Jeremy Laura: Looking at Griffins and Axel Sandin-Pellikka, NCAA drama unfolding

The problem with the NHL entry draft is that players do not deliberately consent to it like other league drafts. I somewhat understand it for players outside NA, but with NCAA players it is completely idiotic that a player doesn't have to consent to the entry draft. After that agreement with the NHL is established, then I agree there needs to be a compensation standard for drafted players that refuse to sign with their draft team and sign elsewhere.

The problem with the NHL entry draft is that players do not deliberately consent to it like other league drafts. I somewhat understand it for players outside NA, but with NCAA players it is completely idiotic that a player doesn't have to consent to the entry draft. After that agreement with the NHL is established, then I agree there needs to be a compensation standard for drafted players that refuse to sign with their draft team and sign elsewhere.
- jfkst1

the players can (and have in the past) tell a drafting team they’ll never play for them. But, to wait out for that open window (now while potentially being compensated and pulling talent from the CHL) the teams are left holding the bag. Give the consent, absolutely, but when players just wait it out it feels pretty nasty.

the players can (and have in the past) tell a drafting team they’ll never play for them. But, to wait out for that open window (now while potentially being compensated and pulling talent from the CHL) the teams are left holding the bag. Give the consent, absolutely, but when players just wait it out it feels pretty nasty.
- Jeremy Laura

There is no reason the CHL and NCAA can't have an agreement with the NHL on having every participating player sign a consent form to the NHL draft. They already sign a ton of agreements before every season now. Until that happens, why would there be an agreement on compensation for players that don't sign with their drafted team? They aren't even consenting to being drafted in the first place.

There is no reason the CHL and NCAA can't have an agreement with the NHL on having every participating player sign a consent form to the NHL draft. They already sign a ton of agreements before every season now. Until that happens, why would there be an agreement on compensation for players that don't sign with their drafted team?
- jfkst1

If I’m hearing the question right, this goes to the Name Image Likeness clause implemented into the NCAA along with straight forward compensation. Collegiate hockey is low on the list of $ draw, but agents can step in and get a deal with Bauer, Warrior, etc and the players can get that income source. There are already NIL companies offering kids a check (20k-100k depending) for exclusive NIL negotiation rights. If a collegiate program is profitable that players can now share in that. The pay in the CHL put players in a “pro” category and disqualified them from the NCAA. Now that the lines are blurred, the vote has already been cast and possibly ratified. They can do a consent form. Until/unless that happens that’s part of why I’m asking for 1 contract per draft. If your first rounder is going to college, right now you can’t get them on their ELC. That player has probably been interviewed etc. this isn’t an open ended deal, but an opportunity for clubs to sign one player who is heading to college. Agents are pushing hard to shorten the draft now. They want to be paid in more streams. One agent wants it down to 4 rounds. All those undrafted kids can get Euro deals or possibly ECHL tryouts etc and the agent doesn’t have to deal with the club

If I’m hearing the question right, this goes to the Name Image Likeness clause implemented into the NCAA along with straight forward compensation. Collegiate hockey is low on the list of $ draw, but agents can step in and get a deal with Bauer, Warrior, etc and the players can get that income source. There are already NIL companies offering kids a check (20k-100k depending) for exclusive NIL negotiation rights. If a collegiate program is profitable that players can now share in that. The pay in the CHL put players in a “pro” category and disqualified them from the NCAA. Now that the lines are blurred, the vote has already been cast and possibly ratified. They can do a consent form. Until/unless that happens that’s part of why I’m asking for 1 contract per draft. If your first rounder is going to college, right now you can’t get them on their ELC. That player has probably been interviewed etc. this isn’t an open ended deal, but an opportunity for clubs to sign one player who is heading to college. Agents are pushing hard to shorten the draft now. They want to be paid in more streams. One agent wants it down to 4 rounds. All those undrafted kids can get Euro deals or possibly ECHL tryouts etc and the agent doesn’t have to deal with the club
- Jeremy Laura

