Prospect Info: Tom Willander: 11th Overall 2023 Draft (Rogle BK J20) - Part 02

I'm not buying what Dhaliwal is selling. Nothing else to talk about so blow this up. The only thing he has is others have signed. Nothing from the canucks. Nothing from the Willander camp (and his advisor not returning a call to a radio host is not a sign of anything).

Now there may be a desire to not blow a year of ELC for one game but that is a far cry from there being trouble.
 
It's quite possible that Willander and his agent don't see huge value in him playing for Abbotsford this season. Essentially being a mercenary for a AHL team after coming just short of a championship probably feels a bit empty. It's not like he's lacked high leverage hockey this year.

If he works hard enough to get straight A's in school, you can bet his academics are important to him as well and his degree is something he plans to finish some day. It's a rare person who can manage kind of academic excellence that while also playing college sports at the highest level and if anything should make the Canucks willing to be flexible. They clearly aren't dealing with some dumb jock.

The Canucks can still sign him and burn a year of his contract on Wednesday, and he can finish out the term.
 
What a shit show of a season.

How tf do you mess up contract talks with your best prospect? Give him his bonuses, and let him decide if he wants to burn a year off or not. Jesus.
 
I'm not buying what Dhaliwal is selling. Nothing else to talk about so blow this up. The only thing he has is others have signed. Nothing from the canucks. Nothing from the Willander camp (and his advisor not returning a call to a radio host is not a sign of anything).

Now there may be a desire to not blow a year of ELC for one game but that is a far cry from there being trouble.
It’s part of the business when talking high end ncaa prospects.

The benefit is that he would be a 10.2 rfa. This no OS option for him.
 
i hope the canucks are not messing around. they have zero leverage here.

people are maybe missing that with the nil settlement the entire ncaa equation has changed.

you can now earn more playing ncaa hockey on a top team than you can playing in the ahl so there is zero incentive for an ncaa player to sign for a team that can't offer a big club roster spot and/or will not burn an elc year. it is logical and rational to stay in the ncaa, get a year older and closer to walking onto an nhl squad of your choice, get an education plus get paid, enjoy better facilities and sample campus life.

the amount being paid out under the nil settlement is a percentage of revenues for the program. boston university happens to be the top revenue ncaa hockey program. it is also not at risk of hitting the nil cap because its football program is dead. that means willander will likely make 6 figures if he stays in boston, plus enjoy a full ride scholarship and all the other perks. that or go to abby is not a choice.

just around the corner with the chl / ncaa deal is a future where most top draft picks have this leverage.
 
i hope the canucks are not messing around. they have zero leverage here.

people are maybe missing that with the nil settlement the entire ncaa equation has changed.

you can now earn more playing ncaa hockey on a top team than you can playing in the ahl so there is zero incentive for an ncaa player to sign for a team that can't offer a big club roster spot and/or will not burn an elc year. it is logical and rational to stay in the ncaa, get a year older and closer to walking onto an nhl squad of your choice, get an education plus get paid, enjoy better facilities and sample campus life.

the amount being paid out under the nil settlement is a percentage of revenues for the program. boston university happens to be the top revenue ncaa hockey program. it is also not at risk of hitting the nil cap because its football program is dead. that means willander will likely make 6 figures if he stays in boston, plus enjoy a full ride scholarship and all the other perks. that or go to abby is not a choice.

just around the corner with the chl / ncaa deal is a future where most top draft picks have this leverage.
Legit question. Do you have any examples of what top ncaa hockey players earn in nil? Football and basketball can make money. So can certain individuals.
 
Legit question. Do you have any examples of what top ncaa hockey players earn in nil? Football and basketball can make money. So can certain individuals.
i can extrapolate. this site estimates the team average at north dakota next year is $65k. no way is that pie divided equally.


here's some dated data showing boston university revenues were 40% higher than north dakota in 2018


there are other discussions about how the $20.5m cap on total revenue sharing will impact lesser sports with football programs but boston university does not have a football program.
 
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Legit question. Do you have any examples of what top ncaa hockey players earn in nil? Football and basketball can make money. So can certain individuals.

I have no proof but somewhere on HF during the Henry Mews discussion in the last few days (Flames RHD #74 in 2024) I seen the number $100,000 thrown around a bunch.

Puckpedia says Lekkerimaki for example makes $83,000 when playing on the farm so its around a 20k difference as far as im aware if that 100k number is indeed accurate.
 
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I have no proof but somewhere on HF during the Henry Mews discussion in the last few days (Flames RHD #74 in 2024) I seen the number $100,000 thrown around a bunch.

