It's worth noting that this is also a "hit" for college hockey in general. The general consensus is Brady is not NHL-ready right now (he's not) and is the perfect candidate to develop at the collegiate level. It would've been great for the track record of D1 hockey to prove it can develop high-first round picks into NHL-ready stars in a short amount of time. Most think Brady left because Ottawa offered him a spot because their roster is so terrible and they want some good press heading into this year. As of the end of last season, his body was still growing, and his game was VERY raw. He's got loads of talent, but is nowhere near the level of readiness that other top 10 picks in college were at. If he'd stayed a year, continued to work on his game in the NCAA structure of more practice, fewer games and then stepped into the NHL in fall 2019 as an immediate impact player, that'd make the collegiate route that much more appealing for players and NHL teams down the line. Of course, this would be to the benefit of every NCAA program looking to recruit these players, something UConn certainly is targeting itself to be and is on its way to doing so.
