[Rumour] UPD: Daly says no need to protect expiring contracts with NMC

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by Robbob

I think they might be able to get a couple good young Dmen to build off of. Look at Nashville for example. Weber, Josi, Ellis, Ekholm. One of those will be made available...

I think Nashville might opt to protect four defensemen.

[Robbob]

You are probably right. Looking at the salary structure they are pretty well set up. If they only have to protect 4 forwards they will be fine as everyone is a UFA.

I can't wait for this to happen already. I kind of want it all to happen next year as having back to back expansion years would just suck.

[Fighting Banana Slug]

Originally Posted by Robbob

You are probably right. Looking at the salary structure they are pretty well set up. If they only have to protect 4 forwards they will be fine as everyone is a UFA.

I can't wait for this to happen already. I kind of want it all to happen next year as having back to back expansion years would just suck.

I was thinking about that as well. If it is only LV and not Quebec, it would seem to me that Quebec might be a long way off, as they would be at a pretty severe disadvantage if they had another draft the next year (or the year after that). The prospect pool would change, of course, but I would still rather have the first pickings based on these rules.

[dissentowner]

Originally Posted by Fighting Banana Slug

I was thinking about that as well. If it is only LV and not Quebec, it would seem to me that Quebec might be a long way off, as they would be at a pretty severe disadvantage if they had another draft the next year (or the year after that). The prospect pool would change, of course, but I would still rather have the first pickings based on these rules.

I think the NHL is leaving Quebec as a relocation spot in case a team needs to move rather quickly. Much like the Jets.

[Vulcan]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

I think the NHL is leaving Quebec as a relocation spot in case a team needs to move rather quickly. Much like the Jets.

Also in case a city needs to be blackmailed into building a new arena.

[CroFlames]

Man with all this relocation and expansion talk, why not have an NHL First Division and Second Division and relegate and promote the bottom 3 and top 3 clubs every year.

The entire pool of players are part of the same union and the two divisions operate under the same CBA, but the salary floor is lower for 2nd division clubs. The first division can have 24 clubs and the 2nd division can have 16 clubs and you have 40 clubs total.

I'm certain places like Saskatoon, Hamilton, Surrey and Halifax would be happy to be eternal 2nd divisioners, whereas places like Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Vegas and Quebec City would consider it a failure each year if they weren't promoted. I'm sure you could even throw in another Texas team and a few in the North East. The drama of watching a potential small town club hoist a Stanley Cup while a traditional big market like the Rangers languish in the 2nd division would be amaze balls if you ask me.

It would sure solve the tanking and lottery issue in a jiffy.

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Jason14h

If a team has a good 4th D they aren't protecting they will just trade them to another team before the expansion draft, won't they.....??

Yeah but who does that team not protect because they got this new D? It's clear the NHL wants this team to be at least moderately competitive out of the box. There will be NHL players who can contribute who are left unprotected. From what I can tell, Winnipeg is the only team who stands to potentially lose a star player (Myers/Trouba).

If Vegas' front office does their homework they might hit a homerun by stealing a guy from the AHL who's ready for the next step. IE Kylington. Otherwise, I think the NHL has done a reasonably good job protecting teams from losing true stars. To get the $16.6M in expansion money, teams will need to give up some depth. That's fair.

[Funkhouser]

Kylington isn't eligible to be taken, next year will be his second (just like every star player from his draft year)

[GreenLantern2814]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

Kylington isn't eligible to be taken, next year will be his second (just like every star player from his draft year)

I thought because he'd been playing pro in Europe he was in fact eligible to be drafted?

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by jayswin

Wait, so you're a Flames fan but you don't care how this ruling was going to work out because they would have bought out Wideman and had significant money stuck on our cap for two more seasons?

That's insane.

1.25 next year and 2 million the following year is not what I would call "significant money" especially when we save more this year in which we are more cap strapped than next year.

Also it's not the slightest bit insane to think freeing up $4 million in cap space this season might be more of a benefit than losing $2 million the following season with all the contracts coming off the books.

[memphusk]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Man with all this relocation and expansion talk, why not have an NHL First Division and Second Division and relegate and promote the bottom 3 and top 3 clubs every year.

The entire pool of players are part of the same union and the two divisions operate under the same CBA, but the salary floor is lower for 2nd division clubs. The first division can have 24 clubs and the 2nd division can have 16 clubs and you have 40 clubs total.

I'm certain places like Saskatoon, Hamilton, Surrey and Halifax would be happy to be eternal 2nd divisioners, whereas places like Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Vegas and Quebec City would consider it a failure each year if they weren't promoted. I'm sure you could even throw in another Texas team and a few in the North East. The drama of watching a potential small town club hoist a Stanley Cup while a traditional big market like the Rangers languish in the 2nd division would be amaze balls if you ask me.

It would sure solve the tanking and lottery issue in a jiffy.

If you're not first, you're last.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Funkhouser

Kylington isn't eligible to be taken, next year will be his second (just like every star player from his draft year)

If you believe what Burrows said, then none of Kylington, Shinkaruk or Poirier will be eligible for the expansion draft. He stated players in the first 2 years of their ELCs will be exempt. And Kylington's will slide another year so year 1 will not even be finished and Poirier and Shinkaruk just finished the first years of their ELCs as the previous season had their ELCs slide.

Burrows also said something about 40gp in 2016-17 or 70gp combined, but I am not clear if that is on top of the first 2 years of the ELC or within the first 2 years of the ELC. As in will McDavid need to be protected because he will have played 70 combined in his first 2 years or will Gillies be exempt because he has not played 40/70 despite burning 2 years of his ELC.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

I thought because he'd been playing pro in Europe he was in fact eligible to be drafted?