Puckpedia says Lekkerimaki for example makes $83,000 when playing on the farm so its a around a 20k difference as far as im aware if that 100k number is indeed accurate.
Have to factor in that everyone has to do an ELC. 21 and under is a 3 year elc. 22-23 is 2 years, 24 and older is 1 year.

Leaving as a SO or JR, still same 3 year elc. Sooner you get off it, you get to your RFA contract.

I don't think NIL is what keeps the top players in college. I get the lifestyle in terms of facilities, nutrition, training, etc is nicer at the big programs than for most AHL farm clubs.

That is something NHL clubs may need to look at upgrading. As that is part of the development/selling of the club to players.

For TW, it should be about the challenge. If he wants to return to BU to improve his offensive game, that's a fine decision if that is where he believes he can best improve that part of his game. I wouldn't recommend returning just to play the same way he has again. He's proven he can play a smart defensive game and break up plays.
 
I'm not buying what Dhaliwal is selling. Nothing else to talk about so blow this up. The only thing he has is others have signed. Nothing from the canucks. Nothing from the Willander camp (and his advisor not returning a call to a radio host is not a sign of anything).

Now there may be a desire to not blow a year of ELC for one game but that is a far cry from there being trouble.
Dhaliwal is a notable mouthpiece for the agents
 
I don't think NIL is what keeps the top players in college. I get the lifestyle in terms of facilities, nutrition, training, etc is nicer at the big programs than for most AHL farm clubs.

the top players who step into the league in their draft year or d+1, sure. how many is that out of an average draft class? for the rest, the risk of draft picks staying in the ncaa to free agency or just going to college instead of signing out of junior just went up big time. the ncaa is going to be very attractive to guys in junior drafted in the 2nd round or later. getting a free education while getting paid and being a big man on campus versus a high risk of 3 years in utica living the slapshot dream, a cup of coffee, then off to europe. you can guess what a lot of parents will be saying.

it probably means bad teams like buffalo cannot safely draft ncaa bound prospects past the 2nd round because of the risk of them walking to free agency. maybe not even second rounders.
 
Wish he was signed and in Vancouver already.
I think Vancouver trying what Calgary is doing which is signing college prospects without burning 1 year and getting the full 3 years. Willander didn’t want that so he’s holding out. Either way Alvin has to go if he fumbles this one.
 
Yeah this could easily end up being a nothing burger but you can't fault fans for their anxiety. Things just always go wrong with the Canucks.
 
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The bonus thing is hard to believe.

Burning a year is a bigger deal and maybe the Canucks might try to avoid this but it’s honestly not worth it. Burning is the kind of thing you let happen and remind the player of it during RFA contract discussions. If you don’t, then the player will be bringing it up then.
 
Everyone here losing their shit like usual with no clue on the facts or what's going on..........jumping to conclusions and assuming they know better then management.

I have no clue what's going on but common sense would dictate that at some point this guy is gonna sign. Maybe it won't be as soon as everyone likes but there's a very high probability that this guy is gonna sign before next season begins. If he's not signed by then THEN start losing your shit.........at present it's far too early to jump to conclusions. Maybe Willander doesn't want to go to Abby and prefers to decompress for a minute and finish his studies? Who knows..........take some xanax people. At present I have some faith in management to do the job they are paid to do........

 
Burning a year off of Willander's ELC shouldn't be a big deal. Teams do it all the time. Personally I have come to prefer it. Taking away the offer sheet option can be huge. Plus it's a bit like trying to time the market. That one extra ELC year can increase the cost of re-signing a player or help you avoid a long-term mistake.

Anyhow, it looks like Allvin wants to sign Willander and get him to turn pro so that throws away all "player development" arguments. Otherwise, from a player development standpoint, I have no issues with Willander returning to college for another year and then turning pro (and hopefully bypass the AHL) and burning a year off of his ELC then. The unacceptable scenario is have Willander return for his senior year.

I think Vancouver trying what Calgary is doing which is signing college prospects without burning 1 year and getting the full 3 years. Willander didn’t want that so he’s holding out. Either way Alvin has to go if he fumbles this one.
Didn't Calgary burn a year off of Coronato's contract? The Flames have mostly used their 1st round pick on CHL players. Who are you thinking of here?
 
That's not what I meant and you know it. This situation is probably a big combination of things that are going on that we don't know. Putting that aside, we have no idea what the Canucks are even offering him right now.

We are basically just a few days away from when he could realistically be signed. Let's just wait it out a few weeks for the clouds to part and we will see where they are at then. f*** it, he could already be in the process of signing.

What if he went to classes to say goodbye. We have no f***ing idea what's going on.
Apologies...was just messin around being sarcastic

Was gonna add to that post but work got in the way
 
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