C Auston Matthews - USNTDP, USHL (2016 Draft)

[Vipers31]

According to an agency website I saw;



Far from $500k.

They had that info up on the site for a few years now, so it's a bit dated. Also "upwards of 425,000 Swiss" is hardly far from it.

 

[Vipers31]

Those salaries are from NHL contracts though.

Players signed to 2-way deals or AHL only deals do not make more than 1mil. It's the Mike Richards and such type guys who are on 1-way deals that make their NHL salary in the AHL.

For example: Nail Yakupov is on a 2-way deal. His NHL salary is $925,000 + bonuses. His AHL salary is $70,000 (+ bonuses maybe?).

I know, I said that earlier about that being NHL contracts. I don't think two-way deals really fit as comparisions, either, though. Especially for rookies bound by ELC-maximums, their AHL salary is really limited. Pure AHL deals for decent players do tend to be higher. Maybe not as high on average as what he's expected to get in the NLA, though. Either way, with an AHL deal not being a possibility, that's a rather academic excourse.

 

[swissexpert]

They had that info up on the site for a few years now, so it's a bit dated. Also "upwards of 425,000 Swiss" is hardly far from it.

Yeah, the highest paid vets can gain 500-750k here, but I don't think Matthews will get the same. Expect around 300k max.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

This is REALLY going to hurt the CHL going further.

Any high end Canadian or US player thinking about CHL route can opt to play pro in Europe and make some real $$$.

More importantly, can make the jump to AHL after draft since they are not drafted out of CHL.

Chycryn, Tkachuk, Brown, etc ......????

 

[Viking78]

If he goes to Switzerland,will he be drafted as an european skater then?Like european skaters playing junior hockey in North America is drafted as north american skaters.

 

[boredmale]

This is REALLY going to hurt the CHL going further.

Any high end Canadian or US player thinking about CHL route can opt to play pro in Europe and make some real $$$.

More importantly, can make the jump to AHL after draft since they are not drafted out of CHL.

Chycryn, Tkachuk, Brown, etc ......????

I said this for awhile but if I was a good 15/16 year old I would seriously consider playing in the USHL because it would give me more options when I am 17 or 18.

 

[Mit Yarrum]

I like this a lot. Hopefully more kids get away from the ******** rules of the CHL and hypocrisy of the NCAA.

It's different and I like it. Good for him.

 

[danishh]

A move to europe also gives him some leverage over the team that drafts him.

 

[umwoz]

Any actual confirmation yet?

 

[Kobe Armstrong]

The swiss dollar is also worth slightly more than the American.

Also I'm totally in favor of him doing this. He gets to go make a large amount of money playing at a higher level and instead of crappy junior cities he's playing in Zurich, a beautiful city and the athletic facilities and transportation will be a lot nicer. Also he gets away from the BS CHL rules/

 

[Kshahdoo]

As far as I know Bern is top5 European club salary budget wise, behind a few top KHL teams only. It's richer than Jokerit, which has 10M euro salary budget. But ZSC isn't that rich.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

Good for him if this happens... crappy for CHL/NCAA. This may pave the way for future prospects to follow, which selfishly kinda annoys me

 

[Seachd]

A move to europe also gives him some leverage over the team that drafts him.

I think it gives him less leverage if they have his rights for longer than North Americans.

 

[JJTT]

I think it gives him less leverage if they have his rights for longer than North Americans.

Switzerland doesn't have a transfer agreement with NHL so the team who drafts Matthews holds his rights for 9 years. Not much leverage there.

 

[Spawn]

I think you're focusing a bit too short term. Best case scenario, it goes a long way to prepare him for playing against men in the NHL for his post draft season. I think that's probably a bigger motivation for doing it than to secure his draft position

I'd say it's fairly debatable that playing a European style of game on a bigger ice surface is going to better prepare him for playing in the NHL than say playing in the WHL would. European players coming out of the draft often have a period of adjustment where they are trying to figure things out on the smaller surface. Though Matthews has a leg up in that regard because he's spent his whole career playing in NA.

 

[Skinnyjimmy08]

I'd say it's fairly debatable that playing a European style of game on a bigger ice surface is going to better prepare him for playing in the NHL than say playing in the WHL would. European players coming out of the draft often have a period of adjustment where they are trying to figure things out on the smaller surface. Though Matthews has a leg up in that regard because he's spent his whole career playing in NA.

