Mike wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 8:08 pm
DaveO wrote: ↑Wed Oct 27, 2021 6:29 pm
Mike wrote:
I suppose the risk is that the game becomes dominated by 1 or possibly 2 teams that can afford it. That's unlikely to include us any more. Its not that big of a difference from now TBH, and I suppose it provides an incentive for a big money funder to come in and improve their team - right now they can't do that so they wouldn't be incentivised to come at all.
I'd run a salary capped system with central pooling of incomes and central contracts personally. i.e. a whole sport business - that way Hearn, or an investment corp could come in and improve the whole sport and be incentivised to make money for themselves whilst improving the game. I also like the idea of allowing expansion / promoted teams to strengthen by selecting players from other teams in a restricted way, allowing them to get quickly to the standard of SL on entry. Toulouse now have to go with their current championship squad, plus anyone that's poor enough to not yet have a contract after Leigh went down. Very difficult for them to be competitive and stay up, regardless of what money they have.
So Wigan develop a player from junior level and he becomes a first team regular and Toulouse can say “We will have him thank you very much”?
This would never work. You would have to put so many caveats into who they could take it would probably end up no different to picking from the cast offs.
Then there is the player himself to consider. You can’t force someone to go and live in France. Or it seems Wigan for that matter (Hardaker). Forcing a player to leave a team he wanted to
play for presumably because he wanted to sign a contract for them is never going to fly.
Works fine in the NHL for example.
The NHL draft is a draft of junior players and European prospects not a mechanism for clubs to poach another clubs established players which is what I think you are suggesting.
Once a player is drafted the club holds his NHL contract from ages 20-27 so this doesn't allow what I think you mean which is the likes of Toulouse to have first pick of a selection of other clubs first team established (and therefore contracted) players.
Many NHL draftees seemingly don't actually make it to be NHL pro players anyway as once drafted get sent back to their junior leagues, the clubs keep an eye on them and if they don't progress they don't end up as a senior player in the NHL.
I just looked it up and what I found was the draft is made up of "All players who will be 18 years old on or before September 15 and not older than 20 years old before December 31 of the draft year are eligible for selection for that year’s NHL Entry Draft. In addition, non-North American players over the age of 20 are eligible.
The players are drafted from three major pools:
1. Major
junior hockey leagues in Canada and the USA: The Canadian Hockey League (CHL) in Canada – comprised of Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League, Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) – the United States Junior Hockey League (USHL) and Canadian provincial junior hockey leagues
2. European junior and senior men’s hockey leagues
3. NCAA teams (college players)
https://hockeyanswered.com/how-the-nhl- ... ete-guide/
So the draft is restricted to 18 & 19 year olds and players not from existing teams but from Canadian and American junior leagues, North American Colleges and from European teams (which is like saying SL is free to sign NRL players).
What NHL draft isn't, is a mechanism for the likes Toulouse to poach an established player from Wigan and it's also not even a mechanism to poach another clubs junior players (who they will have developed themselves) because they don't seem to have any. Like the NFL in the US, it seem junior development in the NHL is solely a college/junior league thing.
From what I can gather they seem to make a big thing about it. It all seems part of the show but given the club they are drafted to owns the players NHL contracts when they are aged 20 to 27 then the only way they will move clubs is if they are traded i.e. the same as a transfer in SL so I don't see how an NHL draft system giving Toulouse a pick of 18 & 19 year olds would help.