I'm not really sure if this is where this belongs... but just my two cents worth.
I'm okay with players leaving early to go to the NHL, because I realize that's been their dream for years. The one thing that bothers me is that I feel like, as fan, we don't get to properly thank them. With the seniors we get to recognize their parents on the ice, and in recent years given them a standing ovation for a "final skate" at the end of their last home game. With the players that leave early we don't get to do any of that. If you go to the end of the year autograph session you know that they will deny leaving early, even if they are going to be leaving the next day. We get no advance notice, and never get the chance to thank them for all of the entertainment/happiness that they have proivded us. I can't think of a way to fix this, but just thought I would throw it out there for others to think about.
Now back to pretending that perhaps they won't leave at the end of the season....