[News] Projected 2016 1st overall pick Auston Matthews signs in Switzerland

[FireGilbert]

Wow, good for him. For a player who is not going the college route and has no home town CHL team, heading to Europe is a great option.

How good is the Swiss league nowadays? I thought it was usually considered the 5th best league in Europe but in the last few years have heard it was greatly improving. Is it almost as good as the Swedish league now?

[CroFlames]

That would be an interesting thread topic, ranking the pro hockey leagues.

I know UEFA (soccer) rates it's member's leagues and assigns a coefficient based on how well they do in European competitions.

I would rank the leagues roughly as this: (with no real reason other than what I perceive to be level of competition)

2. KHL
3. Sweden
4. AHL
5. Germany
6. Switzerland
7. Finland.

I think some of the traditional leagues may have dropped due to their biggest clubs heading to the KHL.

[Flame19,289]

Same time zone as Finland? Should make for an easy adjustment for World Juniors.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

That would be an interesting thread topic, ranking the pro hockey leagues.

I know UEFA (soccer) rates it's member's leagues and assigns a coefficient based on how well they do in European competitions.

I would rank the leagues roughly as this: (with no real reason other than what I perceive to be level of competition)

2. KHL
3. Sweden
5. Germany
6. Switzerland
7. Finland.

Hmm, I wouldn't say that's even very close.

Based on Championsleague Hockey results, it's more like...
1. KHL
2. Sweden
3. Finland
>>>>>>>
5. Austria and Switzerland
7. Czech
>
8. Germany
9. Slovakia
>
10. The rest. (Denmark, Norway, Italy...)

The Finnish league especially has dropped in quality due to KHL plundering their players, but that only drops them below Sweden. Other than that there's just no comparison, Swedish and Finnish leagues are way ahead of the others in pretty much every way.

AHL is somewhere below KHL, possibly on par with Finland.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Hugh Jahrmes

How many years does he have to play over there before he's declared a free agent and can't be annexed by the Ice District

Five seasons. Next season, plus four after he is drafted.

That won't happen.


If he went to the CHL, he'd be able to re-enter the draft after 2 years. Again, that won't happen.

[Hugh Jahrmes]

Originally Posted by getbak

Five seasons. Next season, plus four after he is drafted.



That won't happen.





If he went to the CHL, he'd be able to re-enter the draft after 2 years. Again, that won't happen.

Thanks, I should've green texted as that was purely hypothetical.

Hopefully most people know that these highly touted kids aren't generally getting by on skill alone; character/integrity seem to be weighted more heavily as the seasons go by, and with good reason. These superstars are leaned on to provide many examples of leadership, including work ethic, sportsmanship and a general commitment to the game itself and respect for the entire process.

I still think that deep down, Connor has to be on the fence about his career trajectory.

[schooner]

Originally Posted by Itse

Hmm, I wouldn't say that's even very close.

Based on Championsleague Hockey results, it's more like...
1. KHL
2. Sweden
3. Finland
>>>>>>>
5. Austria and Switzerland
7. Czech
>
8. Germany
9. Slovakia
>
10. The rest. (Denmark, Norway, Italy...)

The Finnish league especially has dropped in quality due to KHL plundering their players, but that only drops them below Sweden. Other than that there's just no comparison, Swedish and Finnish leagues are way ahead of the others in pretty much every way.

AHL is somewhere below KHL, possibly on par with Finland.

In my completely uninformed opinion I would tend to agree.

I saw a few German games live in my time in Europe, while highly entertaining from an experience stand point, the hockey was not very good. I believe former NHLer Brandon Reid was the only name I recognized.

To add, a Canadian company was the main sponsor in Munich, cant remember the name, oil company of some kind, they had people (read attractive ladies) dressed in Mountie uniforms handing out prizes. It was awesome.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Interesting indeed. I wonder if this opens the flood gates for other top prospects to leave major junior or college and get paid in Europe until NHL time comes.

As long as the CHL keeps paying peanuts and the NCAA paying nothing I can see it happening a lot. Professional hockey in Switzerland is a big deal nowadays, All games are televised but sort of a PPV style but the teams make good $$$ from them. I read somewhere Bern averages the most hockey fans in all of Europe.

The minute McDavid lost the lottery he should have signed over there.

[schooner]

Originally Posted by T@T

As long as the CHL keeps paying peanuts and the NCAA paying nothing I can see it happening a lot. Professional hockey in Switzerland is a big deal nowadays, All games are televised but sort of a PPV style but the teams make good $$$ from them. I read somewhere Bern averages the most hockey fans in all of Europe.

The minute McDavid lost the lottery he should have signed over there.

Money is one thing. Nice to see he is getting 400k over there. But the biggest test is going to be how it impacts his progression to the NHL. I think there was some rumours back in Crosby's draft year that he should go euro pro. We wont see a widespread trend until a few have tested the waters.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by Itse

Hmm, I wouldn't say that's even very close.

Based on Championsleague Hockey results, it's more like...
1. KHL
2. Sweden
3. Finland
>>>>>>>
5. Austria and Switzerland
7. Czech
>
8. Germany
9. Slovakia
>
10. The rest. (Denmark, Norway, Italy...)

