A drafted player can refuse to report but the team
That drafted him will hold his rights until he’s about 26-27 years old...
i don't believe this is accurate,
to my understanding the
UFA status tied to age only applies to players who have already played under at least 1 NHL contract. such as
- typical UFAs with established NHL careers (like Dougie Hamilton last summer),
- defected players (RFA who received QO but signed elsewhere, such as Europe - the QO lets prior team retain rights, but only until June 1 after player turns 27.
- Or, as seen with a few dozen guys every year, Group 6 UFAs - "age 25 or older who has completed three (3) or more professional seasons, whose SPC has expired and: (i) in the case of a Player other than a goaltender, has played less than 80 NHL Games,"
Depends on where they are from. If a CHL player refuses to report to the team that drafted him, he would just re-enter the draft in 2 years. An NCAA kid become a UFA 4 years post draft.
to add to above,
- i believe a player drafted for a second time has his rights held for for 2 more years
- NCAA kids rights are retained until NCAA status is exhausted or renounced - this can be more than 4 years if player has non-playing year along the way
**
8.6(b)(c)(d) seems to address this exact scenario? An 18 year old CHL player that leaves for a foreign league, for example, has his rights held for 4 years. The player would have to stay in the CHL to be eligible for re-entry.
this was new to me, thanks
demand a trade or go to US college and play all 4 years and become UFA ( NHL needs to fix this) ...
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
** to get to that August 15th after NCAA eligibility is exhausted, it is often not just 4, but 5, or even 6, years post-draft, with guys, along the way, playing USHL, having red-shirt seasons, sitting out seasons to transfer, etc
ADDED NOTE - 4 years is in-line with Junior players who 'defect' or get redrafted,
and with Euro players from countries/leagues covered by IIHF transfer rules (basically all buy KHL)
You Can see examples of this at CapFriendly, go to any team's CF page,
then click the 'Reserve List' button, to track rights expiration dates
.
