Morning Links - (1/2)

Oh I’m just bitching. He’s a wonderful guy, just not a sports fan, and there will be much discussion and rule explaining.

Once drafted, the team has exclusive negotiation rights with that player for two years to sign drafted prospects (in the case of McNeill and Danault, until 2013). Usually what will happen is that an unsigned player (particularly if they’re a solid prospect) will be traded for something rather than receiving the compensatory pick (which accompanies his loss back to draft eligible status). It’s usually a foregone conclusion that the signing will take place so there isn’t a great concern to have prospects signed that are returning to their junior teams for at least one season.

I think the rule may be slightly different for Europeans because they can be drafted while over the age of 20 (so long as they’ve never played in N. America, either CHL or NCAA). North American skaters are only draft eligible up to the age of 20.

I can’t think of it ever having happened with a prominent player. Bertuzzi probably came the closest with the Isles back ’93. He was signed on midnight of the two year negotiation period wherein the team said they would redraft him #2 overall if an agreement couldn’t be reached. Another good example would be Tim Erixon who was drafted by the Flames in ‘09 but would not sign with them and was subsequently traded to NYR so the Flames wouldn’t lose him for “nothing”. He refused to sign with the Flames because he felt he would not crack their top 7 d-men. In an ironic twist, the Flames have used 3 rookie defensemen this season while the Rangers placed him back with the Connecticut Whale (AHL). Funny.

Happy New Year Everyone

OD has sucked pretty bad in my opinion.