Quote:
Originally Posted by The Cobra
So, the solution is that a team could keep a players rights forever as long as they offer a max contract?
I think the NHL intended that all players, whether junior, college or European, could not have their rights held in perpetuity by any team. You assume teams will always deal in good faith. We know that is not always the case.
It's basically to prevent players from being black balled in the NHL by teams with a grudge.
If a player wants to wait the 4 years, he becomes free to deal with any team. There is certainly financial incentive for any player to sign before that time is up.
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Wouldn't really happen though. No team is just going to hold a player hostage his whole career, and any player would be stupid to do that to themselves.
This leads to two outcomes IMO:
A) Player now realizing that he just can't walk as a UFA to where he wants and that he has less negotiating power to make this happen now just ends up signing with the team that drafted him.
B) The player still refuses to sign the max deal and the team would know that he doesn't want to sign there and would be able to pursue a trade. But since there is no threat of signing some where as a UFA the team would be able to negotiate on a trade with a more fair return.
Biggest difference though is without the clock hanging over the teams head it leads to a more fair process in either outcome.