TSN Insider trading - Oct 27 - New expansion draft wrinkle?

[GioforPM]

Fighters don't have to be (and usually aren't) defencemen. That is all.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Will LV be able to offer sheet McDavid during that window? Something like 12x12?

It wouldn't be an offersheet for RFAs, they would agree to a deal and essentially pick them in the expansion draft. But they can only negotiate with players that are not protected.

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by devo22

The thing that irks me most about the expansion draft is that we'll have to go through the same BS in a couple of years again. The league should have found a way to introduce two new teams at the same time and make everybody prepare for it by giving clear rules in advance. Instead, they'll have two expansion drafts in a short span and seemingly make up rules on the fly. Ridiculous.

This is the worst part. If they do introduce another expansion team and mess around with the rules from this upcoming expansion then you're opening up a whole wealth of reasons for everyone to be upset.

Existing teams will be angry because they keep having to stay on their toes with changing rules and rumours about changes.

Expansion teams may be upset because the other team got to expand under a different ruleset which may be seen as more advantageous than the rules they had to abide by.

Non-hockey fans just see a joke unfolding as the league rushes to be the first major sport in Vegas and that's not exactly a confidence building way to grow the game - which is the entire point of expansion.

[PugnaciousIntern]

Originally Posted by puckedoff

Will LV be able to offer sheet McDavid during that window? Something like 12x12?

The way things are going, 12x12 seems like a completely plausible contract

[Finger Cookin]

Originally Posted by SofaProfessor

Non-hockey fans just see a joke unfolding as the league rushes to be the first major sport in Vegas and that's not exactly a confidence building way to grow the game - which is the entire point of expansion.

Non-hockey fans are completely unaware of wrinkles in expansion rules and would be hard pressed to identify that the league is expanding, let alone that it is expanding to Las Vegas, let alone see that process as a joke.

[getbak]

They're not really changing the rules, they're just clarifying specifics. This is no different than a team trading for a pending free agent and wanting to talk to the player before making the trade.

It's the same thing the Flames did when they acquired Wideman.

[Strange Brew]

Originally Posted by getbak

They're not really changing the rules, they're just clarifying specifics. This is no different than a team trading for a pending free agent and wanting to talk to the player before making the trade.

It's the same thing the Flames did when they acquired Wideman.

Ouch I forgot about that. We gave up an AHLer and a 5th round pick for the right to sign that bad contract.

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by Finger Cookin

Non-hockey fans are completely unaware of wrinkles in expansion rules and would be hard pressed to identify that the league is expanding, let alone that it is expanding to Las Vegas, let alone see that process as a joke.

They may not be aware right now. They definitely don't care right now. But when they do hear about expansion it will probably be a 30 second segment on a sports talk show mainly dedicated to NFL and NBA where Steven A. Smith is yelling at an unnecessarily loud level about how dumb the NHL is. That's what they will hear about it and that's how they will form their opinion.

[Finger Cookin]

So you could say they don't see a joke unfolding, then.

[GirlySports]

wait...

so Vegas gets an exclusive window on all UFAs? And have $0 on the salary cap?

[Finger Cookin]

Lebrun just clarified that Vegas can sign unprotected RFAs in this window, just as if they already owned their rights. He also clarified that a maximum of 10 of the 30 players can be free agent signings. That is, 20 of the 30 players must be drafted from the unprotected lists of the existing teams.

[sureLoss]

Looks like there is some concern that teams will loophole this:

http://www.tsn.ca/concerns-about-nhl...merge-1.609388

Pending free agents remain the biggest concern when it comes to expansion after the GMs meetings Tuesday.

The Las Vegas expansion team and some of the 30 existing teams are worried about less-than-honest agreements circumventing the expansion-draft rules.

What, GMs looking for loopholes? Come on.

Specifically, GMs worry that Vegas could take advantage of the 48-hour window before the expansion draft in June to quietly agree to terms on a deal with a pending unrestricted free agent, then wait until July 1 to sign him, so as to pluck another player off a team's roster in the expansion draft.

This would circumvent the rule that if a team loses a free agent to Vegas in that 48-hour free-agent-signing window, it cannot lose another player in the expansion draft. Some GMs worry that veteran GM George McPhee, who wasn't born yesterday, would take advantage of the situation.

Conversely?

"George has the same concerns about existing teams doing those types of deals with players they don't have to protect," deputy commissioner Bill Daly said Tuesday after the GMs meeting.

McPhee wisely worries that a team or two might do a "drawer deal'' with a pending UFA but not officially sign it until after the expansion draft. Why? Teams don't have to protect pending free agents because they aren't eligible for the expansion draft. Here's an example: If the San Jose Sharks didn't officially re-sign Joe Thornton until after the expansion draft, they could protect another player.

"There has to be a high level of diligence to make sure those things don't happen and to make sure people know there will be significant penalties imposed if they were to screw around with the rules,'' Daly said.

Daly said violators of the expansion rules forgo a first-round draft pick, so penalties in the same vein would be "appropriate." New Jersey Devils GM Ray Shero insisted anyone would be crazy to attempt that type of circumvention.

"I certainly don't want to be involved in that because I certainly love my job and can't afford the fine," Shero said with a smile. "Sure, we talked about it today [in the GMs meeting]. Those are the what-ifs? But with anything, everything has to pass the smell test with the league. You got to have some big you-know-whats to screw around with that.''