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 2^nd 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 5^th pick in the 2^nd round as their compensation.

All players 18 years and older are eligible for claim in an entry draft UNLESS:

• They are already on a reserve list of a club.
• They have been claimed in two prior entry drafts.
• They have previously played in the NHL and have since become a FA.
• Is older than 21 and has played in North America for minimum 1 year between 18 – 20 (a free agent).
• Is older than 22 and has not played in North America (a free agent).

8.5 or the order in which the draft is run

The rules that determine the order of selection are dictated by the league. These rules are valid as long as they do not give any club a greater or smaller chance of obtaining rights in a certain player. If any changes are to be made to the process, the NHL must notify the NHLPA by March 1 in the year of the draft to which changes are proposed to take affect.

Currently those rules can be found here

8.6 or how long you retain rights in a player.

Drafting, as everyone knows, gives a team exclusive rights of negotiation for the services of the player.

Initially a club retains exclusive negotiation rights to a player for a period of one year. If the club makes a Bona Fide Offer to the player  before or on June 1 of the year following the draft these negotiation rights will be extended to the second June 1 following the draft.

However, if the player is drafted at 20, his services not retained and he renters at age 22, the drafting club shall only acquire these exclusive negotiations rights for 1 year only unless the player is acquired from a club outside north America.

Realistically however, the retainment of player rights is dependent on several factors including whether they are a major junior or college player, their age and the year they leave either of these fields.

Drafted out of Major Junior

A club shall retain the exclusive negotiating rights until the 4^th June 1 after his intial draft selection of a player drafted at 18 who ceases to play in the major juniors in the first year after being drafted.

If the player ceases to play in his second season after being drafted, if the club hs tendered a Bona Fide Offer, they shall retain exclusive rights until the 4^th June 1,

If the player was drafted at 19 and ceases to play in major juniors in the first season after drafting, they shall retain exclusive rights until the 3^rd june 1^st (compared to the 4^th June 1^st if they were 18). This retainment of rights can be extended to a 4^th year if a BFO is made prior to the 1 June of the third year.

Other than these specific examples, ceasing to play in Jr’s shall have no impact on a club’s right of exclusive negotiation.

Drafted out of College or with Intention to go to College

If you’re 18 or 19 and a bona fide college student AT the time of your selection, or you become one within the next year after your selection (so say you’re kyle turris and you get drafted then go to college the next year where you excel in sports such as beer pong) and you remain a Bona Fide College Student through until the graduation of your college class, the club that drafts you shall retain exclusive rights until the august 15^th following the graduation of your college class. Because of NCAA guidelines, no Bona Fide Offer of a contract is required to retain this rights.

However, if you do not remain a college student through to the end of your graduation, the team shall retain rights until the 4^th June 1 following your intial selection. Once again, no BFO is required.

However if you are drafted at 18 or 19, and receive a BFO, and then become a college student before the 2^nd June 1, if that player remains through to graduation,  exclusive rights will extend until the august 15^th following their graduation from college.  Once again though, if they fail to remain at college through to graduation, the rights shall be retained until the 4^th June following initial selection.

If you draft a player who’s 20 or older and a Bona Fida College student, the club shall retain exclusive rights until the 2^nd June 1 following drafting. However, if on the 2^nd June 1 the player is still in college, the club shall retain those rights until the August 15^th of the year he leaves college, regardless if he has left at or prior to graduation.

8.6 (D) or so What is a Bona Fide Offer??

According to 8.6(d) a bona fide offer is an offer for a standard player contract for a period corresponding with the players age (9.1(b)), which commences at the start of the next league season, offers atleast a minimum paragraph 1 salary (s11.12) and remains open to the player to accept for atleast 30 days after the offer.

8.7 or what age means.

In the first two years after being drafted, an 18 year old who is signed to an SPC must be offered to the club he was drafted from (by the club he who drafted him) before he can be loaned to another.

In the first season after being drafted at 19 (or if they reach their 19^th birthday between September 16 and December 31 the year of the draft) the rule as above applies.

However, during the 18 and 19 year old seasons, IF the picks junior team is no longer in competition he may be loaned to a clubs minor league team provided they have been listed on their eligibility list (the AHL Clear Day List).

8.8 or yes we can trade your rights.

Any right of negotiation is completely transferable to another club by standard assignment without any requirement for waiver.

8.9 or Are you Eligible?

To play in the league you must either be drafted into the league, or be ineligible for drafting under 8.4.

These ineligibilities are:

• That you were older than 20, had played in North America in the prior season and had signed a standard player contract between the last draft and the NHL season’s commencement. Eg. Signed as an undrafted free agent.
• That you were under 20, had played the prior season in North America, and had signed an SPC between the last draft and the NHL Season’s commencement. However if you were on a try-out the date for signing is the first day of the NHL Season.
• That you were older than 22, played hockey outside North America last season, and signed an SPC between the draft and the NHL Season. This is what we call the Europeans take longer for us to figure out they’re there and good rule.

