikitin a qualifying offer if you're going to make him a 5th defenseman...  And this brings us to the oft mistaken phrase, "It takes longer for a denfenseman to develop."

You think he'd have a bigger smile. Columbus, OH - Hooray....

This statement is both true and untrue.  It takes longer for a defenseman to physically develop.  You can't be a 6'2" 178 pound defenceman in the NHL.  Wayne Primeau would eat you up.  So yes, you want your defenceman to have their man strength when you have them start skating against men.  This physical maturity typically comes about naturally by age 22 or 23.  Some dude physically transform earlier.

But more to Ryan Murray's case is two points:  1) Defenceman have to make decisions on the ice in an instant.  That is the number one difference between a forward and defencemen.  It is this decision making that takes time to learn.  The first pass makes or break your breakout.  It's the decision by the defenceman that directly influences the start of the breakout, or whether you're lining up at center ice after an opposing team's goal.  I think with 2nd pair ice time, Murray will take less than two years to properly develop that skill set.  I say only two years because he's wise beyond his years.

Secondly Or 2), his development is going to be dependent on his ability to get 18-22 minutes of ice time per game. He doesn't get that being a 5th or 6th (beit a 3rd pair) defenceman skating for the Blue Jackets.  If he's a 3rd pair guy, he'll see 12-16 minutes a game, mostly in the 1st and 2nd period.  If I were GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets, he'd get an entry level NHL contract and spend his first year in the AHL playing with men and getting 20-25 minutes a game as a 1st or 2nd pair defenseman.  Murray is a smart kid, he needs to see the plays breakdown and develop in order to learn.  He's bright, so he won't need three or four years to learn this, but he will need at least one.

It's also worth nothing that I can't think of a worse thing to do to a teenage stud than make him a third pair defenceman and watch his team suck for 82 games.  I also don't think its good for his confidence to expect him to be a 2nd pair kid on the NHL squad his first year and expect him to contribute 22 minutes a night.  Send the Murray to Springfield for 2012-2013.  Call him up for a couple 4 or 5 game homestands with the intention he's only there for 4 or 5 games to see how he's doing.  He'll be ready to rock in 2013-2014 with 22-25 minutes per game where he can thrive.

Who remembers the highly drafted defenceman the CBJ tried to rush into the NHL??