The Finnish league especially has dropped in quality due to KHL plundering their players, but that only drops them below Sweden. Other than that there's just no comparison, Swedish and Finnish leagues are way ahead of the others in pretty much every way.

AHL is somewhere below KHL, possibly on par with Finland.

AHL blows away the Finnish league for talent, I personally don't think the Finnish league is any better than the Swiss nowadays.

1} KHL
2) AHL
3) Sweden
gap
4) Finland, Switzerland and Czech
5) Austria, Germany and Italy
6) the rest

[RyZ]

This wont be something that happens often at all in the future. The only reason it works in this case is because of Matthews age. Hes not allowed to play a game until he's 18 and hes a September birthday. He's litterally the oldest guy in the draft next season so he wont miss much, if any, of the Swiss league season. If a player was a Nov-Dec or later birthday this route wouldnt make any sense as you would have to sit in the press box for a large chunk (maybe even a majority) of the season.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by schooner

Money is one thing. Nice to see he is getting 400k over there. But the biggest test is going to be how it impacts his progression to the NHL. I think there was some rumours back in Crosby's draft year that he should go euro pro. We wont see a widespread trend until a few have tested the waters.

It wasn't much of a rumor, after his first year in the Q many felt he was too good for junior and the Rusky's tried to convince him to come over. Mostly I think they were just pissed because of loosing Ovechkin and Malkin that year.

[schooner]

Originally Posted by T@T

It wasn't much of a rumor, after his first year in the Q many felt he was too good for junior and the Rusky's tried to convince him to come over. Mostly I think they were just pissed because of loosing Ovechkin and Malkin that year.

Yah, more smoke than fire. But the point still stands. Until it is proven to be a viable option players are going to be hesitant to go this route.

[FireGilbert]

Originally Posted by Itse

Hmm, I wouldn't say that's even very close.

Based on Championsleague Hockey results,

Thanks, I was looking for results for the European teams playing each other but didn't know what it was called. That definitely makes it obvious Sweden is number 1 and Finland is number 2 with a solid drop off before the Swiss, Austrians, and Czechs

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by RyZ

This wont be something that happens often at all in the future. The only reason it works in this case is because of Matthews age. Hes not allowed to play a game until he's 18 and hes a September birthday. He's litterally the oldest guy in the draft next season so he wont miss much, if any, of the Swiss league season. If a player was a Nov-Dec or later birthday this route wouldnt make any sense as you would have to sit in the press box for a large chunk (maybe even a majority) of the season.

That might only be because of Switzerland's labour laws and visa requirements. Nothing stopping Sweden or the KHL from signing these guys AFAIK.

[FlamesAddiction]

It should be a great life experience for him. Everyone is so focused on what it means from a hockey perspective, but from a personal growth angle, living in a foreign country for a year can be a great opportunity.

[Hackey]

Ya that is a good point. Growth and maturation from the experience could definitely help you adjust faster when you make the jump to the NHL. There's a lot more to being a good athlete beyond your actual skill and talent. That might even be the easy part for a guy like Matthews.

[Darkwater]

Originally Posted by Hackey

Ya that is a good point. Growth and maturation from the experience could definitely help you adjust faster when you make the jump to the NHL. There's a lot more to being a good athlete beyond your actual skill and talent. That might even be the easy part for a guy like Matthews.

Aye, it's something we don't put a lot of stock into -- at least in the sense of outside our own continent. We seem to be very defensive/apprehensive about young players heading overseas, but in all honesty, it'll be awesome seeing him grow as a player and as a man. He's been breaking some pretty impressive records.. hopefully he'll tear up Switzerland and win a championship (maybe more).

[Hackey]

Thumbs up Carl Sagan as well.

[Itse]

Originally Posted by T@T

AHL blows away the Finnish league for talent, I personally don't think the Finnish league is any better than the Swiss nowadays.

When there are fresh hockey results from a recent tournament, you really should check your personal opinions against facts.

45 teams competed for 16 spots in the CHL playoffs, among them 8 Finnish teams and 6 Swiss teams. 16 teams made the playoffs.
7 Finns
4 Swedes,
2 Austrians,
2 Swiss,
1 Czech.

(Really you could argue that the sheer number of Finnish teams in the top 16 puts that league on par with the Swedish league.)

Both Swiss teams were btw beaten by Finnish teams in the playoffs.

Or to put it another way:
The Finnish teams participating combined for a goal differential of +56.
The Swiss teams combined for a goal differential of -8.

Or to put it another way: out of 8 Finnish teams participating, only 1 Finnish team ended up below any Swiss team, while 4 Finnish teams did better than all Swiss teams.

Austrians btw combined for +20 in CHL and generally did really well. The eventual champion Luleå needed a shootout win to beat Red Bull Salzburg in the first round of the playoffs. Austria has strengthened their league with the top teams from Italian, Hungarian and Slovenian leagues, and added a solid Czech team. I know they dont' have much of a reputation, but right now there doesn't seem to be much rank the Swiss league above the Austrian league. Will be interesting to see how that goes in the future.

(Also note that the Finnish league has recently lost one of it's top teams to KHL. And the Austrian league has been improved by a top C)