League demands were 170 from the Q, 5 from the OHL and 0 from the WHL.
Something needed to be done.
The reason there are more claims from the Q is because there are more Free Agents in the other 2 leagues.
This has to do with each league's draft:
In the Q, each year on average, a team will have only 4 16 year olds on their 50 man protected list.
That leaves another 46 spots for older players.In the O, where they draft 16 year olds for the full 15 rounds of their draft, a team will have on average 14 16 year olds on their their 50 man protected list,
which leaves only 36 spots for older players.20 OHL teams * 10 less roster spots for older players =
200 more free agents.
** I looked at the 2007 OHL draft and all but around a dozen of the players drafted were 16 year olds, and no team passed on a pick.
In the W, there are even fewer spots for older players. They have a 15 round Bantam draft, and teams will have on average 12 15 year olds on their 50 man protected list. I'm going to guess that they still have around 12 16 year olds on their list from the previous draft (and from FA additions). So in total,
they only have around 26 spots left for older players.22 teams * 20 less roster spots for older players = 440 more free agents.
** I looked at the 2007 WHL draft and no players older than 15 were drafted, and most teams passed on their selections from the 12 round on.
If all three CHL leagues had the same draft rules, I imagine the number of requests for free agents would be a little closer.