Can a high profile prospect refuse to play for the team that drafted them?

[AvroArrow]

Didn't Adam Fox do this until he was finally traded to New York ? Drafted by Calgary, shafted them, then traded to Carolina, shafted them, then finally traded to his choice destination and signed.

 

[BrindamoursNose]

Didn't Adam Fox do this until he was finally traded to New York ? Drafted by Calgary, shafted them, then traded to Carolina, shafted them, then finally traded to his choice destination and signed.

So did RJ Umberger, I think.

 

[The Professional]

IMO if a player refuses to play for the team that drafted him, he is an entitled little bitch.

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

It's unconfirmed, but there was speculation about Owen Power not wanting to be with Buffalo (after now-LA's Cal Petersen and previous draft pick turned high-profile FA Jimmy Vesey left). Justin Schultz also refused to sign with his drafted team and signed with Edmonton I think?

In short it's not as crazy as you think, Mr. Bedar-- I mean, OP .

You have source about Owen Power or just ,you know spitting cr..p?

 

[Voight]

Lemieux didn't want to play for Pittsburgh but eventually agreed to terms (think they had to give him a rookie contract that was on par to what the best players in the league were making)

 

[Nikolajs Sillers]

If you get drafted by the Devils you could always refuse for religious reasons...

Then he needs to change sports, Saints is a option then.

 

[MichaelFarrell]

IMO if a player refuses to play for the team that drafted him, he is an entitled little bitch.

I hate this line of thinking. While it would suck for a prospect to not want to sign with your team, that player is also potentially sacrificing a lot of money to do this. These guys only get one career and if a player doesn’t want to waste it in Arizona can you blame them. I’ll side with the players over the owners any day.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I hate this line of thinking. While it would suck for a prospect to not want to sign with your team, that player is also potentially sacrificing a lot of money to do this. These guys only get one career and if a player doesn’t want to waste it in Arizona can you blame them. I’ll side with the players over the owners any day.

Won’t give up any money on ELC, possibly as an RFA.

 

[Royale With Cheese]

IMO if a player refuses to play for the team that drafted him, he is an entitled little bitch.

Not entitled at all, IMO. The player is paying the price by turning down money to not play for that team.

Not saying I like when players do this, but this doesn't make them entitled.

 

[jarboy]

Blake Wheeler is the best match to the OP's question. He refused to sign with the team that drafted him, the Coyotes, and played in the West Coast league until Phoenix's rights expired. Then he picked his team as a UFA. Drafted in 2004, playing for a new team in 2008.

It's a risky move. You loose out on development time, and you risk a career ending injury before a real pay day. But Wheeler is one big example from recent history.

West Coast league must be an auto correct, he played in the WCHA with Minnesota in the NCAA until he signed with Boston.

 

[Dicky113]

It's unconfirmed, but there was speculation about Owen Power not wanting to be with Buffalo (after now-LA's Cal Petersen and previous draft pick turned high-profile FA Jimmy Vesey left). Justin Schultz also refused to sign with his drafted team and signed with Edmonton I think?

In short it's not as crazy as you think, Mr. Bedar-- I mean, OP .

It’s pretty easy for power to get out of Buffalo no? Just needs to finish college and sign as UFA right? I assumed this was why he was going back to school post draft. Can’t really blame him.

 

[HugginThePost]

College it happens all the time. The guy who just won the Norris did it to two teams lol.

******* ***** ******* ***** ******* *****! ***** *** ****** *** ***** ******!

 

[Anglesmith]

just my opinion, but the anxiety, and calling the post-NCAA path to UFA a "loophole," is way more smoke than fire
aside from Blake Wheeler, 14 years ago under a prior CBA,
none of the guys who've executed this process
were 1st round picks (usually pretty late, but yes Schultz was a 2d, Vesey a 3rd, but otherwise ...)
and none I can think of became essential players (guys who come to mind - Vesey, Schultz, Matt Benning, Kerfoot, Will Butcher, Cal Peterson)
a really good NCAA player typically signs before his final season on NCAA eligibility, or very soon after his NCAA season ends, and joins AHL or NHL team
and while the possibility exists for a kid drafted after freshman year at 18 to become UFA at 21, that is not typical

You cannot seriously examine the topic without considering cases like Adam Fox, where he did not ultimately exercise the ability to go to four years, but his willingness to do so meant that he was de facto a Rangers prospect right from the start.

