Non American here but big sports fan and I hear about D1 athletes and people playing college sports and the NFL draft and was just wanting to know how they all tie in together.
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The NFL basically uses college football as its minor league for developing prospects, except they tend to wait to draft players until they’re age 20+ or so.
The NHL on the other hand usually drafts the top prospects at age 18 after seeing how they do in juniors or high school leagues. Some players are good enough to make the NHL team at age 18, and they often jump right in to the pros. Otherwise there is a North American professional minor league (the AHL), lower level overseas pro leagues (like Finland’s Liiga or Sweden’s SHL), they could stay in the juniors, or they could play college hockey to continue developing until they are ready to be a pro.
Idk how basketball or baseball work, to roundout the US big 4 sports.
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