Quote:
Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814
Exactly - you get it.
I’m not suggesting for a second that scouting secondary euro leagues is going to produce an Avalanche of star players.
However, as a source of organizational depth, it’s a better way to supplement your group. I think it’s far more likely to get even half a season out of Euro league pro.
Let’s take some of our own more noteworthy Euro additions from the last decade or so.
Nakladal - 27 GP, 5 Points, -5. Solid enough for a bottom pair D, and better than every college UFA they’ve signed since Feaster took over.
Cervenka - 39 GP, 17 points, -13. The “best player not in the NHL” may not have actually been that, but his 17 points are more than any 4-year NCAA UDFA the Flames have signed except Jooris, and I’m inclined to put Jooris in a different category since he won a contract on the back of his work at development camp.
Berra - 29 GP 2.95 GAA .897 save %, traded for a 2nd round pick. The “best goalie in the draft” (JFC, Feaster…) returned surplus value, even if we did waste the pick on Hunter Smith.
College players are soft. They don’t play very many games. They don’t get punched in the mouth. They wear full cages, so they’ve all got all their teeth.
A guy who plays four years in that environment and still can’t get drafted is no prize. He’s not going to play.
Draft NCAA guys, by all means (though be careful, and vet them properly) - just don’t give away contract slots to a bunch of dudes who are, at least statistically, guaranteed to never impact your fortunes at the NHL level.
Because it’s not just “free assets” - you can take a player in the draft and do nothing with him for two years. Signing a college free agent takes up one of the 50 contracts and prevents you from making other moves.
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I'd be more likely to reduce scouting and use the additional money to convince owners to retain salary in trades to acquire additional mid picks in the draft. The list of guys being tossed around that could be signed is not making an impact. A guy like Panarin was available as a free agent and the media and every scouting service and all 30 teams at the time knew about him already. He's the only real player that made a huge impact that if you signed him, it was a game changer.
2nd to 4th round picks are way more valuable than hoping for some diamond in the rough from some European league. Most high-end Europeans are already picked in the draft.