Finalized, concrete parameters of how the expansion team(s) will be stocked, and how existing teams can protect players, are not known. We're all just speculating on the rumors and tidbits that have been reported. There's no way anyone on this forum would know with any certainty whether pro seasons in Europe will count towards a player's eligibility for the expansion draft, nor how many pro seasons makes a player eligible for the expansion draft.

[Jay Random]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

There's no way anyone on this forum would know with any certainty whether pro seasons in Europe will count towards a player's eligibility for the expansion draft, nor how many pro seasons makes a player eligible for the expansion draft.

The definition of 'professional seasons' in the CBA only includes seasons played in Europe if the player was under contract to an NHL team at the time.

Various people from the NHL head office have stated that players in their first or second season of professional service are exempt from the expansion draft. This logically must mean players at the end of their first or second seasons. If it meant the beginning of the season, then players with no professional experience at all would be considered in their first year; which makes no sense. Furthermore, if players' status is based on their contract for the year just ending, then their professional seasons should be counted as of the year just ending.

I think we have sufficient information to make decently educated guesses on both these questions.

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

We're all just speculating on the rumors and tidbits that have been reported.

Originally Posted by Jay Random

I think we have sufficient information to make decently educated guesses on both these questions.

Let's see if we can say the same thing three or more ways!

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Man with all this relocation and expansion talk, why not have an NHL First Division and Second Division and relegate and promote the bottom 3 and top 3 clubs every year.

The entire pool of players are part of the same union and the two divisions operate under the same CBA, but the salary floor is lower for 2nd division clubs. The first division can have 24 clubs and the 2nd division can have 16 clubs and you have 40 clubs total.

I'm certain places like Saskatoon, Hamilton, Surrey and Halifax would be happy to be eternal 2nd divisioners, whereas places like Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Vegas and Quebec City would consider it a failure each year if they weren't promoted. I'm sure you could even throw in another Texas team and a few in the North East. The drama of watching a potential small town club hoist a Stanley Cup while a traditional big market like the Rangers languish in the 2nd division would be amaze balls if you ask me.

It would sure solve the tanking and lottery issue in a jiffy.

That would be far too amazing to ever really happen.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

Originally Posted by _Q_

I think LV takes the best 4 defencemen, best 6 forwards and best goalie they can get then take the 19 guys with the highest potential. Then they fill out the rest of the roster through free agency and trades. More likely than not, their #1 pick also makes the team.

This.

Realistically, most teams are going to have to expose either their top defence prospect, or their top forward prospect.

For example, it would be entirely reasonable for the expansion team to end up with eight or nine defencemen on the level of players like Kyllington, Darnell Nurse, Jonas Brodin, et al, guys in the 21-23 age bracket who have realistic top-pairing upside. (yeah, I know Brodin "is a total bust"... he's also younger than Wotherspoon)

Grab 10 forwards of a similar calibre, and they would have the best prospect base in the NHL, and it wouldn't even be close.

THEN add a top-5 draft choice. Again and again and again.

They can add a few quality guys like Michael Frolik, or Andrew Shaw to take tough minutes, a few old timers like Iginla or Campbell, and whichever high-end UFAs are available. All they need to do is show the kids how to play properly, and force them to earn a job.

If they're willing to eat their first two or three years, there's no reason this club couldn't own the NHL for a decade.

Right from the outset I've thought this expansion dramatically over-favors the new team.

[Resolute 14]

Originally Posted by CroFlames

Man with all this relocation and expansion talk, why not have an NHL First Division and Second Division and relegate and promote the bottom 3 and top 3 clubs every year.

The entire pool of players are part of the same union and the two divisions operate under the same CBA, but the salary floor is lower for 2nd division clubs. The first division can have 24 clubs and the 2nd division can have 16 clubs and you have 40 clubs total.

I'm certain places like Saskatoon, Hamilton, Surrey and Halifax would be happy to be eternal 2nd divisioners, whereas places like Kansas City, Seattle, Portland, Vegas and Quebec City would consider it a failure each year if they weren't promoted. I'm sure you could even throw in another Texas team and a few in the North East. The drama of watching a potential small town club hoist a Stanley Cup while a traditional big market like the Rangers languish in the 2nd division would be amaze balls if you ask me.

It would sure solve the tanking and lottery issue in a jiffy.

Putting aside the fact that a promotion/relegation system in pro sports is pretty much the dumbest thing in the world already, I wish you good fortune convincing people who paid hundreds of millions of dollars for a franchise to agree to see their team's value crushed upon being relegated.

Beside that, such a system is completely unworkable in a salary cap world.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

...Realistically, most teams are going to have to expose either their top defence prospect, or their top forward prospect...

No. This is not remotely realistic, since every team's prospects will be exempt from the expansion draft. Everything reported indicates that players >2 years pro experience will be ineligible for the expansion draft.

Right from the outset I've thought this expansion dramatically over-favors the new team.

Take a look at some of the hypothetical rosters posted above. It is true that the LV team will be dramatically much more competitive than any other expansion team since the first go around. But it will still be a bubble team at best for the first couple seasons.

[EldrickOnIce]

^ Exactly.
Instead of the type of D men he listed, Wotherspoon is exactly the type of prospect they would have to look at. 23 - 24 years old with 3 or more pro seasons under their belt.
That doesn't mean they can't find some diamonds in the rough, but unlikely to be any studs.