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Dec 20, 2009
Article 8 – The Entry Draft
I love the entry draft. All those fresh faced young hockey players, surrounded by their family and friends and still fill of hopes and dreams that GM’s and the real world are just waiting to crush.
My most recent favourite draft moments involve Brian Burke, whether it be watching his soul being crushed as the Kings draft Brayden Schenn and ending his Schenn and Schenn dreams, or the steely glee as he in turn crushes Bryan Murray’s dreams of drafting Nazem Kadri, with a simple “well we’re going to take him”, the draft holds a lot of excitement for those of us who love the jr leagues, and gossiping about what our team’s futures holds.
But what governs the draft?
Article 8.1 sets out that the draft shall be held in June every league year at a date determined by the commissioner. Each draft (8.2) shall consist of 7 rounds, and each of those rounds shall consist of the same number of selections as there shall be clubs in the following league year.
8.3 sets out the guidelines for compensatory draft picks obtained from a loss of a draft pick (they are different rules for loss of a Group III Free agent), requiring that the additional number of picks shall not exceed the number of clubs in the league the following year. The right to a compensatory pick arises if they lose rights to an unsigned draft choice, who was drafted in the first round. This loss of rights cannot arise if the loss is due to their own failure to tender a Bona Fide Offer.
The pick they are granted shall be of the same numerical choice as before but in the 2nd round of the entry draft which immediately follows the date a which the loss of rights occur. A recent example of this was the Phoneix Coyotes and the loss of Blake Wheeler. Whilst the Coyotes made a legitmate Bona Fide Offer to Wheeler, they failed to retain his services on contract (as he wished to run off somewhere other than Phoenix as a FA) and were awarded the 5th pick in the 2nd round as their compensation.
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Nov 30, 2009
Articles 1 – 7 of the CBA are your precursors. They set out some general guides which whilst important to the functioning of the agreement, don’t make-up the “pith and marrow” of the agreement.
Article 1 – Definitions.
Definitions! I love definitions sections of legislation and agreements. For a lack of a better description, and with points awarded for complete obviousness of the term, definitions define what certain teams. Such definition is really essentially, particularly when they get in the hands of shifty lawyers, who like to suggest certain interpretations of a term to suit their goals. The CBA definitions section enlightens with such pearls as:
“League” or “NHL” refers to the National Hockey League.
“All-Star Game” means the hockey game so designated by the NHL in which All-Star Players play.
However, as not to make light completely of the definitions system, which as I said actually serves a very useful function there are many useful definitions contained within the agreement. A useful examples of this include “European Player” which affects draft exceptions on the basis of having not played in North America and being above a certain age; or a “Free Agent” which is the umbrella term which breaks down into “Restricted Free Agent” and “Unrestricted Free Agent” all defined.
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Nov 24, 2009
The CBA is a big, scary 457 page document which has been legalised to death. How do I know it’s been legalised to death? I’m a law student. I see this shit every single day with fabulously over-written legislation and research papers as well as within ancient textbooks. I’m used to it. I decipher it for an education.
The CBA is the bible of the hockey business. It governs how we acquire players, what we can do with them, how much we can pay them, how we can construct and run our teams, and the finicky procedural rules we must adhere to.
The number of fans however, that completely, or even reasonably understand the finer details of the CBA, is minimal. Reading the CBA is a daunting task. I know this. I’ve read it twice (I’m sick like that) .
To save you the trouble however, I’ve read it again for you and this time I’m breaking it down, Article by Article.
So here I present! Naked Shootout: A Stripped Down Look at the CBA
Well I present it sometime soon..