Quote:
Originally Posted by trew
Here's a question for those of you more familliar with the draft rules than myself:
Could Erixon have chosen to not opt in for the 2011 draft and then become a free agent in 2012, (when he turns 21)?
If so, perhaps this was their plan all along, if we didn't trade him to the Rangers.
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My guess is the kid wanted to go to the rangers, after that I don't think he cared, in fact if there was no chance to go to the Rangers I expect he would have signed with the Flames.
The system gave him a shot at getting to the Rangers and so he rolled the dice, no doubt after a very carefully worded conversation between the Rangers and Dad where Sather, or more likely, a sacrificial minion in scouting, let dad know hypothetically they might be interested in a promising young defenseman who didn't sign with their drafting team and would possibly commit to a couple of 2nd round picks.
The problem for the Flames is they are not a team that a rookie would feel compelled to sign with any more, they arn't competing for a cup any time soon or going with a youth movement that would ensure a kid got alot of playing time, they are now an average team so from Erixsons point of view it didn't really matter if he didn't get to New York but then ended up in Minnisota or Nashville.