The problem with one contract per draft year is that more and more NHL entry draft prospects are coming from the NCAA and eventually you're going to hit an inflection point where that one per year isn't enough, might not even be enough right now. The USA has had more youth hockey registrations than Canada for quite a few years and you're starting to see this manifest in team USA becoming stronger and stronger relative to team canada. Also non Americans are starting to play in the NCAA more as it becomes a more standard route to the nhl. Well within our lifetimes the NCAA and not the CHL will be the premier route to the nhl. The NHL needs to plan accordingly and that involves having a consent for NCAA players. That way they can prevent these problems from even happening.

Could an ELC contract with an NCAA player be equipped with 2 slide years and have SIGNING BONUSES for those 2 years while the player is still in the NCAA? Of course there would have to be more to this rule. But it might keep that player from going FA when his college eligibility ends, because he would be subject to RFA rules. Maybe this type of contract can only be signed before age 20. After age 20 it would have only 1 slide year with a bonus. I guess there would also be a limit on the bonus as being $200-250K per yr.

Could an ELC contract with an NCAA player be equipped with 2 slide years and have SIGNING BONUSES for those 2 years while the player is still in the NCAA? Of course there would have to be more to this rule. But it might keep that player from going FA when his college eligibility ends, because he would be subject to RFA rules. Maybe this type of contract can only be signed before age 20. After age 20 it would have only 1 slide year with a bonus. I guess there would also be a limit on the bonus as being $200-250K per yr.
- HenryHockey

There's no reason to reinvent the wheel. Other leagues with entry drafts have compensation for teams if they sign a player who refuses to sign with their drafting team or they hold indefinite rights to that player until they're traded. Just make that part of the consent form to play in the NCAA or CHL and it's a done deal. No reason to make this overly complicated.

The problem with one contract per draft year is that more and more NHL entry draft prospects are coming from the NCAA and eventually you're going to hit an inflection point where that one per year isn't enough, might not even be enough right now. The USA has had more youth hockey registrations than Canada for quite a few years and you're starting to see this manifest in team USA becoming stronger and stronger relative to team canada. Also non Americans are starting to play in the NCAA more as it becomes a more standard route to the nhl. Well within our lifetimes the NCAA and not the CHL will be the premier route to the nhl. The NHL needs to plan accordingly and that involves having a consent for NCAA players. That way they can prevent these problems from even happening.
- jfkst1

There will be more and more, especially with the new CHL transfer deal. I would start with 1 because I believe that Europe is factoring in more and more as well. With a contract limit at 50, unless you get a ton of empty spaces, one per draft would allow highly touted NCAA picks. I also leave it at 1 because that is an easier sell. The NCAA development is very different. Fewer games, can’t get traded and sometimes a slower route. You can adjust as time goes on. You’re right, I had a coach from the Detroit area who’s worked with Honeybaked and Little Caesars give me some input. This has the attention of a lot of the hockey world. We saw Malhotra opt out of Canadian jr for his kid. This NIL and revenue decision may effectively make the college route more competitive than pro jr. If they do cut a round or two from the draft even more so. For me personally having one of these NCAA ELC deals per draft allows high end picks that really need that year of development to be locked down. It’s something they may have to address quickly. That NIL group I mentioned is giving kids big checks knowing they’ll make a lot. It’s already brought new predatory agents and companies into the fray

There's no reason to reinvent the wheel. Other leagues with entry drafts have compensation for teams if they sign a player who refuses to sign with their drafting team or they hold indefinite rights to that player until they're traded. Just make that part of the consent form to play in the NCAA or CHL and it's a done deal. No reason to make this overly complicated.
- jfkst1

