The Kontinental Hockey League says it will abolish its junior draft, which has struggled to become a hit with fans and suffered from talented young players opting to move to North America.

Of the past four No. 1 picks in the KHL draft, only one has gone on to play in the league, with two others opting for the Canadian junior leagues instead.

As the NHL is set to celebrate its centennial season in 2016-17, there's an initiative to explore ways to improve the game, including the possibility of increasing the draft age to 19.

"We're exploring many ideas in improving conditions for player development, and raising the draft age is one of many things that we're looking at, and those discussions remain very preliminary," said former NHL player and Hall of Famer Pat LaFontaine, who now works for the league in development.