The Leafs and their NHL rivals are loaded with prospects who need to develop. The pandemic is playing havoc with hockey’s future

As the best teenage hockey players in the world heard their names called during the NHL’s virtual draft last week, there was a question hanging over the proceedings that couldn’t really be answered.

What’s next?

A lot of these prospects — some of whom will form the backbone of the teams that selected them — won’t have a place to play, or will have limited playing time, or might only have a spot until the coronavirus has something to say about it.

Any way you slice it, an important year of development could be lost or compromised.

“One of the things we have to accept is that, certainly, development is going to be different,” Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas said.

“That’s the biggest unknown,” echoed San Jose GM Doug Wilson. “Depending on when we start, it’s going to be a long period of time before when we ramp back up again.”

While health precautions come first, GMs across the league face the same issues and it’s clear they are working together when they can to find solutions.

“The onus is on us to do everything we can to try to help, to try to find places for young men to play,” said Florida GM Bill Zito. “Use relationships, resources wherever it’s prudent, or wherever it’s allowed, to help find places to place guys in leagues. It’s not going to be easy.”

The European leagues are the starting point. Most, but not all, are playing.

NHL teams have lent 145 players to European clubs. The Leafs’ group includes forward Egor Korshkov (Lokomotiv Yaroslavl, KHL) plus defencemen Filip Kral (HC Prerov, Czech Republic), Kristians Rubins (Frederikshavn White Hawks, Denmark) and Mikko Lehtonen (Jokerit, KHL). Forward Denis Malgin is rumoured to be on his way to Lausanne in the Swiss league. Forward Filip Hallander, acquired in the Kasperi Kapanen deal, is in Sweden with Lulea HF.

Further down the pipeline, the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League have said they hope to start on Dec. 1, although the OHL season is in question with the provincial government asking them to modify rules around contact.

The Quebec juniors are playing — with the Quebec-based clubs competing within the province only, and teams based in Atlantic Canada playing there — but the Blainville-Boisbriand Armada and Sherbrooke Phoenix have suspended all in-person team activities after COVID-19 outbreaks. Meanwhile, the Quebec government is preparing to shut down team sports in the pandemic’s hot zones in the greater Montreal area and Quebec City. That also affects the Armada as well as the Remparts.

College hockey in the United States is targeting a late November restart.

The American Hockey League, meanwhile, will probably mimic the NHL’s start-up date, now moved to Jan. 1. The East Coast league just announced a split season, with some teams starting in December and others in January, using points percentage instead of point totals to determine the standings.

“I do believe the AHL will come back and will be in existence,” Islanders GM Lou Lamoriello said, “whether they change a bit of the format, or the divisions. But we have to develop our players.

“The good news is, 75 per cent of the teams are owned by NHL teams. So whatever the financial loss will be by not having a crowd, you’re really investing in the future of your organization, so that we would maybe — and this is off the cuff — create our own little bubble with our players. We could have a bus league and play (a limited) number of teams.”

The OHL, WHL, AHL and ECHL all have teams in both Canada and the U.S., so the restricted border and 14-day quarantines are another hill to climb in the for-profit developmental ranks.

For Wilson, the challenges will reveal which players love the sport the most: “What you need to have is players who are so prepared when it does start — they have that ‘love of the game’ mentality — (that they) are willing to put the work in and are ready to go.”

For Dubas, there’s a silver lining to having no games: extra conditioning and skills work.

“This also presents a tremendous opportunity for a younger player, who maybe has some physical and strength limitations, to make major gains without having to focus on any games at all. You can focus on your strength and conditioning, or on the ice with skating coaches or instructors, and really make gains in terms of your strength and your on-ice technical ability, even though I know games are much more fun.

“We have to worry about what we can control and do the best to maximize the circumstances that come our way, and carry on our development in different ways.”