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The Buzz: Should next CBA re-do Euro and CHL rules? |
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Apart from being considered the source of arguably the greatest draft class in NHL history, the 1979 Entry Draft marked the start of a major change in the way that top prospects enter the farm systems of NHL organizations.
Prior to 1979, which also saw the league absorb four World Hockey Association clubs as a result of the merger whereby the WHA became defunct, players had to be 20 years old to be eligible for the NHL draft (which was known as the Amateur Draft). As a means of luring top young talents away from the NHL, the WHA differentiated itself by allowing "underage" players into the league.
After the merger, there was a major dispute over whether underagers should be eligible for the draft, as well. After heated arguments between the league office, team owners, and the Players’ Association, the NHL reaches a compromise on the issue. It allows 19-year-old prospects enter the 1979 draft with a plan to expand the eligibility rules to allow 18-year-olds to enter the 1980 draft.
Canadian major junior leagues, which were (and still are) the NHL’s primary lifeline for developing young talent, balked at this proposal. Once again, it took considerable time to hammer out a compromise.
The NHL created a rule compelling its clubs to return CHL-affiliated underagers to their Canadian junior teams if the players did not make the NHL roster. Twenty-year-old players and/or those with four years of CHL were eligible to be assigned to farm teams in the American Hockey League.
The NHL's collective bargaining agreement has undergone huge changes in the 32 years since the advent of the Entry Draft, but the basic rules for assigning CHL-affiliated 18-year-old and 19-year-old players have remained in place.
Today, there are further disincentives in place for NHL teams to carry underage players on their big league rosters beyond 10 games. These include the acceleration of a player's waiver eligibility and service time toward free agency and the inclusion of entry-level signing bonuses against the salary cap.
The question is: Has the time come to consider changing the CHL/AHL age rules?
For one thing, the restriction applies only to CHL players. Younger players signed from Europe or who turn pro early from NCAA collegiate programs can enter the AHL early. Shouldn't there be some sort of uniformity to the rules regulating and restricting players' entry into the professional ranks?
For another, while these rules clearly benefit the CHL leagues and teams -- enabling them to hold on to many of their best players longer -- they do not always work to the advantage of the NHL, the AHL or some of the players themselves.
Case in point: Sean Couturier. The Philadelphia Flyers first-round pick (8th overall) in the 2011 Entry Draft has already spent three seasons in the QMJHL. He does not really stand to benefit development-wise from a fourth season, yet he also may not be NHL-ready quite yet. If the AHL is truly the "world's best development league" (as it has long touted itself, and the NHL pays lip service to), shouldn't the American League be empowered to be an even better development source for already-drafted players who are too advanced skill-wise for junior hockey but not quite ready for the world's toughest league?
There is also no reason why young players eligible for the World Junior Championships cannot be loaned from their AHL teams to their national team's federation. It already happens, in fact, especially with young Euro players in the American League.
Look, I understand why the rules still exist. The CHL leagues are the breeding ground for the largest percent of NHL talent, and keeping those leagues as strong as possible is ultimately good for business in the NHL. Clubs in the NHL (and the CHL for that matter) were often all-too-willing to overfish the waters from European development pools and once-thriving programs like the ones feeding the teams of the Extraliga in the Czech Republic ultimately suffered for it. There is logic and some merit to simply keeping the status quo.
On the flip side, though, shouldn't NHL teams have a little more leeway to do what they think is best for their already-drafted CHL talents? Many drafted players are not ready for the AHL at age 18 or 19, and still need additional junior seasoning. But some of them are ready for minor league hockey in the short term, and I think that option should be open beyond those end-of-season ATOs.
What's the Buzz? Are you happy with the rules staying as is, or would you like to see them changed? Do you think CHL leagues, teams and players would ultimately suffer if the rules were relaxed?
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Realistically speaking, I do NOT expect see a change made to the CHL/AHL age and experience rules. However, I am pretty confident in saying that there will be changes made in the next CBA to the rules about drafting and signing European club team affiliated players.
For many years, NHL clubs held onto the draft rights of European-affiliated players in virtual perpetuity. For example, the Winnipeg Jets drafted Finnish forward Mika Alatalo in 1990 and (even after relocating to Phoenix) still held his rights nearly a decade later when they finally signed him to an NHL contract in the summer of 1999.
On the other side of the coin, after the early 1980s, NHL teams were required to use a draft pick to obtain the initial signing rights of European players no matter their age. That is why there were sometimes 30-year-old (or even older) Europeans selected in the Entry Draft in a given year.
At the end of the 2004-05 lockout, European drafting more or less came to fall under the same rules governing CHL drafting: 1) NHL clubs had a two-year window to sign the draftee to an entry-level contract before losing his rights, and 2) NHL teams could now sign undrafted overage Europeans as free agents rather than having to use a draft pick.
Unfortunately, the system fell into chaos when the Russian Hockey Federation -- and subsequently, the national federations in all the other primary European countries -- decided to end their participation in the IIHF-NHL agreement governing player transfers. When this happened, the NHL initially decided to "freeze" the rights of unsigned European players so that NHL clubs did not lose their rights until the future of player transfer agreements was resolved.
Even today, there is no universal player transfer agreement in place. Instead, the NHL has had to reach separate agreements with the various countries and leagues. This has resulted in a very convoluted situation where it not only depends on WHEN a player was drafted but from which country.
For instance, the Philadelphia Flyers have lost the rights to 2008 draftee Joacim Eriksson and 2009 draftee Simon Bertilsson (both from Sweden) but still retain the rights to 2006 draftee Jakub Kovar (drafted from the Czech Republic).
In addition, the two-year signing window is a real disincentive for NHL teams to draft from European club teams. How many of these players will see enough ice time at an elite league and/or international level for an NHL club to confidently feel the players are ready for an NHL entry-level contract?
It should also be noted that European teams are NOT sorry to see this particular disincentive in place, as it enables them to hold onto more of their mid-level prospects for a longer period of time. Even if a player is drafted and his rights elapse, he may still have the opportunity to sign as a free agent with an NHL team down the line.
Using the Philadelphia Flyers as an example once again, this is what happened with goalie Niko Hovinen. He was originally drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2006 but his rights elapsed before Minnesota thought he was ready/worthy of an entry level contract. Now 23 years old and a little more refined in his game, Hovinen signed an entry-level deal with Philadelphia this summer and will be loaned back to his Finnish club team (Pelicans Lahti) for the 2011-12 season.
Moving forward, there needs to be a more systematic way of determining how long NHL teams hold on to Euro draftees' rights -- especially in the case of KHL players. A four-year or five-year signing window seems about right to me.
What's the Buzz? Do you think the European drafting rules should be changed in the next CBA? If so, would you be in favor of seeing the rules revert to the old system or something else?
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