Quote:
Originally Posted by jaydub74
I know it's been discussed, but this NCAA college free agent loophole is crap. I'm not sure why it hasn't been closed by the league (I know it needs to be collectively bargained) but the NHL has basically had their way with the NHLPA in negotiations so it should have been done. It would seem every team but the Rangers would be in favour of changing it. If you're drafted, your team property until they release you.
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I really like the fact that a player can forego hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars if they are truly interested in choosing the team they want to play for. The draft is pretty antithetical to our ideals around individualism, the free market, personal choice. I mean,
why is a teenager forced to negotiate with a single employer? And it's not even a negotiation! It's a set entry-level salary. If there was no salary cap at all, and no draft, how big would McDavid's first contract have been? 150 million dollars? More?
In addition - and more to the point - this gives players the opportunity to develop their games so they are better when they arrive in the NHL. Think about Basketball, where players cannot play in the NCAA after being drafted into the NBA, and you get the one-and-done freshmen all over Division I.
I am in favor of players having a mocidum of agency over their destinations when it comes to playing professional sports.