The fact is, the Flames made a fantastic pick on the prospect, but the fact that he was an NCAA guy meant that they had zero leverage to actually sign him, which tanked the value of the asset through no fault of their own.

Whether it's viewed as a big problem or not, it's a violation of the spirit of the draft that only exists with NCAA prospects. To do mental gymnastics to characterize it as anything other than a loophole is to be in denial.

 

[Thordic]

Didn't Adam Fox do this until he was finally traded to New York ? Drafted by Calgary, shafted them, then traded to Carolina, shafted them, then finally traded to his choice destination and signed.

Carolina didn't get shafted. Fox was pretty clear he wasn't signing there, they gambled, and they lost. He was part of a larger trade so it's not like Carolina went overboard to get him, Calgary threw his rights in as a trade sweetener. Replace what they got for Fox - 2 2nd round picks - into the Hamilton/Hanifin trade and Carolina made out pretty well.

 

[Bear of Bad News]

IMO if a player refuses to play for the team that drafted him, he is an entitled little bitch.

Players should use all of the collectively-bargained negotiating power that they have, because the teams (and the league) will dump them as soon as they can't benefit them any longer.

I don't like it when it happens, either, but if you don't want it to be an option, the league needs to negotiate it out in favor of something else.

 

[Anglesmith]

Not entitled at all, IMO. The player is paying the price by turning down money to not play for that team.

Not saying I like when players do this, but this doesn't make them entitled.

Except in college, where they can get paid while getting a degree. They don't sacrifice anything significant unless they are desperate to be in the show as early as possible.

 

[Nylanderthal]

He looks dissapointed here but the next 2 picks after him were Buffalo and Arizona so he hasn't missed out on much lol

No, but at the drawing of the last lotto ball it was 60/40ish Toronto or Edmonton as the combinations of numbers already pulled had eliminated those other teams

 

[banks]

West Coast league must be an auto correct, he played in the WCHA with Minnesota in the NCAA until he signed with Boston.

No, not really. I actually have no clue what the WCHA is. And I just assumed it stood for "west coast hockey something". It's not really that important to the story, or the point I was making. Point is he was in a lesser league for 4 years to get away from Phoenix.

 

[Mobiandi]

I'm bitter about Fox for sure but it is what it is. He gambled on himself and won.

 

[ghostingtaro]

Nice try adam fox

 

[tarheelhockey]

What are you even talking about? There is no such thing as a "Spengler".

The Spengler Cup?

 

[Tutu to]

IMO if a player refuses to play for the team that drafted him, he is an entitled little bitch.

If they are an elite talent they have that luxury.

 

[Tutu to]

Another question…

Are players allowed to collude with other teams after an entry level contract by asking them to offer sheet him. Then agree to sign for less the following year?

 

[cwede]

... To do mental gymnastics to characterize it as anything other than a loophole is to be in denial.

we just disagree
as i tried to show, it seems that any non-Russian prospect, whether CHL or NCAA or IIHF
have the same opportunity to wait out ~4+ years and become UFA

every spring, there are threads tracking all the impending rights expirations at
Trade Rumors and Free Agent Talk
and CapFriendly shares similar lists for various scenarios

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Jarrett Stoll was drafted by the Calgary Flames, and Matt Lombardi was drafted by the Edmonton Oilers.

Neither team signed their picks and they both re-entered the draft (I believe they were both given compensation picks as a result).

2 years later Stoll was drafted by the Oilers, and Lombardi was drafted by the Flames.