[News] Upd: Drouin decides to sit out until trade is completed. Lightning suspend him

[Fire of the Phoenix]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

It's interesting that in player - owner disputes, be it player versus team or NHLPA versus NHL, there is a slight tip in opinion towards favouring the owners and questioning the dedication / attitude of the players.

The NHL acts as a cartel and players such as Drouin have very few rights. I think he should be free to do whatever he thinks is necessary to maximize his short career. He asked for a trade, which is not illegal. He's now trying to protect the vehicle for his success, his health, and seems to be accepting the consequence of his actions and has kept his mouth shut.

I don't see a whiner; I see a guy challenging the system. I'm reading more whining from those who ask him to submit to a system that severely limits his rights as an employee.

Who is stopping him? He's free to do as he pleases, and he is. By the same token, we as fans are free to judge those actions as we please.

[CroFlames]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

It's interesting that in player - owner disputes, be it player versus team or NHLPA versus NHL, there is a slight tip in opinion towards favouring the owners and questioning the dedication / attitude of the players.

The NHL acts as a cartel and players such as Drouin have very few rights. I think he should be free to do whatever he thinks is necessary to maximize his short career. He asked for a trade, which is not illegal. He's now trying to protect the vehicle for his success, his health, and seems to be accepting the consequence of his actions and has kept his mouth shut.

I don't see a whiner; I see a guy challenging the system. I'm reading more whining from those who ask him to submit to a system that severely limits his rights as an employee.

Few rights? NHLers have guaranteed salaries! With all due respect, he has a right to request a trade, and he did.

What turned him into a whiny baby was when he went public with his displeasure. He's an idiot and so is his agent.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

It's interesting that in player - owner disputes, be it player versus team or NHLPA versus NHL, there is a slight tip in opinion towards favouring the owners and questioning the dedication / attitude of the players.

The NHL acts as a cartel and players such as Drouin have very few rights. I think he should be free to do whatever he thinks is necessary to maximize his short career. He asked for a trade, which is not illegal. He's now trying to protect the vehicle for his success, his health, and seems to be accepting the consequence of his actions and has kept his mouth shut.

I don't see a whiner; I see a guy challenging the system. I'm reading more whining from those who ask him to submit to a system that severely limits his rights as an employee.

He's not an employee, he's basically a contractor that willingly signed a contract attaching him to the organization for 3 years. Unless your saying that he was coerced into signing the deal.

And he was given opportunities and shown he's not ready, but his evil employers gave him the ability to continue to play the game and go improve his skills.

Instead he sulked and it seems like he was demanding a promotion that he didn't earn.

this isn't some kid fighting an evil conglomerate working people to death in the salve pits of mars, where there are no rights for the contractor.

When you read that he felt that he wasn't treated fairly from the start, I wonder if his expectations were that he'd be unconditionally handed a top 6 roll from the start, even if he showed that he wasn't really ready to play that role.

I can't think of a single NHL executive that's going to think the way that you do.

The kid right now has poisoned his career and his reputation, and having his manager come out and say that the darling doesn't want to play until he gets his way isn't going to help him generate interest throughout the NHL.

And frankly his 6 goals in 89 games of NHL action, isn't really pushing his value up, when it seems like his ego is impeding his development.

He has the choice to swallow his pride, get his a%% back on the ice and prove that he's either worth the risk or willing to work towards being what he was drafting. Or he can go home and sit on his couch until a trade happens that the Lightning like and rot.

Its his choice, its his dishwater soap and now he's soaking in it.

[jammies]

"Drouingate" needs to not be a thing. Just don't.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by Split98

Actually a pretty good read here:
http://www.thehockeynews.com/blog/th...trade-request/

That is an interesting read. ty

Combine all that with the fact that he was two games away from accruing the service time to burn another year towards UFA eligibility when they sent him down and I can sort of see how Drouin and his people might feel like Yzerman is operating in bad faith.

[heep223]

Originally Posted by jammies

"Drouingate" needs to not be a thing. Just don't.

Pinder said it this morning and I cringed

[SofaProfessor]

Originally Posted by jammies

"Drouingate" needs to not be a thing. Just don't.

