“I think if a guy is certainly ready to play in the NHL, then that’s something that we encourage,” Ewell said. “We are proud [of] how our college teams can develop players and get them ready to step into the NHL. Where we have concern is when players leave too early and aren’t quite prepared for that level of competition and leave themselves with a lot of work to do to get their degree.”
For some players, the decision to leave a college team early pays dividends. Toews left the University of North Dakota after his sophomore year in 2007 to sign with the Chicago Blackhawks and was named the MVP of the Stanley Cup playoffs three years later. For other players, it can represent a questionable gamble.
In the 2009-10 NCAA season, Harvard freshman and first-round draft pick Louis Leblanc took home Ivy League Rookie of the Year honors with 23 points in 31 games. By the next season, Leblanc had signed a three-year deal with the Montreal Canadiens.
Leblanc played one successful season in the CHL before appearing in 42 games for the Canadiens in 2011-12. Since then, however, the Quebec native has been relegated to minor league play. Leblanc was among the Canadiens’ first group of cuts for the 2013-14 season.
Ewell noted that most college players who decide to go pro early usually have less academic ground to make up than Leblanc.
“In most cases we’ve found, especially recently, players have been staying three years at a minimum, and that gives them a great shot at finishing their degree in the summer or even online in some cases,” Ewell said.
Of the 271 former NCAA players who appeared in the 2012-13 NHL season, 71 percent spent three or more years in college. Fourty four percent stayed a full four years. The Crimson’s most recent Ivy League Rookie of the Year will be sticking around at least one more season.
“My personal opinion is that a college player should only leave before graduating if he has dominated the league so much that it wouldn’t benefit him any more to stay in college hockey,” Vesey said. “Nashville has told me that they don’t care if I stay all four years, because with some teams that might be an issue.”
Louis Leblanc’s former classmate, Alex Killorn ’12, played through all four years of his eligibility before signing a contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning. Killorn had a breakout rookie season last year and seems to have secured a solid spot on Tampa Bay’s depth chart.
“Killorn’s a great story,” Kennedy said. “There’s a player who really benefitted from playing in the NCAA, where he took that development time and turned himself into a prospect.”
Ultimately, the NHL offers only about 700 jobs, most of which won’t be opening up any time soon. Most of the 211 players selected in Hart and Vesey’s draft will not see any NHL playing time, and even fewer will enjoy lengthy careers at the highest level of hockey.
But as the sport continues to grow in the United States and schools like Harvard increase their yields of elite talent, the future promises more college hockey success stories.
“Right now I’m just taking it year by year,” Vesey said. “I had a pretty solid freshman year, and I’m trying to build off that and see where it takes me.”
—Staff writer Michael D. Ledecky can be reached at michael.ledecky@thecrimson.com.