Quote:
Originally Posted by Matty81
No major alarm bells but this doesn't sound great from my perspective despite the article title.
http://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/nhl/f...ect-jankowski/
He basically avoids the question and then has a family member say "he has leverage and 29 other teams would like to sign him". Uh oh |
I'm not worried.
You have to remember that these kids have to be careful what they say so they don't get in trouble from the NCAA. The NCAA loves to project the image that their players are dedicated amateur athletes who play for the love of the sport and their education. They will impose sanctions on players if they think there's been tampering by the pro team.
If you remember two years ago, at the Hobey Baker ceremony, Johnny was still deflecting any questions about going pro even though he had already signed the contract (and they just hadn't announced it yet).
The source close to the family was most likely his "Family Advisor", which is NCAA-speak for Agent. Of course his agent is going to sow the seeds of doubt. That's what agents do. How many times have we heard agents talk about all the different teams that their client is considering offers from, only to have the player sign with the team everyone knew he was going to sign with? It happens all the time. Agents have to do what they can to drive up a player's value, or make sure he gets full value even with limited options.