Drouingazi?

[CroFlames]

I would use Drouingate just to piss people off

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

I don't see a whiner; I see a guy challenging the system. I'm reading more whining from those who ask him to submit to a system that severely limits his rights as an employee.

Do you remember the 90s? When the NHL was more of a free market? And the Flames lost all their stars?

Without a system that severely limit's these guys' rights as employees, the Flames would always be a second-tier team with little chance at a Cup. So yeah, I will selfishly assert my desire as a fan for league parity over the rights of a 20 year old who will likely make millions in his career to play wherever he wants.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

It's interesting that in player - owner disputes, be it player versus team or NHLPA versus NHL, there is a slight tip in opinion towards favouring the owners and questioning the dedication / attitude of the players.

The NHL acts as a cartel and players such as Drouin have very few rights. I think he should be free to do whatever he thinks is necessary to maximize his short career. He asked for a trade, which is not illegal. He's now trying to protect the vehicle for his success, his health, and seems to be accepting the consequence of his actions and has kept his mouth shut.

I don't see a whiner; I see a guy challenging the system. I'm reading more whining from those who ask him to submit to a system that severely limits his rights as an employee.

I see this opinion often, especially on Twitter. Here's why I think it's based off wrong principles.

The NHL is a cartel, yes. As a group of private enterprises, they make a series of rules to ensure maximum values for their respective businesses. These rules include player movement. They aren't restricting the player from playing outside their cartel, but to ensure competitive balance they need to have movement restrictions. If you want to share in the wealth of the cartel you need to play by the rules that protect the cartel's wealth.

He's can legally refuse to play, but then he suffers the consequences. It's for the betterment of the collective group.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

He's not an employee, he's basically a contractor that willingly signed a contract attaching him to the organization for 3 years. Unless your saying that he was coerced into signing the deal.

I don't think your example of an independent contractor is valid for multiple reasons. Independent contractors have a choice of employers they can submit bids to; players of Drouin's age can't. Independent contractors aren't bonded to companies until various age milestones; Drouin is. Independent contractors have the ability to negotiate clauses into their contracts that would allow them to quit the contract (with or without penalties) and directly accept alternate offers from competing employers; Drouin can't.

Athletes have to accept certain restrictions on employment freedoms that we do not allow outside of organized sports. I won't criticize Drouin for doing what he believes best represents his interests inside of this controlled system.

I can't think of a single NHL executive that's going to think the way that you do.

Shocking.

[Oling_Roachinen]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

Independent contractors have a choice of employers they can submit bids to; players of Drouin's age can't

Sure he did. He could be playing in 100 different leagues today if he wanted to and didn't sign the contract.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Do you remember the 90s? When the NHL was more of a free market? And the Flames lost all their stars?

Without a system that severely limit's these guys' rights as employees, the Flames would always be a second-tier team with little chance at a Cup. So yeah, I will selfishly assert my desire as a fan for league parity over the rights of a 20 year old who will likely make millions in his career to play wherever he wants.

I disagree with many aspects of this but do not wish to derail the thread.

[Cali Panthers Fan]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

I don't think your example of an independent contractor is valid for multiple reasons. Independent contractors have a choice of employers they can submit bids to; players of Drouin's age can't. Independent contractors aren't bonded to companies until various age milestones; Drouin is. Independent contractors have the ability to negotiate clauses into their contracts that would allow them to quit the contract (with or without penalties) and directly accept alternate offers from competing employers; Drouin can't.

Athletes have to accept certain restrictions on employment freedoms that we do not allow outside of organized sports. I won't criticize Drouin for doing what he believes best represents his interests inside of this controlled system.

The NHL is NOT a cartel. It's simply the professional league that pays the most. There are multiple other leagues that Drouin can go play in, namely the KHL which will pay at least half as well as the NHL. If Drouin doesn't like it, he can join that league at the drop of a hat, but if he wants to play in the NHL and make the big coin, he has to abide by the rules of that league. Consequently, those rules are designed to maximize profitability for both owners and players alike and create a healthy industry that just so happens to have grown so much over the years that players at the level of Drouin can actually make anywhere from 30-50% more than they used to. So, it's actually in his best interest to adhere to those rules if he wants to have a chance at the big money. Otherwise he can go to Russia where it's much more lax and take his chances at a bigger salary right this second, but then miss out on the big bucks down the road.

