Winter draft

I've already explained the difference between radulov and nabokov

Sorry, I missed that.

It's all good

ok, i'm back, i guess i'll drop him and add another.

Well, don't do that in case they let you decide to keep him

I think its best to wait for a verdict

ok, i'll wait

Hi kids. Things are heating up in here I see.

First of all, terrific pick John. I was thinking about that one as well. Until, I thought of the Manifesto. Here is what it says:

Drafting Limitations: Players are eligible to be drafted in our league only if they are drafted or signed by an NHL team.

So, although I have not had time to consult Matt Jackson on this, I think that Jay is 100% correct on this. Nabakov currently has no contract in the NHL and it follows that he may not be added to our rosters.

I am sorry about that John. It was an extremely clever idea, but I think we will have to reverse that add and have you pick again.

Is everyone comfortable with that?

I have a question. What Kovalchuk had left to the khl, he wouldn't have been signed yet I believe you would allow the owner to keep him. so if he was dropped would you not be able to pick him?

is not the rule designed for new players coming into the league?

Getty a bit hairy now I think. But had Kovalchuk left for the KHL I believe Joel could have kept him because what is in the Manifesto is a Drafting Limitation rather than a Keeper Limitation. If, however, Joel had dropped him and he was not signed to an NHL club then he would be ''unpickable''.

Is that eloquent? Is eloquent spelled correctly?

then I guess I should'nt have been able to draft Bergeron at the start of the season. But no one had an issue with it. What should i do about him?

I seem to keep screwing this pool up. dam

I don't know anything about Bergeron John. What was his situation?

I drafted bergeron that is not signed, expecting him to get signed at the beginning of the season. he's on my bench. There are several players like that but I didn't know I couldn't draft him and no one told me or said anything at the start of season draft. Has this never happened before? It's happened to me twice now in less then a year? lol. I'm hoping someone else remembers it happening. president

Well, I have to be honest that it is very difficult to keep track of every player and know who is signed and who is not. I mean it is easy when we are talking about Kovalchuk but for others who don't carry the big name it is very tough to keep on top of everything. If we missed something we missed something. We are all doing our best I think.

I just checked it out on NHL Numbers and it seems that he is still and UFA. As far as I am concerned, and we will have to talk this through, you should be able to drop him and at the conclusion of this draft, fill his slot with an eligible player.

Who are the other players John that are in a similar boat?

I'm trying to think this through in the biggest of senses. MA Bergeron, being drafted certainly does not affect the overall balance of our pool. Nabby being drafted, does not affect the overall balance of our pool.

Perhaps we should consider, heading forwards, adjusting the Manifesto to say that a player must either be drafted or signed, at some point in time, to be eligible to be drafted in our pool.

The best example of a stress that might have occurred over the years is Mario Lemieux. He left the NHL. In my other pool, he finally waived out. Then he returned as the first overall draft pick in the pool. (I was the twit that waived him - I picked up Per Gustavsson to replace him.) NHL rules stated that the owner cannot play. Several months after he was waived, NHL rules were adjusted to 'NHL owners cannot play, unless their name is Mario Lemieux'.

Let's pretend that the Mario situation occurred. I don't have a problem with someone drafting him while he's retired.

Let's pretend that a star player signs in the KHL. I don't have a problem with someone drafting him in the event that he's available. Speculating successfully, is a big part of being a Fantasy Hockey manager. Thus, MA Bergeron, or any other unsigned FA being drafted isn't hurting my feelings. It's a little while since we've seen 'holdouts' by the players. Imagine Dustin Brown being a hold out. He was available in the draft this year and is probably more valuable in the real NHL than in Fantasy. Is there any harm in someone drafting him without a contract? Could this mean that one team was unjustly getting the best player in the draft in September and then again in December?

If the best player in the world played in the KHL, it is very unlikely that he was never drafted. If the best player in the world was never drafted, and remained undrafted by the NHL past the eligibility period (I suspect he blossomed late), then... I guess the guy that was drafting first overall would get a wonderful bonus, immediately after he signed.

As it is now, it is possible that Nabby could be drafted in a couple of days, because he signed. I have seen player values change, mid-draft before. I really don't think that there is anything we can do about that. This problem is most prevalent in slow draft. I'm in a draft that runs 30 days each year. It's an outstanding draft, because every manager in the pool is very intense about their fantasy hockey for a month. This month is JUNE which makes it even better for the pool, because that's not traditional hockey time.

Perhaps the best example would be a potential Hobby Baker Award winner. It is possible that a player has distanced himself from the field, by the time we did our mid-season draft. In the event that he was a free agent, should we be able to draft him? Again, I don't personally have a problem with that. Under the proposal below, we would NOT be able to draft him, if he was a free agent, at the mid-season draft. He hasn't made the first step (contract or drafted).

I know we closed the door on drafting players before they were NHL eligible in my other pool. Crosby was drafted at age 14 or 15, as were some other under age players. I believe this was a positive step by that league, to shut that door.

We should have a vote, for next season. I would forward the suggestion that in order to be eligible a player needs to be drafted by an NHL team or signed to a professional contract within the NHL system. He must also be of NHL draft age eligiblity or greater. (The IHL was been known to have 17 year olds). Once a player becomes eligible, he never loses his eligibility. (This would prevent me from drafting Red when he turned 18. He has to qualify to be drafted in our pool.) This would also mean that you could draft Mario Lemieux, heading into next season, in the event that you felt this was a wise move for your team (or Eddie Shore or Bobby Orr...). More relevantly, someone could spec on Paul Kariya or Alexei Morozov, or the SEL MVP that has one more season to finish on a current contract.

Sorry for the rambling in this note.

SCOOP

I agree with you on this.

Here are my thoughts on Scoop's post:

Oh, but if you feel like loving me
If you got the notion
I second that emotion
So, if you feel like giving me
a lifetime of devotion
I second that emotion

LOL

Into the RED RED WINE!

Max Pacioretty
and
Justin Williams

Bastard.
Bastard.

Good picks Jay.

You mean business this year it seems.

I choose Cleary