Ya it is a very interesting decision if he does go over there. Big ice surfaces make a HUGE difference. Heck even I hate playing drop in hockey on our local Olympic ice surface for a game and then having to play on a regular ice surface the next drop in game haha... Olympic feels like you have soooo much time and room and then when you go back to regular ice, it seems so damn small and no room out there. And that's after 1 game on the big ice!!

 

[DonskoiDonscored]

I like this. If all of the top prospects chose Europe over the CHL route maybe it would force a change to the CHL/NHL agreement.

 

[MatthewFlames]

I like this a lot. Hopefully more kids get away from the ******** rules of the CHL and hypocrisy of the NCAA.

It's different and I like it. Good for him.

It is time the rules were updated, especially for NCAA eligibility. There is no reason why kids who've played in the CHL can't go shouldn't be able play in the NCAA. That one change there would improve both leagues, with more American kids and school minded kids being available to CHL teams, and more high end hockey talent who's career ends in the CHL but are not quite ready for pro, going to develop for another couple of seasons in the NCAA's.

 

[DaveG]

Not likely. Hockey and Baseball are the only 2 sports that have a development route to the pro's other than NCAA. Coincidentally, Hockey and Baseball aren't exactly the NCAA's moneymakers.

They'll never pay hockey players because it would mean they would have to start paying their football and basketball players. No, they'd much rather just let the NCAA sports like hockey become less attractive options than give up their football and basketball profits.

Basketball too. There's a number of players that are internationals in that league and a few even come up through the NBADL. Honestly it surprises me that more people don't do what Matthews is doing when it comes to basketball. Go over to Europe or Australia for a year, get paid, live it up, and still be a top pick in the NBA draft. Beats being a one and done in college ball IMHO.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

It is a stunning development, but if you're a top-tier prospect that knew you were going to be drafted very early on and you had European teams offering you a very good year's pay while playing against excellent competition.... I couldn't blame anyone for choosing that route.

 

[CraigsList]

I really like that Matthews is going out of the box.

 

[Mickey the mouse]

NCAA could care a less about CHL or kids that play there.

Hockey is VERY, VERY minor compared to Football and basketball.

Therefore, any decision on CHL kids being eligible to play NCAA would have a MAJOR impact on the BILLION DOLLAR college Football and Basketball eligibility issue.

IMO, It will NEVER even be discussed by NCAA

 

[Number 57]

I've been wondering why more players don't do this more often. The fact the prospect can join the AHL right away instead of being stuck in the CHL after his draft year should be a BIG factor.

You get paid in your draft year playing in Europe and you get paid in the AHL after being drafted... compared to CHL where players make peanuts? Plus, living in Europe is a great experience. You'd also get to play vs men.

Only a few like Matthews, McDavid, Eichel, etc would be able to play in the higher leagues though (KHL, Swiss, Sweden), but still playing in Finland or in Germany or Sweden's 2nd league could be very exciting and a great learning experience for any solid prospect out there.

 

[cleveland408]

I've been wondering why more players don't do this more often. The fact the prospect can join the AHL right away instead of being stuck in the CHL after his draft year should be a BIG factor.

You get paid in your draft year playing in Europe and you get paid in the AHL after being drafted... compared to CHL where players make peanuts? Plus, living in Europe is a great experience. You'd also get to play vs men.

Only a few like Matthews, McDavid, Eichel, etc would be able to play in the higher leagues though (KHL, Swiss, Sweden), but still playing in Finland or in Germany or Sweden's 2nd league could be very exciting and a great learning experience for any solid prospect out there.

Maybe it's the language barrier and the aspect of playing in a foreign country that discourages kids to go overseas. I imagine their agents are encouraging them to stay in North America rather than go across the pond.

 

[JoeCool16]

Maybe it's the language barrier and the aspect of playing in a foreign country that discourages kids to go overseas. I imagine their agents are encouraging them to stay in North America rather than go across the pond.

Also, the kind of players that could make it are probably the ones going top five or so. I doubt many 18-year-olds are going to get that much icetime in a Euroleague, and the ones that would are only a year away from making the big bucks anyway. Also, I could see going away as a 17/18 year old to a country where you may have trouble understanding the coach, let alone the culture, ending with the player having a rough year and hurting his draft stock. They'd be playing against men, so they'd have to hit the ground running. I'm sure Matthews could do it... but does he really need to? Probably not.