Quite frankly, Drouin is being incredibly short-sighted if his goal is to make the big dollars and maximize his worth.

[Street Pharmacist]

Originally Posted by Flames Fan, Ph.D.

I don't think your example of an independent contractor is valid for multiple reasons. Independent contractors have a choice of employers they can submit bids to; players of Drouin's age can't. Independent contractors aren't bonded to companies until various age milestones; Drouin is. Independent contractors have the ability to negotiate clauses into their contracts that would allow them to quit the contract (with or without penalties) and directly accept alternate offers from competing employers; Drouin can't.

Not true at all. He's only restricted to which NHL franchise he may play for. While they're the highest payer (thanks in part to the restriction he's trying to fight), he's free to sign a contract elsewhere.

Athletes have to accept certain restrictions on employment freedoms that we do not allow outside of organized sports. I won't criticize Drouin for doing what he believes best represents his interests inside of this controlled system.

The private enterprise is free to ensure these regulations as the see fit. The player may fight these as you're correct that it's entirely legal. He's only got one chance to make his career (that he can earn more than most people in their lifetimes after a few seasons regardless of this move or not) and this may or may not be the right move to get there, but he's entitled to it. Don't expect any sympathy from most people though as that doesn't make it any more palatable.

You're confusing by what's legal with what's judged to be acceptable

[Harry Lime]

Already dealt with in the amazing documentary, 'Baseketball'.

[Geeoff]

Originally Posted by Gaskal

It seems to me as if Yzerman is willing to let Drouin's value tank at this point, in order to send a message. Because no GM in their right mind could ever fool themselves into thinking that Drouin's value will miraculously rise again by the end of the season. So he's willing to bite the bullet in order to... what, teach this punk a lesson? Other than maybe serving as a warning to any other prospective youngsters that enter the organization, I can't see how not dealing him helps out the Lightning in any way possible.

Drouingate is now much more of an issue than Stamkosgate. Does Yzerman seriously want to let this issue fester even longer with the team in win-now mode? As someone said, they're winning now. But the very first time TBL hits a skid, it'll be over their heads like a dark raincloud. If I were SY I'd get this kid out of my club as fast as I could before his value decreased, salvage some assets instead of letting him stay in my org for one second longer.

Just a brain-dead decision from Stevie Y. His stupid old-school "coach is the end all be all" mentality along with Cooper's treatment of his players is costing him two of his biggest offensive tools, a franchise player and a top 3 prospect. If this inepitude from him continues - if Stamkos walks for nothing and Drouin is traded for magic beans, I expect both Cooper and Yzerman to be looking for new employment.

Yzerman has built a winning team that just made it to the Finals. There's no way he is fired any time soon. Stamkos is looking at being the highest paid UFA ever. Odds are he will test the market. I think there's a good chance the Lightning will keep him past the deadline because he gives them the best chance to win a cup this year.

[Table 5]

Originally Posted by jammies

"Drouingate" needs to not be a thing. Just don't.

The whole -gate thing needs to die in general. It was the name of the building dammit, not a scandal about water!

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

Originally Posted by Street Pharmacist

You're confusing by what's legal with what's judged to be acceptable

What's acceptable depends on the behaviour of both parties. As much as people assume Drouin has been "whining" out of entitlement, Scott and/or Yzerman may have had personal issues with the kid even before the trade request. Human beings can be irrational, and I don't think we can rule out animus from either side.

Without knowing how the egos on both sides are acting behind the scenes, I don't think I can judge what is "acceptable" and what isn't. You may know more about the behind-the-scenes events than I do and may therefore be in a better position to judge.

[sureLoss]

Ken Campbell @THNKenCampbell
One NHL executive told me there were 50 NHL pro scouts at Ricoh last night to see Jonathan Drouin play. That's the one he chose to sit out.