C Auston Matthews - USNTDP, USHL (2016 Draft)

[Peter Skudra]

It's unique, but why do this ?

Money and not being subject to the silly NCAA amateur rules would be my guess.

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

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.

Exposure potentially factors in as well. The North American leagues make up around 75% of the kids selected each year in the draft. It's good to play against your peers & kids of similar age to see where you are at in your development as well as how you compare to players of similar age.

Kids like Matthews though that doesn't really factor in as he's already physically & mentally ahead of the curve compared to most of his peers.

 

[DudeWhereIsMakar]

I'd do it. Develop, compete and make money.

 

[cleveland408]

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.

Yeah Matthews doesn't have to go overseas but IMO I think he should. He has nothing to gain by playing in the CHL or NCAA and this would be better for his development as it presents a challenge for him.

I think players who go to Western Europe like Switzerland, Germany, or Sweden wouldn't have that much trouble adjusting to the culture nor would it hurt their draft stock after they adjust. A bigger culture shock may happen in Finland and Russia, but I doubt the few who will make the trip overseas will go to Russia anyway.

 

[The Zetterberg Era]

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.

Doubt he has a ton of trouble understanding Marc Crawford, a huge factor in this decision.

 

[cleveland408]

Exposure potentially factors in as well. The North American leagues make up around 75% of the kids selected each year in the draft. It's good to play against your peers & kids of similar age to see where you are at in your development as well as how you compare to players of similar age.

Kids like Matthews though that doesn't really factor in as he's already physically & mentally ahead of the curve compared to most of his peers.

Agreed. The North American leagues are better for most players. Going overseas should be considered for 17/18 year olds that are clearly better than their peers and are in need of a bigger challenge like Matthews.

 

[M.C.G. 31]

$500k as an 18-year old and the chance to live abroad for a year before going into the NHL? I don't blame him for going that route if that's what he chooses.

 

[JoeCool16]

Doubt he has a ton of trouble understanding Marc Crawford, a huge factor in this decision.

I totally forgot that he's the coach over there. Even if he gets an NHL job as he's hoping for, it's probably likely they can find him a team with an English coach.

Still, I don't know how much it'll improve his play, at least more than NCAA would. I don't think the money is that big of a deal either, if you're going to be the 1st overall. You'll get paid soon enough, and much more than 500k!

 

[Jussi]

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.

Source?

 

[Jonas1235]

so he doesn't like Everett? And he gets more leverage when he's drafted, likely by a bad team. Is he Lindros?

 

[snizzbone*]

so he doesn't like Everett? And he gets more leverage when he's drafted, likely by a bad team. Is he Lindros?

How does he get more leverage? And why does this mean he doesn't like Everett? He'd be blowing off the NCAA AND the WHL, not Everett. If Everett was the issue he could just force a trade to a different WHL team.

 

[SwissGrog]

Good for him, but it'll be hard to going back to the states and adjust to the drinking age of 21 after one year of legal beer and wine (minimum age 16 in Switzerland) maybe he'll stay here until 21

jokes aside, I'm very excited to see how all of this will be playing out. I know once in 2005 there were rumours that maybe Crosby could have spend a year in Switzerland, but they were only rumours.


here is the source about the trasnsfer agreement with the NHL (Switzerland is not part of it):
http://www.fantiger.ch/cms/print_text.php?lang=de&aid=1391&showheader=Y

 

[VictorLustig]

I totally forgot that he's the coach over there. Even if he gets an NHL job as he's hoping for, it's probably likely they can find him a team with an English coach.

Still, I don't know how much it'll improve his play, at least more than NCAA would. I don't think the money is that big of a deal either, if you're going to be the 1st overall. You'll get paid soon enough, and much more than 500k!

He's going to a team full of professional players with a former NHL coach, and he's likely going to get good icetime. I don't see how this wouldn't improve his game more than just playing against college teams. He will be among the oldest players in next years draft and he should be playing at a level that challenges him.

 

[VictorLustig]

Good for him, but it'll be hard to going back to the states and adjust to the drinking age of 21 after one year of legal beer and wine (minimum age 16 in Switzerland) maybe he'll stay here until 21

jokes aside, I'm very excited to see how all of this will be playing out. I know once in 2005 there were rumours that maybe Crosby could have spend a year in Switzerland, but they were only rumours.


here is the source about the trasnsfer agreement with the NHL (Switzerland is not part of it):
http://www.fantiger.ch/cms/print_text.php?lang=de&aid=1391&showheader=Y

Here in Sweden there are still jokes about Teemu Selanne signing with Leksand. There was a completely ridiculous rumor about that maybe 10 years ago that a lot of people actually believed in.

 

[Richi]

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.

Completly wrong. Hockey clubs in Switzerland have standard work contracts, which means that a player is bound to a club as long as he's signed for (Mathews is rumored to sign for 1 year). After that, he may choose to go wherever he wants.

Players could also sign a longer contract but insert a clause which allows them to leave for the NHL if they want to. In that case the player can go to the NHL, but if he returns to Switzerland and the original contract is still running, he'd have to return to the organisation he signed with.

For example, if I remember correctly, Diaz still has a contract with the EV Zug until 2017.

 

[dsg89]

The newspaper which confirmed Matthews signing is also saying he has chosen Switzerland because of better development reasons. Also Zuerich flew him and his parents in to show the club and its environment.

 

[doug88]

He also chose Zurich because it's in the middle of the country and the longest bus ride is less than 3 hours. It's a huge advantage that players usually like.

 

[JJTT]

Completly wrong. Hockey clubs in Switzerland have standard work contracts, which means that a player is bound to a club as long as he's signed for (Mathews is rumored to sign for 1 year). After that, he may choose to go wherever he wants.

Players could also sign a longer contract but insert a clause which allows them to leave for the NHL if they want to. In that case the player can go to the NHL, but if he returns to Switzerland and the original contract is still running, he'd have to return to the organisation he signed with.

For example, if I remember correctly, Diaz still has a contract with the EV Zug until 2017.

http://swisshockeynews.ch/index.php...-with-the-tampa-bay-lightning-has-been-voided

What about this then?

 

[doug88]

And he'll feel like he's playing in NA in the boring Hallenstadion..

 

[edguy]

THis means he could play AHL immediately after being drafted right? Not that he'll need it but still could be a ffactor

 

[hockeykid87]

He also chose Zurich because it's in the middle of the country and the longest bus ride is less than 3 hours. It's a huge advantage that players usually like.

Do they bus in the NLA? I kind of assumed they'd fly.

 

[UsernameWasTaken]

THis means he could play AHL immediately after being drafted right? Not that he'll need it but still could be a ffactor

Yes. He could also play in the AHL right away if he was playing in NCAA.

 

[TheZec]

Do they bus in the NLA? I kind of assumed they'd fly.

Switzerland is so small that going to the nearest Airport, take a flight, travel to destination Airport and from there on drive to the arena would be 9 times out of 10 more time consuming, and always more stressful.

Like a poster said, with a bus from Zürich you can reach the farthest arena in less than 3 hours.

 

[Torts]

Great choice IMO, this might open the door for more upper echelon prospects to make the moves. Very interesting and exciting decision by Matthews.

 

[Sid82]

Do they bus in the NLA? I kind of assumed they'd fly.

lol...look how "big" switzerland is...bout 200 km from east to west