Draft year pressure

Draft year pressure is about the aspirations of draft-eligible players to be an early selection in the NHL entry draft. Players picked early in the draft by NHL teams are given a better entry-level

contract and greater odds to secure an NHL roster spot. At the beginning of the draft eligible season, players are ranked by media outlets, fans, and scouts with their ranking fluctuating in relation to their performances in junior hockey. One rookie expected to be selected first overall at the start of the season dropped as the season came to an end. He stated: “It was pretty stressful knowing there were scouts expecting you to play well. They were watching even when you were away from the rink. It’s tough on the mind and the body” (R3). When a player is touted to be a first overall selection, there is much attention given from NHL media and team representatives.

They wanted to profile the qualities that made the player into one of the most sought after junior players. For the player, such attention was atypical and an adaptive response would have been to manage the newfound attention. A second rookie spoke towards the prevalence of NHL scouts at their junior hockey games. He stated: “It’s tough because you can’t slip up. There are so many eyeballs there that see the mistakes you’ve made. They have seen all of your games and even some practices” (R4). NHL scouts are expected to put together comprehensive reports about potential prospects, which is made up of information gained through observations at games and practices. Prospects hope to positively showcase themselves even though they are young and prone to making mistakes. When the remaining participants are considered, one retired player recalled feeling stressed out by the draft year pressure. He stated: “Where the pressure began, was going into my NHL draft year. At the start, I was rated as a top five pick in the draft. But at the end of the year, I dropped down” (Re3). Ultimately, a high ranking from NHL team and media representatives put overwhelming pressure on two participants whose productivity and corresponding rank declined from the start until the end of their NHL draft year.

4.1.1.1.1 Controlling draft pressure

Controlling draft pressure refers to a prospect’s ability to manage the pressures that go with

being expected to be a high pick in the NHL entry draft. Given its importance, the NHL draft can distract players from concentrating on their training and performances. However, many

participants handled it better than others and were selected early in the draft. According to the participants, one common way to control the distraction was to concentrate on team success. One retired player explained: “When I was playing, I was more worried about winning the game then who was in the stands watching. There was no pressure there at all” (R8). By emphasising team success, players allocated their attention away from their individual performances and were better able to compete with little regard for the draft. Consequently, players performed at or above expectations leading to a high selection in the NHL draft. One retired player that was selected first overall in the NHL entry draft attributed his effective management of draft year pressure to the regularly showing his talents. He stated: “I was never pre-occupied with scouts or the draft. I knew as long as I scored goals and created opportunities, they were never going to affect me” (Re5). The retired player had an exceptional junior hockey career, which was the product of maintaining a regular focus on scoring instead of individual awards or, most important for the present stress episode, the NHL entry draft.

4.1.1.1.2 Draft obsession

Draft obsession is when junior or college players have incessant thoughts about the NHL entry draft and closely measure their individual performances in relation to its influence on their draft ranking. As previously discussed, players undergo much pressure during their draft year. They may respond adaptively by controlling the pressure or in a maladaptive way by obsessing over positioning themselves for an optimum entry-level salary. In the present study, two participants admitted to being obsessed with the draft in junior hockey and saw their rank drop as a result.

One rookie was predicted to go first overall at the start of the season and lowered his rank at the

end of the season by playing poorly. He attributed his poor performance and lower selection to permitting the draft to consume his thoughts. When asked for example of these thoughts, the rookie responded: “You are too careful with everything you do and try to bring it every night because you don’t know how often each individual scout is going to watch you play” (R3).

Overemphasizing the importance of one’s performance in relation to the draft is a sure sign of an obsession, which can have a debilitating effect on a potential NHL player. One retired player also expected to be selected early in his draft year noted that his obsession with personal

statistics prevented him from playing well. He stated: “I had a really good first year in junior and when I was in my draft year, I expected my numbers to go up. But they stayed the same and it got to me” (Re3). The retired player’s expectation to be selected early was a result of his positive statistics from the previous year. When he struggled to surpass those statistics, he worried about the negative effect it would have on his ranking in the draft and his subsequent performance was affected. Had he been able to control his obsession over the draft, his statistics would have improved throughout the season and in the end, he would have surpassed the previous totals.