8.10 or so how old are you by Draft standards?

To the CBA 18 is  if you turn 18 between 1 Jan proceeding the draft and September 15 after the draft.

To the CBA to be 19 you must reach your 19^th birthday no later than September 15 the year of the draft.

20, 21 and 22 are all “ages reached prior or on” December 31 of the draft year.

8.11 or letting the NHLPA get to you early.

The NHLPA is entitled to attend and hold a closed and private meeting of players at any pre-draft combine the NHL shall hold. Awesome! It starts early

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.

Article 2 -  Recognition

Article 2 of the CBA sets  forth the NHL’s recognition of the NHLPA and its role as the exclusive bargaining representative (for player contracts, conflicts between the league and players and arbitrations) of all present and future NHL players. The recognition however does not prevent a player either representing themselves or being represented by an individually certified agent when it is consistent with the agreement.

2.2 also allows the NHLPA to hold meetings at any time provided the timing is approved by teams and doesn’t interfere with the general play and business of the teams and league. It does however require that approval not be unreasonably withheld.

Article 3- Duration of Agreement

3.1 (a) of the agreement retroactively applies the CBA to run from 14^th of September 2004, the date at which the lockout started. Under this article, the current CBA shall run until 12 am September 15, 2011. (all times in the CBA are considered New York time, on the basis of the league’s offices, unless otherwise indicated). However, after this date, it can be renewed continuously on a year b y year basis, and will be done so until written notice to terminate the agreement is provided  more than 120 days prior to the ending of the current agreement term.

However 3.1(b) allows the NHLPA to terminate prior to 2011, with the first possible date having already passed at September 15 2009. Once again, this termination is contingent on written notice of termination 120 days prior to the agreements end / extension date as above.

Importantly, 3.2 indicates that the agreement of the CBA is binding upon the NHL, the NHLPA, all member clubs and all its minions , uh Players!

Article 4 – Union Security and Check Off

Article 4 basically sets out procedural rules of the NHLPA in relation to player membership and due. Every player has a right and option to join or not join the  NHLPA but regardless of membership everyone is liable to the same payment of an “annual service fee” or “periodic dues” (essentially the terms just differentiate depending on membership). The section (at 4.2) further allows the each individual Club to deduct the dues owed from a players salary if they have been voluntarily authorized and allowed to do so, and pay those dues on to the NHLPA. If this deduction does not conform with NHLPA by laws, the NHLPA will indemnify the NHL club for the costs incurred.

Article 5 – Management Rights

Article 5 sets out the rights each NHL club and the league itself has in regard to the management of their club. At any time, a team shall be able to direct and control their team, and from time to time determine where, how and under what circumstances their team shall continue to operate, be suspended, continued, sold or moved.

This section also provides the basis for the NHL’s right to determine the rules by which the game is played.

Article 6 – NHLPA Agent Certification

Article 6.1. grants exclusive rights of negotiation with an NHL Club to either a Player or to a Certified NHLPA Agent. No other person may enter into negotiations with an NHL club. In order to enable this to be carried out proficiently, 6.1 also lists the procedural rules (such as how often to update, the information to be contained within) which govern the Certified Agent List held by the NHL and provided by the NHLPA.

These rights are then furthered at 6.2 by declaring that NO SPC (Standard Player Contract) may be entered into, and that the NHL will not register or approve any SPC in which a player was not represented by themselves or an NHLPA Certified Agent.

Indemnification the NHL from any costs incurred from a claim made, or a judgment incurred n the basis of their refusal to negotiate with a NON-Certified NHLPA Agent as allowed under the CBA, falls to the NHLPA to cover the costs.

Further procedural rules regarding the Certification Program are added at 6.4 and 6.5 covering the provision of the Agent Certification Program to the NHL within 7 days of the signing of the agreement, as well as that notice of any material changes to the program must be made to the league atleast 60 days prior to the date of change.

Article 7 – No Strike, No Discrimination and Other Undertakings.

A key component I guess in preventing any disgruntled fractions of the League rearing their ugly heads in a way that would prevent league business from being carried out, 7.1 prevents the NHLPA or any of its players from authorizing, encouraging or engaging in any work stoppages, slowdowns or other concerted efforts to interfere with the activities of an individual club or league during this CBA. Declines to play or practice due to picketing or labour disputes are included in this.

7.2 inserts a general discrimination clause that you really see in many contracts or agreements now days, as they are often required by legislation of the relevant countries.

Last but in no means least, we get to 7.3, which prevents any player under a current SPC from negotiating with another club prior to the ending of the SPC. Think of this like, the rule that prevents Brian Burke from chasing down the Sedin twins prior to July 1^st!

And that’s it for the first segment of Naked Shootout: A Stripped Down look at the CBA!

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..