shrader

So in other words, Aho compromised, but with another team and not Carolina. That's just plain strange.

Did the league ever give a reason for eliminating their system of compensatory picks back during the 2004-05 lockout? I don't remember ever actually seeing anything about that. But yes, I'm completely with you on all of this. Comping the lost college picks opens the door to so many other options that would need to be considered. As we're doing right now, we'll be unhappy with whatever winds up being the new scenario where teams get nothing, and all because of one fairly rare occurrence. We'll just continue to move the goal posts. I don't see any need for change here.

He's also suing that football league right now. He's always doing something to try to grab people's attention. I realize this is one hell of a generalization, but I feel like the better ownership situation is the one that tends to stay under the radar.

You have to set some arbitrary cutoff point where those rights expire. That 4 year line from the point of becoming draft eligible has been their standard forever at this point. If you want to change that, it's a pretty major change that would need to be made across the board. What would be the corresponding move for the major junior guys, because they're free to sign anywhere after that same timeframe.

If we're talking about that elite guy, they would be walking away from 3-4 years of that ELC plus the bonuses to go along with it. It's a significant chunk of change that could never be recovered. In your scenario, yes, that guy is unrestricted at age 22, but he still gets stuck with 2 years of the ELC restrictions, something he would have already been free of had he signed those 3 years earlier. So you've pushed back that window where you can make the big bucks, even more lost wages that cannot be recovered. And on top of that, after that ELC ends, they player would be an RFA with less options. You're not at UFA status until you have 7 years of service or are 27 years old (I'll ignore the route a guy like O'Regan just took since we're talking about an elite guy here). So this guy who hold out through college has significantly pushed back the date where his clock starts ticking towards making the real money. And then there's the other options like endorsements that he also can't get while in the NCAA. Completely ignoring that, with a very lazy estimate, we're talking about well over $10 million lost on just salary alone.

Ultimately, I don't think the compensation would be worth much. They currently give out a 2nd round pick if you lose your guy you took in the 1st. Anything new would probably follow that same model, one year later. Is it really worth much at that point? We'd be left right back where we started, with fans thinking the team is losing too much. I'm not against the idea, I just don't think they have any interest in changing anything right now. I'd love to see a situation where they're allowed to sign a contract but allowed to remain in the NCAA. Then they could get the same 2 year window that the major junior guys get and everyone would be on a level playing field, except for that ability to return to major junior after playing a handful of NHL games. But that ball is in the NCAA's court and won't happen anytime soon. That kid is walking away from an assload of money. It's not going to happen.

I'd love to see what a guy who scored like Redmond did last year would put up in the ECHL.

I was thinking about that option as I typed my post. I could be convinced. But for whatever reason, the league decided to move away from compensatory picks during the 2005 lockout, other than for those first round guys. I don't know the reason, but the league doesn't seem to want them. I'd imagine it has a lot to do with opening a can of worms with the large number of draft picks who never wind up signing.

They've already limited the options of the college player by a significant amount when compared to the major junior guys. They're stuck with a team for a longer period of time and can't get out even if they want to. Sure, the major junior guy goes back into the draft after two years, but that at least gives them the chance to move away from a team if they really don't want to be there. The college guys don't have that option, and on top of that, you now want to essentially remove their chance of leaving all together with your proposal. All too often these thoughts of changing the system are born completely out of the fans' greed to not lose any player, but are not practical. Why would the PA agree to this change? They're not going to restrict the rights of the player any further than they already are. Your proposal essentially forces the elite college players to play for the team that drafted them, with no other options in North America. That's not something either side would even consider. The league may like the thought, but they know better than to even try it.

Is it one calendar year from the date of the signing/date of the match or is it the one NHL calendar year (7/1-6/30)?

Nitpick alert: it’s not a loophole when it’s explicitly written into the CBA. They planned for this option. Van Ryn was a loophole, not this.

But traded prior to hitting the UFA market in 5 years. If he stays on current track and that ownership remains in place at that point, there's no way they'll pay his market rate.

His qualifying offer would have been for more money than this, but could be a two-way deal, right? That pretty much guarantees that it is one-way, a good sized cut at the NHL level but a huge raise if in the AHL.

Waddell is the only GM in the league who has to bill by the hour.

By "something crazy" does he mean "offer him the veteran minimum"?

Does that imply that they're fat?

If that's the case, why didn't they just do it on their own? Their whole approach here makes no sense to me. They've sent a very clear message that they aren't willing to offer their best player what he's actually worth. That's going to ripple downstream. You better believe that Svechnikov is watching this. What's going to happen when they don't have the option to match the contract? Exactly. This didn't build much good will with Aho for the moment that negotiation comes around.

I get the impression that it's St. Louis or bust for him. So we all know which option it will be.

Oh great, we've now gone to not only just politics, but canadian politics. Thanks a lot pi.

I'm amazed that people continuously fall for that act.

In other words, their assets are currently tied up. I thought your point was clear.

It’s still not as bad as Dougie

I kind of wish they could cancel all game today in a case like this. Probably a risky move though in case a bad story comes out later.

If you believe in the system far more than either goalie...

I turn on jeopardy and a guy I know from college is on. Creepy dude edit: crap, he won