Adam Fox & the NCAA "Loophole?"

[Poe969]

This just flat out sucks. If a player gets drafted and makes it known he won't play for the team, other teams are going to low ball that team and they really have to choose if they take whatever they can get or just let the player not play. I get that the player has the right to decide if he wants to keep going to school but that really puts the drafting team at a disadvantage.

I think the team that drafts them should just own their rights. If the player gets to the point of "becoming a UFA" the drafting team should get a first or second from the team that signs them. It's a lot but it'll really force the player to play for the team that drafts them or at least compenste the team that drafted them.

[red sky]

Much like the poophole loophole, this one stinks.

[Erick Estrada]

To me it's almost a "lets prop up the Rangers" loophole as they have been the biggest benefactors of this seeing it's where young players would most like to play. I would like to see something done about this one way or another. At the very least IMO a team should receive a compensatory pick equivalent to the pick used on the player if they refuse to sign a contract with the team that drafted them.

[Joborule]

The NHL definitely needs to address this issue since it's now a problem due to good quality players being produced in the NCAA now. Teams that draft these players that have their stock rise during their NCAA days should not being getting screwed over by not being able to sign/retain rights of the player once their NCAA career is over. There should be some type of restriction on the players that they just can't become a free agent that can sign wherever they want with ease.

The franchises took the risk of drafting a player that they won't be able to sign for possibly 4 years. They should be rewarded by actually being able to sign the player exclusively for at least a year or two at the end, and/or some type of guaranteed compensation from the other team that signs the player if they're going elsewhere.

Blue chip prospects developing in the NCAA is good for the sport in the US, but the NHL needs to have drafting them protected better.

[Nelson]

Originally Posted by DeluxeMoustache

The response to this post may vary depending on how Lindholm and Hanifin are doing, compared to Fox, Ferland and Hamilton

It’s obviously a bad time to perceive the outcome of that trade well at the immediate moment

Have to wonder what level of due diligence Tre did on this. Obviously the player is unproven so the team has leverage but the risk can be personal and needs to be properly assessed

To me, it’s not about that trade. Its just the fact that a good prospect could just tell the Flames no. Teams like the Flames need to build through the draft. When we unearth true gems, the league has to allow us to keep them so we can compete. We simply do not have the city to attract free agents like New York does. It’s so unfair.

[LIP MAN]

Also, Tom comes to mind. Seems like tampering is going on with the NYR and NCAA prospects. Burns my behind that the league won’t really investigate.

[Scroopy Noopers]

Originally Posted by LIP MAN

Also, Tom comes to mind. Seems like tampering is going on with the NYR and NCAA prospects. Burns my behind that the league won’t really investigate.

What is there to investigate? As a born and raised Calgarian who doesn’t even really like big cities, NYR would be a top 2-3 destination for me as a professional hockey player.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by LIP MAN

Also, Tom comes to mind. Seems like tampering is going on with the NYR and NCAA prospects. Burns my behind that the league won’t really investigate.

While there seemed like a bit of tampering with that case, if you asked young players to list their top 3 destinations the Rangers would probably be at the top more than any other team. Living in Manhattan as an early adult would be an incredible experience.

[GioforPM]

Originally Posted by Scroopy Noopers

What is there to investigate? As a born and raised Calgarian who doesn’t even really like big cities, NYR would be a top 2-3 destination for me as a professional hockey player.

Fox: born in NYC, raised there and in Ann Arbor, played USHL (Detroit), went to Harvard. Shockingly wanted to go to a big city.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by MrMike

They should move the draft back one year. That would solve the problem. I was really hoping they would make this move with a cancelled COVID season.

Do you mean drafting kids at 19-year-old instead of 18? Yeah, I agree that that would be best.

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[The Cobra]

I consider a "loophole" something that is not intended to occur.

This is no loophole. If the NHL and teams did not want it to exist, they could have dealt with it.

It's not like how it plays out is a big surprise to anyone. The NHL intended college players to be able to deal with any team after 4 years.

Teams can, if they want, sign their college players and get their contract started early, so as to lessen the ELC aspect of those deals, which the player cannot get if he waits the 4 years. It's likely why Johnny signed in Calgary. He got his first big money contract 1 year earlier than if he had waited.

