Mel
7-24-05, 11:08 AM
I found this pretty interesting. It's a bit long so I only posted the first part.
Posted on Sun, Jul. 24, 2005
On the NHL | Free-agency rule could pose problems
By Tim Panaccio
Inquirer Columnist
Among the changes about to unfold in the NHL is the face of free agency.
It's the one area where the players have the upper hand in the new collective-bargaining agreement.
Under the old agreement, players had to wait until age 31 to sell their wares for millions. Now it will take just seven years in the league for a player to become unrestricted.
Which means every 18-year-old drafted this summer can become unrestricted by age 25 in 2012. That's pretty good.
The other part of that equation is that going into July 2007, any player, regardless of age, can become an unrestricted free agent if he has seven years in the league and is not under contract.
Starting Aug. 1, when NHL clubs can begin signing free agents to contracts, general managers will have to project money against the cap vs. talent performance several years into the future. Just like GMs do in the NFL.
Because no one knows if the $39 million salary cap will grow - or shrink - next season, clubs initially will balk at deals three years or longer.
And that could pose some problems. For instance, the Flyers prefer locking up their young talent to three-year contracts.
Simon Gagne, Robert Esche and Kim Johnsson are restricted free agents. By the summer of 2007, all three would qualify as unrestricted free agents, as would Todd Fedoruk, who is under contract. (That assumes they enter that summer without contracts.)
As part of the agreement, all players who were under contract in 2003-04 will receive a year's credit for "service" during this lockout season.
Thus, Gagne, now 25, will enter his seventh season this fall. He is the most intriguing case because his stock rose considerably by his outstanding play for Team Canada during the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships last spring.
rest --> http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/12207004.htm
I knew the UFA age limit was dropping over the length of the CBA... but I had no idea that, 2 years from this month, Every player with 7 years NHL experience becomes a UFA!
That's guys as young as 25! wow :eek:
Posted on Sun, Jul. 24, 2005
On the NHL | Free-agency rule could pose problems
By Tim Panaccio
Inquirer Columnist
Among the changes about to unfold in the NHL is the face of free agency.
It's the one area where the players have the upper hand in the new collective-bargaining agreement.
Under the old agreement, players had to wait until age 31 to sell their wares for millions. Now it will take just seven years in the league for a player to become unrestricted.
Which means every 18-year-old drafted this summer can become unrestricted by age 25 in 2012. That's pretty good.
The other part of that equation is that going into July 2007, any player, regardless of age, can become an unrestricted free agent if he has seven years in the league and is not under contract.
Starting Aug. 1, when NHL clubs can begin signing free agents to contracts, general managers will have to project money against the cap vs. talent performance several years into the future. Just like GMs do in the NFL.
Because no one knows if the $39 million salary cap will grow - or shrink - next season, clubs initially will balk at deals three years or longer.
And that could pose some problems. For instance, the Flyers prefer locking up their young talent to three-year contracts.
Simon Gagne, Robert Esche and Kim Johnsson are restricted free agents. By the summer of 2007, all three would qualify as unrestricted free agents, as would Todd Fedoruk, who is under contract. (That assumes they enter that summer without contracts.)
As part of the agreement, all players who were under contract in 2003-04 will receive a year's credit for "service" during this lockout season.
Thus, Gagne, now 25, will enter his seventh season this fall. He is the most intriguing case because his stock rose considerably by his outstanding play for Team Canada during the International Ice Hockey Federation World Championships last spring.
rest --> http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/sports/12207004.htm
I knew the UFA age limit was dropping over the length of the CBA... but I had no idea that, 2 years from this month, Every player with 7 years NHL experience becomes a UFA!
That's guys as young as 25! wow :eek: