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Originally Posted by Cali Flames Fan
I don't get this line of reasoning. A college player cannot sign any sort of entry level deal until they're done with school because it violates NCAA rules. There's been no opportunity to sign him, and you wouldn't sign him if he had more developing to do in school. Similar to Jankowski, signing him after the junior season makes little sense. However, they did invest a draft pick in him and he was likely involved in the summer camps, so why does this player not owe it to the Panthers to try and get a deal done? He has one good season and then decides that he gets to call the shots now? It's incredibly selfish and reeks of poor character.
I hated the Schultz scenario, I hated the Hayes scenario (I mean how good would the Hawks be with Hayes on their team right now and how much worse would the Rangers be?), and I really hate this scenario because the right wing on the Panthers has a ton of openings if a player works hard and earns a spot. I hope he doesn't get to play in the NHL for years and years, toiling in the minors.
The league has to fix this by allowing another year or two of club control for college athletes after they're done school. Too many of these incidents and endless rumblings of the possibility of it happening with countless others. If you draft a player, you should be able to sign them without anyone else getting an opportunity. Otherwise why have a draft at all? Why don't the Flames just go out and sign Connor McDavid this summer? The rules matter. |
They have until August 16th to sign him as stated in the article. The other solution would be to have them re enter the draft which would shorten the singing period by 6 weeks +/-. In fact the teams have a bit of an advantage in drafting a NCAA comitted player as they have more time to evaluate the player and hold their rights for a lot longer, up to two years then they do with a player drafted out of the CHL. I don't think it is right that so many feel he (or any player) has to sign with the team that drafts him no matter what. There can be any number of factors as to why a player may not want to sign with who drafted him. Not only that, it is not a loop hole as some have said, the player is exercising his rigth to become a free agent.
No matter what you do for a living, if you feel like you are being given a low ball offer, or think you have a better opprtunity elsewhere, or want to live in a certain city, it is your right to explore those options. Really McDavid could do the same thing, sure it would cost him two years of his career, two years of lost wages, but McDavid could very well not sign with Edmonton for two years, re enter the draft, perhaps hold out again and become a free agent. Now there is nothing saying that the team (Florida in this case) cannot trade Hyman's rights either if they know they have no hope of singing him or do not want to sing him,.