I'm not anti-CHL either. Stats prove out it works really well for Canadians and some Americans, but those in a pro environment should stay there, especially a pro environment that is a good league and might be where they've grown up. There's the issue of Russians adapting to CHL that everyone mentions, but there's a similar problem for Swedes, Finn's, Czech's, Slovaks. You gotta do that eventually if you want to play in the NHL, but even kids from these countries where Western culture is a big part of their culture, its still a change, and combining that with hockey can make them struggle to develop. I think its best to let them fully develop into NHL'er in men's leagues in their home country, and once they are NHL ready they should come over to the NHL.
The CHL would be a better path if the AHL and ECHL were options before age 20, but its not. The CHL is a very low level, like all junior leagues. Guys like Morrison, Gropp, Gettinger, Tambellini, Ronning, all recent Ranger draft picks out of the CHL all scored 1PPG or more at one time or another in the CHL, and there's a decent chance this group of recent forward draft picks will produce 0 NHL'ers, so for the really good players, the first round picks, a lot of them are too good for the CHL right after being drafted, but not yet close to NHL ready. Waste two years dominating kids or improve in a quality mens league that is closer to your proper level?
I'm a big proponent of drafting players in a professional league or who are about to be entering a professional league in the upcoming season, I think you have a built in advantage drafting those players because you are getting a group of players who has a built in development advantage.