I agree with this. If you get your collegiate player signed to any kind of ELC, it will be the same as jr or Europe. The clock doesn’t start ticking. They get a signing bonus that I think is approaching 100k. This allows clubs to hold the rights. Agents are frustrated as they think fewer teams are going with a full complement of players (last year it was cited that there were 22 fewer NHL players, almost a team’s worth). But, they’re the same agents that overestimate the cap and put teams in that spot. I’m not sure how many of you are in Michigan, but between U of M and MSU there are a lot of NHL drafts hanging around. The games are inexpensive and a lot of fun, love the GLI and Frozen Four

Hey Jeremy (or anyone else with knowledge), I have not seen a single pre-season or regular season game thus far as I live in Dallas and cannot justify the spend to get a few games on each platform (ESPN+, Bally's...) and hate blackouts but have been listening to games on radio. I really do not enjoy radio versus TV and recently heard of NUFU TV which is a steaming service that offers all games with no blackout restrictions (which I was subject to as part of ESPN+ even though I live 1,100 miles from Detroit...ugh... ).

Does anyone have experience with NUFU TV as it seems too good to be true. Their reviews seem good but they may not be from legitl customers so I wanted to ask true fans that I have come to trust through your blog.

Thanks for any input as this DRW fan living in Texas is missing seeing the Wings play this year.

Hey Jeremy (or anyone else with knowledge), I have not seen a single pre-season or regular season game thus far as I live in Dallas and cannot justify the spend to get a few games on each platform (ESPN+, Bally's...) and hate blackouts but have been listening to games on radio. I really do not enjoy radio versus TV and recently heard of NUFU TV which is a steaming service that offers all games with no blackout restrictions (which I was subject to as part of ESPN+ even though I live 1,100 miles from Detroit...ugh... ).

Does anyone have experience with NUFU TV as it seems too good to be true. Their reviews seem good but they may not be from legitl customers so I wanted to ask true fans that I have come to trust through your blog.

Thanks for any input as this DRW fan living in Texas is missing seeing the Wings play this year.
- TxWingFan

Bally now has a local package you could get with a VPN. Starting today it’s called “Fan Duel”. I’m not sure why you would have blackouts with ESPN+ unless there was an exclusivity (TNT, NHLN, ABC etc). The new Fan Duel package has a free 7 day trial if you want to try it out. I did before I committed. So far so good, only one game was exclusive to ESPN+.

I think the new CHL rule opens up some opportunities. One, you're going to see NCAA teams get older. You'll have guys play from 16 to 21 in the CHL then the better, undrafted players will move to NCAA rather than Canadian collegiate. It's a tough jump from junior to NCAA as a 17/18 year-old, and it's going to get tougher. Now they'll have an opportunity to play an extra year or two in the CHL, then jump to playing with older, more physically developed players, which may make both leagues better.

It also changes the trajectory of developing players. For drafted players, they aren't always getting the best competition by playing against a bunch of 16 to 18 year-old players, and I can see with NCAA in the mix, it may change the agreement the NHL has with the CHL. I could see players playing another year in the CHL, playing a year or two in NCAA, then making the jump to pro. It's going to change what we're currently seeing, which is from the time you're drafted, you basically have 3 years to prove you're ready to go pro. I think the NCAA adds a new layer to it.

It'll probably destroy the USHL & NAHL, water down Canadian collegiate, and give NCAA teams more options when they commit to a player and can have them develop for a year or two in the CHL rather than USHL or NAHL, which will probably result in more college ready commits.

There's going to be a huge demand for NCAA teams, so I think you'll see more colleges add hockey programs. On a positive note, you'll see more young kids focusing on academics, because just making the jump to juniors and hopefully going pro will be less likely. Their trajectory can offer more opportunities by going from CHL to NCAA to AHL to NHL and allow more players long-term opportunities, they may not have today. It also gives Europeans another level of opportunity, which will be important as hockey participation in Canada has dropped by 25% over the last decade, and will probably keep going down, and while the US is up 10% over the past decade, it's still way down from historical norms, so the growth in Europe will be important.