No Reason for NCAA Players to Jump Into Pro Ranks too Soon

Once a player has been drafted by an NHL team they usually take one of two different routes, either go play in one of the Junior Hockey Leagues such as the OHL or take the NCAA route and get an education while playing for their schools team. The majority of American born players tend to take the NCAA route as they are usually offered a full-ride to come and play in the very competitive atmosphere of Men's Division 1 College Hockey. However, the thing that confuses me the most is why some of these more talented players decide to leave college after only a year or two to turn pro, just as how Boston University star and Arizona Coyotes Draft pick Clayton Keller left after one year to sign with the Coyotes following the Terriers loss in the 2017 NCAA tournament.

Credit Hockey Futures

How could someone who is being given four free years of higher education ever want to turn that down just for the chance to play in the NHL three years sooner? I understand that there are many factors that come into this decision, making boatloads of money right off the bat being the largest of them, but what are these players going to do once their youth runs out?

Credit NHL.com

First of all, there is no certainty that these players will ever even crack an NHL roster, if they are high draft picks there is a pretty good chance but still not 100%. Even if these players do end up having long and profitable careers with NHL teams these careers tend to end by the age of 30, the average age of retirement in the NHL is 28 years of age, and then what are they supposed to do?

ESPN hockey analyst on whether or not to leave college early

By no means am I "bashing" on these players for making the jump early, god knows if I was in their shoes I would probably be doing the same thing, but from my perspective it doesn't make sense to pass up a free education that could make my life a lot easier in the long run Versus leaving early for a few extra years in the pros.

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