[N-E-B]

I feel a little better because I like Lindholm and Hanifin and we got them out of the deal. Carolina should be more pissed off than us IMO.

But I agree that it’s a dumb rule that shouldn’t exist.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

I consider a "loophole" something that is not intended to occur.

This is no loophole. If the NHL and teams did not want it to exist, they could have dealt with it.

It's not like how it plays out is a big surprise to anyone. The NHL intended college players to be able to deal with any team after 4 years.

I don't believe that this was ever the intent of the NHL.

Teams can, if they want, sign their college players and get their contract started early, so as to lessen the ELC aspect of those deals, which the player cannot get if he waits the 4 years. It's likely why Johnny signed in Calgary. He got his first big money contract 1 year earlier than if he had waited.

But this only works if the player accepts the contract offer. The problem is that there is at present far too much incentive for the top NCAA players to decline, and to play out their college careers. A team cannot always just choose to sign their players early.


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[ForeverFlameFan]

Fox landed us Lindholm and Hanifin. I am not losing any sleep over it. This was BT’s best work because he traded someone who didn’t want to be here at his best value as a rookie. So what if he plays well in NY, at least it isn’t one in the division or conference.

[The Cobra]

Originally Posted by Textcritic

I don't believe that this was ever the intent of the NHL.




But this only works if the player accepts the contract offer. The problem is that there is at present far too much incentive for the top NCAA players to decline, and to play out their college careers. A team cannot always just choose to sign their players early.


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It's been there for many years with no sign of the NHL wanting to change it. It's not like it wasn't forseeeable. College players are free to deal with any team after 4 years of being initially drafted, just like Junior players.

While teams can't make players sign, there is certainly a financial incentive for college players to sign with their drafted team.

[SuperMatt18]

Originally Posted by jg13

someone mentioned in a different thread that if the team that drafts the NCAA player offers a max ELC that they should retain the players rights automatically. I think thats the right way to go.

This loophole needs to be closed.

This was my idea.

IMO it's such an easy solution. The rule is there to protect players so that a team doesn't hold their rights forever if they don't offer them a contract.

But in the situation where the team wants to sign you, and if they are willing to give you a max ELC, then you should retain their rights.

At that point it's not like another team can offer you more money, you're getting the max contract, so no reason why you shouldn't be signing with the team that drafted you.

Even if the player still refuses to sign, then this would be a more fair scenario from a negotiating aspect. The Flames/Hurricanes would have no longer had to rush in negotiations due to the impending UFA status being a barrier. Other teams would have to negotiate in good faith and provide fair value in return to trade for a top prospect.

Should be the same thing with a junior player re-entering the draft after two seasons if they don't sign (I'm surprised we don't see this more actually), as long as a team offers the player a Max ELC contract they should retain their rights. Think of it as like a qualifying offer for drafted players.

[ben voyonsdonc]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

While there seemed like a bit of tampering with that case, if you asked young players to list their top 3 destinations the Rangers would probably be at the top more than any other team.

*tompering

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by The Cobra

It's been there for many years with no sign of the NHL wanting to change it. It's not like it wasn't forseeeable. College players are free to deal with any team after 4 years of being initially drafted, just like Junior players.



While teams can't make players sign, there is certainly a financial incentive for college players to sign with their drafted team.

It may have been foreseeable, but it was never the intent. It is a consequence for how the NCAA operates.

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[sureLoss]

The rules have been changed so that European players can do the same thing.

Spend 4 years in Europe after being drafted and the team loses draft rights and they become free agents

[CliffFletcher]

Maybe this is what the NHL wants - a subtle way for big-market American teams to gain a systematic edge in talent acquisition. Maybe the board of governors feels it’s better for the league that Adam Fox plays in New York than in Calgary.

In the absence of any measures by the league to address this, Canadian and small-market teams will be disadvantaged in drafting and development. Management of those franchises have to take the flight risk of college players seriously, and will increasingly shy away from drafting those prospects, leaving them to fall into the laps of the New Yorks, Bostons, etc of the league.